Asynchronous Little Ice Age glacial maximum extent in southeast Iceland

Chenet, Marie; Roussel, Erwan; Jomelli, Vincent; Grancher, Delphine

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.07.012

Cited by 47 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, there is some uncertainty about the oldest moraine ridges in S Iceland (Kirkbridge and Dugmore 2001;Bradwell 2001Bradwell , 2004McKinzey et al 2004;Bradwell et al 2006;Chenet et al , 2011Dąb-ski 2010), and the oldest moraines could have been created in the 18 th or even 17 th centuries, or could have been eroded (Kirkbridge and Winkler 2012). The recession rate, as well as the age of test sites, is shown on Text- fig.…”

Section: Glacial Forelands and Location Of Test Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of the Handysurf E-35B electronic profilometer for the study of weathering micro-relief in glacier forelands in SE Iceland

Dąbski

2015

Acta Geologica Polonica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT:Dąbski, M. 2015. Application of the Handysurf E-35B electronic profilometer for the study of weathering micro-relief in glacier forelands in SE Iceland. Acta Geologica Polonica, 65 (3), 389-401. Warszawa.This article presents the results of weathering micro-roughness measurements performed with the use of a Handysurf E-35B electronic profilometer, a new tool in geomorphological studies. Measurements were performed on glacially abraded basaltic surfaces within the Little Ice Age (LIA) glacial forelands of Hoffelsjökull, Fláajökull, Skálafellsjökull and Virkisjökull in Iceland. Results show a statistical increase in micro-roughness in a direction from the glacial termini to LIA moraines. However, a major change in the micro-roughness of basaltic surfaces only occurs during the first 80 to 100 years since the onset of subaerial weathering. Increase in rock surface micro-roughness is accompanied by an increase in weathering rind thickness and a decrease in Schmidt hammer R-values. Micro-roughness measurements with the use of the Handysurf E-35B can provide insights into initial rates of rock surface micro-relief development. The use of this instrument as a relative dating technique is limited to fine-grained rocks and decadal time-scales of weathering because of the limited range of measureable micro-relief amplitude.

show abstract

Section: Glacial Forelands and Location Of Test Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of the Handysurf E-35B electronic profilometer for the study of weathering micro-relief in glacier forelands in SE Iceland

Dąbski

2015

Acta Geologica Polonica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although currently undated, the absence of thick soils and tephras between them led Gudmundsson (1998) to ascribe them to the LIA period. Lichenometric dating carried out on these moraines by Bradwell (1998), andChenet, Roussel, Jomelli, andGrancher (2010) yielded data consistent with moraine formation in the last 200-300 years. The LIA moraine chronology at Virkisjökull-Falljökull is still uncertain.…”

Section: Virkisjökull-falljökullmentioning

confidence: 73%

The geomorphology of Svínafellsjökull and Virkisjökull-Falljökull glacier forelands, southeast Iceland

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The base digital elevation model (DEM) is compiled from an ice-cap wide airborne LiDAR dataset. The mapped glacial landforms are dominated by sequences of recessional moraines laid down in the mid-Holocene, the Little Ice Age, and the last ∼100 years; the state of landform preservation generally decreasing with age. Interspersed with glaciofluvial sedimentation associated with typical ice-marginal retreat sequences is key geomorphological evidence of high-magnitude volcanogenic outburst floods (jökulhlaups) associated with the eruptions of Öraefajökull in 1362 and 1727 CE. Ice-front retreat has accelerated since c.2005 leaving a rapidly evolving buried-ice landscape in front of Virkisjökull-Falljökull -including an ice-cored esker, a large ice-floored (supraglacial) lake, and numerous actively forming kettle holes and ice caverns. This map could act as a 'reference frame' for geomorphologists studying the temporal evolution of glacial landform-sediment assemblages undergoing rapid change. ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract

“…Thus, the initiation of glacier growth requires topography that exceeds the regional climatic-ELA (or is in close proximity to it if accumulation is derived from snowblow or avalanching) but which also has favourable local topographic characteristics (such as aspect and gradient). The land surface area above the ELA on which glacier ice can accumulate regulates total ice-mass accumulation and thereby governs the distance below the regional climatic-ELA that glaciers are able to extend (Furbish and Andrews, 1984;Kerr, 1993;Kaplan et al, 2009;Chenet et al, 2010;Pratt-Sitaula et al, 2011). In situations where upland topography varies from one region (or drainage basin) to the next, this can allow glaciers to have very different dimensions and to deposit moraines at very different locations and altitudes, despite experiencing similar climatic conditions (Andrews et al, 1970;Barr and Clark, 2012b).…”

Section: Accumulation Area Topography and Glacier Hypsometrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to exerting a control on the downvalley extent of glaciers under fixed climate regimes (as outlined above), accumulation area topography and, by extension, ice mass hypsometry can have an impact on how glaciers respond to fluctuations in climate (Oerlemans, 1989;Kerr, 1993;Chenet et al, 2010;Pratt-Sitaula et al, 2011;Pedersen and Egholm, 2013;Loibl et al, 2014). This is illustrated in the Annapurna region of central Nepal where Pratt-Sitaula et al (2011) found a shift from cryo-arid late glacial conditions (with comparatively low ELA but also low glacier mass turnover) to warmer and wetter early Holocene conditions (with a higher ELA but greater mass turnover), to result in the advance of glaciers with high altitude source areas but the retreat of lower altitude examples (Fig.…”

Section: Hypsometry and Glacier Response To Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

A review of topographic controls on moraine distribution

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ice-marginal moraines are often used to reconstruct the dimensions of former ice masses, which are then used as proxies for palaeoclimate. This approach relies on the assumption that the distribution of moraines in the modern landscape is an accurate reflection of former ice margin positions during climatically controlled periods of ice margin stability. However, the validity of this assumption is open to question, as a number of additional, nonclimatic factors are known to influence moraine distribution. This review considers the role played by topography in this process, with specific focus on moraine formation, preservation, and ease of identification (topoclimatic controls are not considered). Published literature indicates that the importance of topography in regulating moraine distribution varies spatially, temporally, and as a function of the ice mass type responsible for moraine deposition. In particular, in the case of ice sheets and ice caps ( > 1000 km 2 ), one potentially important topographic control on where in a landscape moraines are deposited is erosional feedback, whereby subglacial erosion causes ice masses to become less extensive over successive glacial cycles. For the marine-terminating outlets of such ice masses, fjord geometry also exerts a strong control on where moraines are deposited, promoting their deposition in proximity to valley narrowings, bends, bifurcations, where basins are shallow, and/or in the vicinity of topographic bumps. Moraines formed at the margins of ice sheets and ice caps are likely to be large and readily identifiable in the modern landscape. In the case of icefields and valley glaciers (10-1000 km 2 ), erosional feedback may well play some role in regulating where moraines are deposited, but other factors, including variations in accumulation area topography and the propensity for moraines to form at topographic pinning points, are also likely to be important. This is particularly relevant where land-terminating glaciers extend into piedmont zones (unconfined plains, adjacent to mountain ranges) where large and readily identifiable moraines can be deposited. In the case of cirque glaciers (< 10 km 2 ), erosional feedback is less important, but factors such as topographic controls on the accumulation of redistributed snow and ice and the availability of surface debris, regulate glacier dimensions and thereby determine where moraines are deposited. In such cases, moraines are likely to be small and particularly susceptible to post-depositional modification, sometimes making them difficult to identify in the modern landscape. Based on this review, we suggest that, despite often being difficult to identify, quantify, and mitigate, topographic controls on moraine distribution should be explicitly considered when reconstructing the dimensions of palaeoglaciers and that moraines should be judiciously chosen before being used as indirect proxies for palaeoclimate (i.e., palaeoclimatic inferences should only be drawn from moraines when topographic controls on mora...

show abstract

Asynchronous Little Ice Age glacial maximum extent in southeast Iceland

Cited by 47 publications

References 51 publications

Application of the Handysurf E-35B electronic profilometer for the study of weathering micro-relief in glacier forelands in SE Iceland

Application of the Handysurf E-35B electronic profilometer for the study of weathering micro-relief in glacier forelands in SE Iceland

The geomorphology of Svínafellsjökull and Virkisjökull-Falljökull glacier forelands, southeast Iceland

A review of topographic controls on moraine distribution

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About