Glacial geomorphology of the terrestrial margins of the tidewater glacier, Nordenskiöldbreen, Svalbard

Abstract

A 1:4000 scale map of the terrestrial margins of the foreland of Nordenskiöldbreen depicts a polythermal glacial landsystem containing a record of the landform signatures of individual ice flow units that operate within the glacier snout. A 1:700 map provides a detailed overview of fluted terrain, based on unmanned aerial vehicle images captured in 2014. The pattern of landforms lying inside the Little Ice Age (LIA) latero-frontal moraine on the northern side of the fjord comprises a fluted till surface, which in turn grades into icemoulded bedrock. This signature records the recession of a single, wide ice flow unit, which was characterised by limited incorporation of subglacial material and restricted delivery of supraglacial debris. Inside the latero-frontal moraine on the south side of the fjord, a fluted surface is subordinate to a pronounced and large ice-cored moraine complex related to the confluence of five narrower ice flow units, each of which transported significant quantities of englacial and supraglacial debris at their suture zones as a series of longitudinal debris stripes. The suite of foreland landforms is diagnostic of both temperate subglacial and frozen-snout conditions, indicating the operation of a warm polythermal glacier fed by multiple flow units during the LIA. ARTICLE HISTORY

Reconstruction of Loch Lomond Stadial (Younger Dryas) glaciers on Ben More Coigach, north-west Scotland, and implications for reconstructing palaeoclimate using small ice masses

“…Geomorphological mapping was conducted using a combination of remote-sensing and field mapping, which is an established procedure in glacial geomorphology (e.g. Hubbard and Glasser, 2005;Boston, 2012;Darvill et al, 2014;Pearce et al, 2014;Chandler et al, 2016;Ewertowski et al, 2016). Mapping focused on identifying landforms that could be employed to reconstruct discrete ice masses.…”

New fjords, new coasts, new landscapes: The geomorphology of paraglacial coasts formed after recent glacier retreat in Brepollen (Hornsund, southern Svalbard)

“…However, the efficiency of these processes in geomorphic change is still unknown. The only known examples of rocky paraglacial coastal systems in Svalbard had been reported from Billefjorden, where Strzelecki (2011) mapped a cliffed coast of recently exposed roches moutonnées and Ewertowski et al (2016) distinguished sections of ice-moulded bedrock coasts in front of the Nordenskioldbreen.…”

“…Recent years brought a major advance in glacial landscape mapping and transformation of marginal zones of tidewater glaciers in a number of key fjord systems of Svalbard (e.g. Lønne, 2006;Ewertowski et al, 2016;Farnsworth et al, 2016;Lovell et al, 2018;Aradóttir et al, 2019). Although the majority of those studies presented new examples of paraglacial degradation of glacial margins, little or no attention was paid to the coastal landforms derived from remodelling of glacial landforms by marine processes.…”

Dynamic Response of a High Arctic Glacier to Melt and Runoff Variations

“…The glacier covers an elevation range from sea level to about 1200 m above sea level (asl), and largest ice thickness (up to around 600 m) is found in an overdeepening between Terrierfjellet and De Geerfjellet ( (Van Pelt et al, 2012). Unlike neighboring outlet glacier Tunabreen, Nordenskiöldbreen is not a surge-type glacier, at least no surges have occurred since the termination of the Little Ice Age according to analysis of foreland landforms (Ewertowski et al, 2016). Unlike neighboring outlet glacier Tunabreen, Nordenskiöldbreen is not a surge-type glacier, at least no surges have occurred since the termination of the Little Ice Age according to analysis of foreland landforms (Ewertowski et al, 2016).…”