Geological and Geomorphological Indicators of the Surge Behavior of the Aldegonda Glacier (West Spitsbergen) in the Little Ice Age
https://doi.org/10.31857/S0435428120010071
Abstract
On the basis of landform analysis of the Aldegonda Glacier proglacial zone, geomorphological indicators of its surge behavior in the Little Ice Age were proposed based on the features and rates of ice propagation and degradation during the phases of advance and retreat. These features were reconstructed from the configuration and location of lateral and terminal moraines (submarine and terrestrial) and according to historical data. Two different age generations of the left lateral moraine ridges were distinguished. The young lateral moraine dated to the Little Ice Age is oriented parallel to the axis of the glacier movement, and the ancient one (older than 12 ka) is at an angle to it. The difference in orientation is due to the different rate of the glacier movement that was slower before 12 ka ago and faster at 700–100 years ago. Different mechanisms were established for the formation of two terminal moraines: pushing (below sea level) and dumping (on land). The first one was interpreted as the result of rapid glacier advance, and the second one – as the result of the stabilization of the glacier front during the areal degradation of the terrestrial part of the glacier’s advanced tongue, followed by a rapid retreat of the front, as established by historical information. Landforms-indicators, such as fluted moraine and crevasse-fill ridges were suggested as the additional geomorphological features of surge behavior.
Keywords
lateral moraines,
marginal zone,
glacial landforms,
palaeosurge,
submarine end moraine ridge,
surge glacier
Supporting agencies: The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research project № 16-35-00274 мол_a and by Faculty of Geography MSU (AAAA-A16-116032810055-0). Participation of B.R. Mavlyudov supported within the framework of the State contracts No. 0148-2019-0004 (AAAA-A19-119022190172-5), 01272019-0009 and by IAEA project INT5153.
About the Authors
O. V. Kokin
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography
Russian Federation
Moscow
Russian Federation
Moscow
B. R. Mavlyudov
Institute of Geography RAS
Russian Federation
Moscow
Russian Federation
Moscow
References
1. Dolgushin L.D. and Osipova G.B. Pul’siruyushchie ledniki (Surging glaciers). Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat (Publ.), 1982. 192 p. (in Russ.)
2. Glyatsiologicheskii slovar' (Dictionary of Glaciology). Ed.: V.M. Kotlyakov. Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat (Publ.), 1984. 528 p. (in Russ.)
3. Dowdeswell J.A., Hamilton G.S., and Hagen J.O. The duration of the active phase on surge-type glaciers: contrasts between Svalbard and other regions. J. Glaciology. 1991. Vol. 37. No. 127. P. 388–400. DOI: 10.3189/S0022143000005827
4. Jiskoot H., Murray T., and Boyle P. Control on the distribution of surge-type glaciers in Svalbard. J. Glaciology. 2000. Vol. 46. No. 154. p. 412–422. DOI: 10.3189/172756500781833115
5. Hagen J.O., Liestøl O., Roland E., and Jørgensen T. Glacier Atlas of Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Meddelelser. № 129. Oslo: Norsk Polarinstitutt (Publ.), 1993. 141 p.
6. Mavlyudov B.R. Pul’siruyushchie ledniki arkhipelaga Shpitsbergen (Surging glaciers of the Svalbard archipelago), in Kompleksnye issledovaniya prirody Shpitsbergena (Complex investigations of the Spitsbergen nature). Iss. 7. Apatity: KNC RAN (Publ.), 2007. P. 177–187. (in Russ.)
7. Kokin O.V. Geologo-geomorfologicheskaya deyatel’nost' pul’siruyushchikh lednikov (Geological and geomorphologic effects of surging glaciers). Vestn. Mosk. Univ. Ser. 5 Geogr. 2011. No. 1. P. 22–27. (in Russ.)
8. Evans D.J.A. and Rea B.R. Geomorphology and sedimentology of surging glaciers: a land-systems approach. Annals of Glaciology. 1999. Vol. 28. P. 75–82. DOI: 10.3189/172756499781821823
9. Evans D.J.A. and Rea B.R. Surging glacier landsystem, in Glacial Landsystems. London: Arnold (Publ.), 2003. P. 259–288. DOI: 10.4324/9780203784976
10. Van Mijenfjorden, Blad B10. Svalbard 1:100 000. Tromsø: Norsk Polarinstitutt (Publ.), 2000.
11. Van Mijenfjorden, Blad B10. Svalbard 1:100 000. Tromsø: Norsk Polarinstitutt (Publ.), 2004.
12. Oledenenie Shpitsbergena (Sval’barda) (Glaciation of Spitsbergen (Svalbard)). L.S. Troitskii, E.M. Zinger, V.S. Koryakin, V.A. Markin and V.I. Mikhalev. Ed. Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 1975. 276 p. (in Russ.)
13. Glyatsiologiya Shpitsbergena (Glaciology of Spitsbergen). V.M. Kotlyakov. Ed. Moscow: Nauka, 1985. 200 p. (in Russ.)
14. Gohman V.V. Vodno-ledovyi balans Shpitsbergena (Water-ice balance of Spitsbergen): PhD thesis. Moscow: IG AN SSSR (Publ.), 1990. 218 p. (in Russ.)
15. Vasilenko E.V., Glazovskij A.F., Macheret Yu.Ya., Navarro F.Kh., Tokarev M.Yu., Kalashnikov A.Yu., Miroshnichenko D.E., and Reznikov D.S. Radiofizicheskie issledovaniya lednika Al’degonda na Shpitsbergene v 1999 g. (Radiophysical studies of the Aldegonda glacier on Spitsbergen in 1999). Mat. Gljac. Issled. 2001. Iss. 90. P. 86–99. (in Russ.)
16. Mavlyudov B.R. Nekotorye svedeniya o gidrologii lednika Al’degonda (Shpitsbergen) (Some information about the hydrology of the Aldegonda glacier (Spitsbergen)), in Kompleksnye issledovaniya prirody Shpitsbergena. Vyp. 2. (Complex investigations of the Spitsbergen nature). Iss. 2. Apatity: KNC RAN (Publ.), 2002. P. 120–125.
17. Mavlyudov B.R. O degradatsii gorno-dolinnykh lednikov Shpitsbergena (About degradation of mountain and valley glaciers of Spitsbergen), in Kompleksnye issledovaniya prirody Shpitsbergena (Complex investigations of the Spitsbergen nature). Iss. 4. Apatity: KNC RAN (Publ.), 2004. P. 207–216.
18. Mavlyudov B.R. O sistemakh drenazha lednikov Shpitsbergena (On the drainage systems of the Spitsbergen glaciers), in Arktika i Antarktika (Arctic and Antarctica). Iss. 3. № 37. Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 2004. P. 67–79.
19. Solov’yanova I.Yu. and Mavlyudov B.R. Nekotorye osobennosti rasprostraneniya poverkhnostnykh vodotokov na lednikakh o. Zapadnyi Shpitsbergen (Some features of the surface water streams distribution on the glaciers of West Spitsbergen island), in Kompleksnye issledovaniya prirody Shpitsbergena (Complex investigations of the Spitsbergen nature). Iss. 4. Apatity: KNC RAN (Publ.), 2004. P. 216–229.
20. Tarasov G.A., Kokin O.V., and Pol’shin V.V. K voprosu formirovaniya lednikovo-periglyatsial’nykh otlozhenii v raione zaliva Gren-f’ord (Zapadnyi Shpitsbergen) (Revisiting development of glacialperiglacial sediments near the Grøn-fyord Bay (West Spitsbergen)), in Kompleksnye issledovaniya prirody Shpitsbergena (Complex investigations of the Spitsbergen nature). Iss. 6. Apatity: KNC RAN (Publ.), 2006. P. 143–151.
21. Mavlyudov B.R. and Kokin O.V. Byl li lednik Al’degonda (Zapadnyi Shpitsbergen) pul’siruyushchim? (Was the Aldegonda glacier (West Spitsbergen) a surging glacier?), in Priroda shel’fa i arkhipelagov Evropeiskoi Arktiki (Nature of the shelf and archipelagoes of the European Arctic). Iss. 8. Moscow: GEOS (Publ.), 2008. P. 222–226.
22. Isachsen G. Exploration du Nord-Ouest du Spitsberg entreprise sous les auspices de S.A.S. le Prince de Monaco par la Mission Isachsen. 1st part. Resultats des Campagnes Scientifiques Prince Albert de Monaco. 1912. 113 p.
23. Prospekt A/S De Norske Kulfelter Green harbour (No. 5). Tromsø Statsarkiv, SNSK’s archive. 1912. Vol. 455.
24. Tarasov G.A. and Kokin O.V. Vremya poslednei podvizhki i khod posleduyushchei deglyatsiatsii lednika Grenf’ord (Zapadnyi Shpitsbergen) The age of the last advance and the evolution of subsequent deglaciation of Grønfjord Glacier (West Spitsbergen). Vestn. YuNC RAN. 2010. Vol. 6. No. 3. P. 34–38. (in Russ.)
25. Kokin O.V. and Kirillova A.V. Rekonstruktsiya dinamiki lednika Grenf’ord (Zapadnyi Shpitsbergen) v golotsene (The dynamic reconstruction of Grønfjordbreen glacier (West Spitsbergen) in Holocene). Led i Sneg. 2017. Vol. 57. No. 2. P. 241–252 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.15356/2076-6734-2017-2241-252
26. Sharin V.V., Kokin O.V., Gusev E.A., Okunev A.S., Arslanov Kh.A., and Maksimov F.E. Novye geokhronologicheskie dannye chetvertichnykh otlozhenii severo-zapadnoi chasti Zemli Nordenshel’da (arkhipelag Shpitsbergen) New geochronological data of Quaternary deposits of north-western part of the Nordenskiöld Land (Spitsbergen archipelago). Vestn. SPbGU. Ser. 7. Geol. Geogr. 2014. Iss. 1. P. 158–167. (in Russ.)
27. Kokin O. The evidences of the Pre-Holocene glacier advance in West Spitsbergen, in Quaternary Glacial and Climate Extremes. V Int. Conf. “Arctic Palaeoclimate and its Extremes” (APEX). Longyearbyen. 2011. P. 84–85.
28. Kirillova A.V. and Kokin O.V. Rel’efoobrazovanie v khode aktivnoi fazy sovremennykh lednikovykh pul’satsii na Zapadnom Shpitsbergene (na primere lednika Komfortless) (Landforms formation during active phase of modern glacial surges in West Spitsbergen (the example of Comforlessbreen)), in Teoriya i metody sovremennoi geomorfologii (Theory and methods of modern geomorphology). XXXV Plenum of the Geomorphology Committee RAS. Simferopol, 2016. Vol. 2. P. 373–377.
29. Kokin O.V. and Mavlyudov B.R. Rel’ef podvodnogo beregovogo sklona zapadnogo poberezh’ya Grenf’orda (uchastok r. Bryude – r. Al’degonda) (The relief of the underwater coastal slope of the western coast of the Grønfjord (section from the river Bruide to the river Aldegonda)), in Problemy morskoi paleoekologii i biogeografii v epokhu global’nykh izmenenii. Kompleksnye issledovaniya prirody Shpitsbergena (Problems of marine paleoecology and biogeography in the era of global change. Complex investigations of the Spitsbergen nature). Iss. 9. Moscow: GEOS (Publ.), 2009. P. 283–290.
30. Gnilorybov N.A. Ugol’nye shakhty Shpitsbergena (The coal mines of Spitsbergen). Moscow: Nedra (Publ.), 1988. 188 p.
31. Dowdeswell J.A., Hodkins R., Nutall A.-M., Hagen J.O. and Hamilton G.S. Mass balance change as a control on the frequency of glacier surges in Svalbard, Norwegian High Arctic. Geophys. Res. Lett. 1995. Vol. 22. No. 21. P. 2909–2912. DOI: 10.1029/95GL02821
Review
For citations:
Kokin O.V., Mavlyudov B.R. Geological and Geomorphological Indicators of the Surge Behavior of the Aldegonda Glacier (West Spitsbergen) in the Little Ice Age. Geomorfologiya. 2020;(1):81-95. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31857/S0435428120010071
Views:
263
Email this article 