Start |Author Index | View Uploaded Presentations | Meeting Information

2015 GSA Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA (1-4 November 2015)

Paper No. 283-3
Presentation Time: 8:40 AM

SURGING GLACIERS IN ICELAND – RESEARCH STATUS AND FUTURE CHALLENGES


INGOLFSSON, Olafur1, BENEDIKTSSON, Ivar Orn2, SCHOMACKER, Anders3, KJAER, Kurt H.4, BRYNJOLFSSON, Skafti5, JONSSON, Sverrir A.6, KORSGAARD, Niels J.4 and JOHNSON, Mark D.7, (1)Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 7, Reykjavik, Is-101, Iceland; Department of Arctic Geology, University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), P.O.Box 156, Longyearbyen, 9171, Norway, (2)Department of Geology, Lund university, Sölvegatan 12, Lund, SE-223 62, Sweden, (3)Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen, DK-1350, Denmark, (4)Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, Copenhagen, DK-1350, Denmark, (5)Department of Geology, NTNU, Sem Sælands veg 1, Trondheim, N-7491, Norway, (6)Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 7, Reykjavik, 101, Iceland, (7)Earth Science, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, 405 30 Göteborg, Göteborg, 405 30, Sweden, olafuri@unis.no

The temperate surging glaciers of Iceland probably provide the best modern analogue we have to terrestrial ice streams in the geological record. The geomorphic signatures left by the Icelandic surging glaciers vary and range from glaciotectonic end moraines formed by folding and thrusting, hill-hole pairs, crevasse-fill ridges, concertina eskers, drumlins, and fluted forefields to extensive dead-ice fields and even drift sheets where fast ice-flow indicators are largely missing. We outline some outstanding research questions and case studies from Icelandic surge-type glaciers, including how rapid ice flow is sustained through a surge, processes that control the development of the surging glacier landsystem and the geological evidence of surges found in sediments and landforms. Finally, we examine if it is possible to scale-up present-day surging glaciers processes/landforms/landsystems for applying to past ice streams and discuss the evidence for climate/mass-balance control on surge initiation, duration and frequency.

Session No. 283

T191. Reconstructing Arctic Glaciers and Ice Sheets: Chronology, Geomorphology, and Climate Records
Wednesday, 4 November 2015: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Room 307 (Baltimore Convention Center)
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 47, No. 7, p.712
© Copyright 2015 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.
Back to: T191. Reconstructing Arctic Glaciers and Ice Sheets: Chronology, Geomorphology, and Climate Records
<< Previous Abstract | Next Abstract >>