Formation of the Neoglacial Surge Moraines of the Klutlan Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada

Abstract The Klutlan Glacier is a valley glacier 82-km long emerging from the Icefield Ranges of the St. Elias Mountains. It is one of at least 200 surging glaciers identified in western North America. During about the past 1200 yr, the glacier has deposited at its terminus a series of at least 7 su...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary Research
Main Author: Driscoll, Fletcher G.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1980
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(80)90004-6
http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589480900046?httpAccept=text/xml
http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589480900046?httpAccept=text/plain
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003358940001557X
Description
Summary:Abstract The Klutlan Glacier is a valley glacier 82-km long emerging from the Icefield Ranges of the St. Elias Mountains. It is one of at least 200 surging glaciers identified in western North America. During about the past 1200 yr, the glacier has deposited at its terminus a series of at least 7 surge-related Neoglacial ice-cored moraines. Lithologic characteristics of the Klutlan moraines suggest that they have resulted principally from the surging of the tributary Nesham Glacier, which periodically injects a lobe of medial and lateral moraines and the underlying ice into a more slowly moving Klutlan ice stream. Subsequent surges of the main ice carry the Nesham surge lobes to the Klutlan terminus as discrete geomorphic features. For the past 400 yr a Nesham lobe has reached the Klutlan terminus at approximately 80-yr intervals.