A Scanning Electron Microscope Examination of Subglacial Quartz Grains from Camp Century Core, Greenland–A Preliminary Study

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Whalley, W. B., Langway, C. C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1980
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Greenland; Ice Sheet; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000010340; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000010340

Abstract Surface textures and angularity–roundness characteristics of quartz sand grains of till from the base of the Greenland ice sheet at Camp Century were examined with a scanning electron microscope. Two basic populations are revealed; an angular component, which shows grains with edge abrasion and attrition indicative of subglacial grinding, and a well-rounded component with the characteristics of aeolian transport. It is suggested that these two populations were mixed subglacially, the aeolian fraction having been produced at some stage before the ice sheet encroached over the area of their deposition.