Some Mechanisms of Controlled Moraine Development, Antarctica

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Rains, R. B., Shaw, J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1981
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Victoria Land; Webb; Moraine Ridge; Wright Lower Glacier; Antarc*; Antarctica; Journal of Glaciology; Webb Glacier
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000011278; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000011278

Abstract Contemporary processes of moraine development at the margins of polar glaciers encompass a wide range of subtly different mechanisms. Two types of “controlled” moraine evolution, applicable to hummocks and transverse moraine ridges, are identified from Wright Lower Glacier and Webb Glacier, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Type 1 moraine complexes involve a relatively abundant supply of supraglacial debris, the development of transverse thrust blocks in the ablation-zone ice and the subsequent re-arrangement of ablation debris in ablation cusps and on inactive thrust blocks. Relict landform suites, apparently formed in this manner, reveal large coarse-grained hummocks inset behind moraine ridge remnants. Type 2 moraines may develop where the supply of supraglacial debris is meagre but the growth of ablation cusps concentrates primarily englacial debris into small irregular hummocks. The gravel component of this debris is usually of finer texture than for type 1 deposits, reflecting abrasion/attrition effects of prior englacial transportation. Transverse moraine ridges may or may not be associated with type 2 hummocks, depending on local variations of ice motion, ice decay, and debris supply.