Determining the extent of pressurized flow beneath Storglaciären, Sweden, using results of tracer experiments and measurements of input and output discharge

Abstract Two experiments were conducted on the drainage system beneath the Lower part of the ablation zone of Storglaciären, a small valley glacier in northern Sweden. In the first experiment, over 70 tracer tests were performed in a cluster of moulins during a 1 month period, at sub-daily intervals...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Glaciology
Main Author: Kohler, Jack
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1995
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000016129
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000016129
Description
Summary:Abstract Two experiments were conducted on the drainage system beneath the Lower part of the ablation zone of Storglaciären, a small valley glacier in northern Sweden. In the first experiment, over 70 tracer tests were performed in a cluster of moulins during a 1 month period, at sub-daily intervals. In the second experiment, input- and output-discharge signals were measured on the supraglacial melt stream emptying into a moulin and on the proglacial stream to which the moulin drains. The data from these two experiments are used in an idealized model of the subglacial drainage system to calculate the percentage of the system flowing as an open channel. Results from the tracer experiment suggest that the system is pressurized to within 60-340 m of the snout, while analysis of the discharge data indicates pressurized ronduits to within 0-415 m of the snout.