Comparisons of Ogive Systems Under Various Regimes

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Atherton, David
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1963
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000028082; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000028082

Abstract It is suggested that the dark and light bands associated with a wave ogive system are the result of preferential adsorption of wind-blown dust by interstitial water held in narrow coarsely crystalline bands, which are more frequent in the dark bands. These narrow bands are presumed to be produced by regelation on the closure of extensive crevasses in the cwm zone above the ice fall and that, although originally uniformly distributed, there is a bunching effect caused by velocity fluctuations in the glacier at the top of the ice fall. These velocity fluctuations, which are attenuated by irregularities in the glacier’s bed, produce waves at these points, multiple irregularities producing multiple wave systems.