Controls on glacier surging in Svalbard
Abstract The geographical distribution of surge-type glaciers worldwide displays a remarkably non-random pattern. Surge-type glaciers tend to be concentrated in certain glacierized areas and to be completely absent in others. This observation suggests that special conditions are required for surges...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1996
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000030616 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000030616 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000030616 2024-09-15T18:07:56+00:00 Controls on glacier surging in Svalbard Hamilton, Gordon S. Dowdeswell, Julian A. 1996 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000030616 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000030616 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 42, issue 140, page 157-168 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 1996 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000030616 2024-07-24T04:02:51Z Abstract The geographical distribution of surge-type glaciers worldwide displays a remarkably non-random pattern. Surge-type glaciers tend to be concentrated in certain glacierized areas and to be completely absent in others. This observation suggests that special conditions are required for surges to occur. However, the factors controlling the spatial occurrence of surge-type behaviour are not known. To investigate this problem we performed probability statistical analysis on a sample population of 615 glaciers in Svalbard. The probability that a glacier in the sample population is surge-type is 36.4%. Within the sampled area there is a spatial variation in the concentration of surge-type glaciers. Several geometric and environmental factors associated with glaciers in the sample population were measured and tested to determine if they are related to the probability of surging. Of the geometric factors tested (length, slope, elevation, orientation and presence or absence of tributaries), only glacier length is related to surging, with surge probability increasing with increasing length. Elevated probabilities of surging were also found for glaciers associated with sedimentary subglacial rocks and sub-polar thermal regimes. The distributions of related factors were used to predict the spatial distribution of surge-type glaciers. However, in each case the individual factors were unable to reproduce the observed pattern of surge-type glacier distribution. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Journal of Glaciology Svalbard Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 42 140 157 168 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The geographical distribution of surge-type glaciers worldwide displays a remarkably non-random pattern. Surge-type glaciers tend to be concentrated in certain glacierized areas and to be completely absent in others. This observation suggests that special conditions are required for surges to occur. However, the factors controlling the spatial occurrence of surge-type behaviour are not known. To investigate this problem we performed probability statistical analysis on a sample population of 615 glaciers in Svalbard. The probability that a glacier in the sample population is surge-type is 36.4%. Within the sampled area there is a spatial variation in the concentration of surge-type glaciers. Several geometric and environmental factors associated with glaciers in the sample population were measured and tested to determine if they are related to the probability of surging. Of the geometric factors tested (length, slope, elevation, orientation and presence or absence of tributaries), only glacier length is related to surging, with surge probability increasing with increasing length. Elevated probabilities of surging were also found for glaciers associated with sedimentary subglacial rocks and sub-polar thermal regimes. The distributions of related factors were used to predict the spatial distribution of surge-type glaciers. However, in each case the individual factors were unable to reproduce the observed pattern of surge-type glacier distribution. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hamilton, Gordon S. Dowdeswell, Julian A. |
spellingShingle |
Hamilton, Gordon S. Dowdeswell, Julian A. Controls on glacier surging in Svalbard |
author_facet |
Hamilton, Gordon S. Dowdeswell, Julian A. |
author_sort |
Hamilton, Gordon S. |
title |
Controls on glacier surging in Svalbard |
title_short |
Controls on glacier surging in Svalbard |
title_full |
Controls on glacier surging in Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
Controls on glacier surging in Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Controls on glacier surging in Svalbard |
title_sort |
controls on glacier surging in svalbard |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000030616 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000030616 |
genre |
glacier Journal of Glaciology Svalbard |
genre_facet |
glacier Journal of Glaciology Svalbard |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 42, issue 140, page 157-168 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000030616 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
42 |
container_issue |
140 |
container_start_page |
157 |
op_container_end_page |
168 |
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1810445289637543936 |