Oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages of the Arctic coastal plains: glacial landforms modified by thermokarst and solifluction
Abstract Oriented assemblages of parallel ridges and elongated lakes are widespread on the coastal lowlands of northeast Eurasia and Arctic North America, in particular, in Alaska, Arctic Canada, and northeast Siberia. So far, only the oriented lakes have been of much scientific interest. They are b...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247400015503 2024-03-17T08:55:32+00:00 Oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages of the Arctic coastal plains: glacial landforms modified by thermokarst and solifluction Grosswald, Mikhail G. Hughes, Terence J. Lasca, Norman P. 1999 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400015503 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400015503 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 35, issue 194, page 215-230 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development journal-article 1999 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400015503 2024-02-20T00:03:22Z Abstract Oriented assemblages of parallel ridges and elongated lakes are widespread on the coastal lowlands of northeast Eurasia and Arctic North America, in particular, in Alaska, Arctic Canada, and northeast Siberia. So far, only the oriented lakes have been of much scientific interest. They are believed to be formed by thermokarst in perennially frozen ice-rich sediments, while their orientation is accounted for either by impact of modern winds blowing at right angles to long axes of the lakes (when it concerns individual lakes), or by the influence of underlying bedrock structures (in the case of longitudinal and transverse alignment of lake clusters). En masse examination of space images suggests that oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages, not the oriented lakes alone, occur in the Arctic. Hence any theory about their formation should account for the origin and orientation of the assemblages as a whole. The existing hypotheses appear inadequate for this end, so this paper proposes that the assemblages were initially created by glacial activity, that is, by ice sheets that drumlinized and tectonized their beds, as well as by sub- and proglacial meltwater, and then they were modified by thermokarst, solifluction, and aeolian processes. This assumption opens up an avenue by which all known features of oriented landforms in the Arctic can be explained. The paper suggests that the oriented landforms in Siberia and Alaska are largely signatures of a marine Arctic ice sheet that transgressed from the north, while the Baffin Island and Mackenzie Delta forms were created by the respective sectors of the Laurentide ice sheet. The oriented features discussed belong to the last Late Glacial through the Early Holocene. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Baffin Island Baffin Ice Sheet Mackenzie Delta Polar Record Thermokarst Alaska Siberia Cambridge University Press Arctic Baffin Island Canada Mackenzie Delta ENVELOPE(-136.672,-136.672,68.833,68.833) Polar Record 35 194 215 230 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development Grosswald, Mikhail G. Hughes, Terence J. Lasca, Norman P. Oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages of the Arctic coastal plains: glacial landforms modified by thermokarst and solifluction |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
description |
Abstract Oriented assemblages of parallel ridges and elongated lakes are widespread on the coastal lowlands of northeast Eurasia and Arctic North America, in particular, in Alaska, Arctic Canada, and northeast Siberia. So far, only the oriented lakes have been of much scientific interest. They are believed to be formed by thermokarst in perennially frozen ice-rich sediments, while their orientation is accounted for either by impact of modern winds blowing at right angles to long axes of the lakes (when it concerns individual lakes), or by the influence of underlying bedrock structures (in the case of longitudinal and transverse alignment of lake clusters). En masse examination of space images suggests that oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages, not the oriented lakes alone, occur in the Arctic. Hence any theory about their formation should account for the origin and orientation of the assemblages as a whole. The existing hypotheses appear inadequate for this end, so this paper proposes that the assemblages were initially created by glacial activity, that is, by ice sheets that drumlinized and tectonized their beds, as well as by sub- and proglacial meltwater, and then they were modified by thermokarst, solifluction, and aeolian processes. This assumption opens up an avenue by which all known features of oriented landforms in the Arctic can be explained. The paper suggests that the oriented landforms in Siberia and Alaska are largely signatures of a marine Arctic ice sheet that transgressed from the north, while the Baffin Island and Mackenzie Delta forms were created by the respective sectors of the Laurentide ice sheet. The oriented features discussed belong to the last Late Glacial through the Early Holocene. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Grosswald, Mikhail G. Hughes, Terence J. Lasca, Norman P. |
author_facet |
Grosswald, Mikhail G. Hughes, Terence J. Lasca, Norman P. |
author_sort |
Grosswald, Mikhail G. |
title |
Oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages of the Arctic coastal plains: glacial landforms modified by thermokarst and solifluction |
title_short |
Oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages of the Arctic coastal plains: glacial landforms modified by thermokarst and solifluction |
title_full |
Oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages of the Arctic coastal plains: glacial landforms modified by thermokarst and solifluction |
title_fullStr |
Oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages of the Arctic coastal plains: glacial landforms modified by thermokarst and solifluction |
title_full_unstemmed |
Oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages of the Arctic coastal plains: glacial landforms modified by thermokarst and solifluction |
title_sort |
oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages of the arctic coastal plains: glacial landforms modified by thermokarst and solifluction |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400015503 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400015503 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-136.672,-136.672,68.833,68.833) |
geographic |
Arctic Baffin Island Canada Mackenzie Delta |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Baffin Island Canada Mackenzie Delta |
genre |
Arctic Baffin Island Baffin Ice Sheet Mackenzie Delta Polar Record Thermokarst Alaska Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic Baffin Island Baffin Ice Sheet Mackenzie Delta Polar Record Thermokarst Alaska Siberia |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 35, issue 194, page 215-230 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400015503 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
194 |
container_start_page |
215 |
op_container_end_page |
230 |
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1793764019167821824 |