What are glacier surges?
A total of 204 surging glaciers has been identified in western North America. These glaciers surge repeatedly and probably with uniform periods (from about 15 to greater than 100 years). Ice flow rates during the active phase may range from about 150 m/year to > 6 km/year, and horizontal displace...
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1969
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/e69-081 2024-09-15T18:07:35+00:00 What are glacier surges? Meier, Mark F. Post, Austin 1969 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e69-081 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e69-081 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 6, issue 4, page 807-817 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 journal-article 1969 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/e69-081 2024-08-29T04:08:50Z A total of 204 surging glaciers has been identified in western North America. These glaciers surge repeatedly and probably with uniform periods (from about 15 to greater than 100 years). Ice flow rates during the active phase may range from about 150 m/year to > 6 km/year, and horizontal displacements may range from < 1 to > 11 km. Ice reservoir and ice receiving areas can be defined for surging glaciers, and the reservoir area does not necessarily coincide with the accumulation area. Glaciers of all shapes, sizes, and longitudinal profiles can surge, and no unusual "ice dams" or bedrock constrictions are evident. Surges occur in many different climatic, tectonic, and geologic environments, but only in certain limited areas (mainly in the Alaska, eastern Wrangell, and St. Elias mountains). Three types of surging glaciers are defined: (I) large to moderate-sized glaciers with large displacements and very fast flow, (II) large to moderate glaciers with moderate displacements and flow rates, and (III) small glaciers with small displacements and moderate to fast flow rates. All three types involve an inherent instability which is self-triggered at regular intervals, but with Type I surges an additional (unknown) mechanism produces the very high flow rates. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier glaciers Alaska Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 6 4 807 817 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
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English |
description |
A total of 204 surging glaciers has been identified in western North America. These glaciers surge repeatedly and probably with uniform periods (from about 15 to greater than 100 years). Ice flow rates during the active phase may range from about 150 m/year to > 6 km/year, and horizontal displacements may range from < 1 to > 11 km. Ice reservoir and ice receiving areas can be defined for surging glaciers, and the reservoir area does not necessarily coincide with the accumulation area. Glaciers of all shapes, sizes, and longitudinal profiles can surge, and no unusual "ice dams" or bedrock constrictions are evident. Surges occur in many different climatic, tectonic, and geologic environments, but only in certain limited areas (mainly in the Alaska, eastern Wrangell, and St. Elias mountains). Three types of surging glaciers are defined: (I) large to moderate-sized glaciers with large displacements and very fast flow, (II) large to moderate glaciers with moderate displacements and flow rates, and (III) small glaciers with small displacements and moderate to fast flow rates. All three types involve an inherent instability which is self-triggered at regular intervals, but with Type I surges an additional (unknown) mechanism produces the very high flow rates. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Meier, Mark F. Post, Austin |
spellingShingle |
Meier, Mark F. Post, Austin What are glacier surges? |
author_facet |
Meier, Mark F. Post, Austin |
author_sort |
Meier, Mark F. |
title |
What are glacier surges? |
title_short |
What are glacier surges? |
title_full |
What are glacier surges? |
title_fullStr |
What are glacier surges? |
title_full_unstemmed |
What are glacier surges? |
title_sort |
what are glacier surges? |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1969 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e69-081 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e69-081 |
genre |
glacier glaciers Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier glaciers Alaska |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 6, issue 4, page 807-817 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/e69-081 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
807 |
op_container_end_page |
817 |
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1810444961268629504 |