Quartz grain features in modern glacial and proglacial environments: A microscopic study from the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland
Abstract It is assumed that close to the margins of ice-sheets, glacial, fluvial and aeolian processes overlap, and combined with weathering processes, produce numerous sediments, in which quartz is a common mineral. Quartz grains, if available, may serve as a powerful tool in determining the deposi...
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Walter de Gruyter GmbH
2017
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crdegruyter:10.1515/popore-2017-0018 2023-05-15T16:21:17+02:00 Quartz grain features in modern glacial and proglacial environments: A microscopic study from the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland Kalińska-Nartiša, Edyta Lamsters, Kristaps Karušs, Jānis Krievāns, Māris Rečs, Agnis Meija, Raimonds 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/popore-2017-0018 http://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/popore/38/3/article-p265.xml http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/popore.2017.38.issue-3/popore-2017-0018/popore-2017-0018.pdf unknown Walter de Gruyter GmbH http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0 CC-BY-NC-ND Polish Polar Research volume 38, issue 3, page 265-289 ISSN 2081-8262 Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2017 crdegruyter https://doi.org/10.1515/popore-2017-0018 2022-06-16T13:40:16Z Abstract It is assumed that close to the margins of ice-sheets, glacial, fluvial and aeolian processes overlap, and combined with weathering processes, produce numerous sediments, in which quartz is a common mineral. Quartz grains, if available, may serve as a powerful tool in determining the depositional history, transportation mode and postdepositional processes. However, quartz grain studies in some modern glacial areas are still sparse. In this study, we examine for the first time quartz grains sampled from the modern glacial and proglacial environments of the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland in binocular microscope and scanning electron microscope, to analyze their shape, character of surface and microtextures. We debate whether the investigated quartz grains reveal glacial characteristics and to what extent they carry a signal of another transportation and sedimentary processes. Although glacial fracturing and abrasion occur in grain suites, most mechanical origin features are not of a high frequency or freshness, potentially suggesting a reduced shear stress in the glacier from its limited thickness and influence of the pressurized water at the ice-bed. In contrast, the signal that originates from the fluvial environment is much stronger derived by numerous aqueous-induced features present on quartz grain surfaces. Aeolian-induced microtextures on grain surfaces increase among the samples the closest to the ice margin, which may be due to enhanced aeolian activity, but are practically absent in sediments taken from the small scale aeolian landforms. In contrast, aeolian grains have been found in the bigger-size (1.0–2.0 mm) investigated fraction. These grains gained the strongest aeolian abrasion, possibly due to changes in transportation mode. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Polar Research De Gruyter (via Crossref) Greenland Polish Polar Research 38 3 265 289 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
De Gruyter (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crdegruyter |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Kalińska-Nartiša, Edyta Lamsters, Kristaps Karušs, Jānis Krievāns, Māris Rečs, Agnis Meija, Raimonds Quartz grain features in modern glacial and proglacial environments: A microscopic study from the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland |
topic_facet |
Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Abstract It is assumed that close to the margins of ice-sheets, glacial, fluvial and aeolian processes overlap, and combined with weathering processes, produce numerous sediments, in which quartz is a common mineral. Quartz grains, if available, may serve as a powerful tool in determining the depositional history, transportation mode and postdepositional processes. However, quartz grain studies in some modern glacial areas are still sparse. In this study, we examine for the first time quartz grains sampled from the modern glacial and proglacial environments of the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland in binocular microscope and scanning electron microscope, to analyze their shape, character of surface and microtextures. We debate whether the investigated quartz grains reveal glacial characteristics and to what extent they carry a signal of another transportation and sedimentary processes. Although glacial fracturing and abrasion occur in grain suites, most mechanical origin features are not of a high frequency or freshness, potentially suggesting a reduced shear stress in the glacier from its limited thickness and influence of the pressurized water at the ice-bed. In contrast, the signal that originates from the fluvial environment is much stronger derived by numerous aqueous-induced features present on quartz grain surfaces. Aeolian-induced microtextures on grain surfaces increase among the samples the closest to the ice margin, which may be due to enhanced aeolian activity, but are practically absent in sediments taken from the small scale aeolian landforms. In contrast, aeolian grains have been found in the bigger-size (1.0–2.0 mm) investigated fraction. These grains gained the strongest aeolian abrasion, possibly due to changes in transportation mode. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kalińska-Nartiša, Edyta Lamsters, Kristaps Karušs, Jānis Krievāns, Māris Rečs, Agnis Meija, Raimonds |
author_facet |
Kalińska-Nartiša, Edyta Lamsters, Kristaps Karušs, Jānis Krievāns, Māris Rečs, Agnis Meija, Raimonds |
author_sort |
Kalińska-Nartiša, Edyta |
title |
Quartz grain features in modern glacial and proglacial environments: A microscopic study from the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland |
title_short |
Quartz grain features in modern glacial and proglacial environments: A microscopic study from the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland |
title_full |
Quartz grain features in modern glacial and proglacial environments: A microscopic study from the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Quartz grain features in modern glacial and proglacial environments: A microscopic study from the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quartz grain features in modern glacial and proglacial environments: A microscopic study from the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland |
title_sort |
quartz grain features in modern glacial and proglacial environments: a microscopic study from the russell glacier, southwest greenland |
publisher |
Walter de Gruyter GmbH |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/popore-2017-0018 http://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/popore/38/3/article-p265.xml http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/popore.2017.38.issue-3/popore-2017-0018/popore-2017-0018.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Greenland Polar Research |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Polar Research |
op_source |
Polish Polar Research volume 38, issue 3, page 265-289 ISSN 2081-8262 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1515/popore-2017-0018 |
container_title |
Polish Polar Research |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
265 |
op_container_end_page |
289 |
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1766009293621952512 |