Morphology, flow dynamics and evolution of englacial conduits in cold ice
Abstract Meltwater routing through ice masses exerts a fundamental control over glacier dynamics and mass balance, and proglacial hydrology. However, despite recent advances in mapping drainage systems in cold, Arctic glaciers, direct observations of englacial channels and their flow conditions rema...
Published in: | Earth Surface Processes and Landforms |
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crwiley:10.1002/esp.5494 2024-06-02T08:01:49+00:00 Morphology, flow dynamics and evolution of englacial conduits in cold ice Kamintzis, Jayne E. Irvine‐Fynn, Tristram D. L. Holt, Tom O. Jones, John P. P. Porter, Philip R. Jennings, Stephen J. A. Naegeli, Kathrin Hubbard, Bryn Leverhulme Trust 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.5494 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/esp.5494 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/esp.5494 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Earth Surface Processes and Landforms volume 48, issue 2, page 415-432 ISSN 0197-9337 1096-9837 journal-article 2022 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5494 2024-05-03T11:32:38Z Abstract Meltwater routing through ice masses exerts a fundamental control over glacier dynamics and mass balance, and proglacial hydrology. However, despite recent advances in mapping drainage systems in cold, Arctic glaciers, direct observations of englacial channels and their flow conditions remain sparse. Here, using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) surveys of the main englacial channel of cold‐based Austre Brøggerbreen (Svalbard), we map and compare an entrance moulin reach (122 m long) and exit portal reach (273 m long). Analysis of channel planforms, longitudinal profiles, cross‐sections and morphological features reveals evidence of spatial variations in water flow conditions and channel incision mechanisms, and the presence of vadose, epiphreatic and phreatic conditions. The entrance reach, located at the base of a perennial moulin, was characterized by vadose, uniform, channel lowering at annual timescales, evidenced by longitudinal grooves, whereas the exit portal reach showed both epiphreatic and vadose conditions, along with upstream knickpoint migration at intra‐annual timescales. Fine‐scale features, including grooves and scallops, were readily quantified from the TLS point cloud, highlighting the capacity of the technique to inform palaeoflow conditions, and reveal how pulses of meltwater from rainfall events may adjust englacial conduit behaviour. With forecasts of increasing Arctic precipitation in the coming decades, and a progressively greater proportion of glaciers comprising cold ice, augmenting the current knowledge of englacial channel morphology is essential to constrain future glacier hydrological system change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier Svalbard Wiley Online Library Arctic Svalbard Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 48 2 415 432 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Meltwater routing through ice masses exerts a fundamental control over glacier dynamics and mass balance, and proglacial hydrology. However, despite recent advances in mapping drainage systems in cold, Arctic glaciers, direct observations of englacial channels and their flow conditions remain sparse. Here, using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) surveys of the main englacial channel of cold‐based Austre Brøggerbreen (Svalbard), we map and compare an entrance moulin reach (122 m long) and exit portal reach (273 m long). Analysis of channel planforms, longitudinal profiles, cross‐sections and morphological features reveals evidence of spatial variations in water flow conditions and channel incision mechanisms, and the presence of vadose, epiphreatic and phreatic conditions. The entrance reach, located at the base of a perennial moulin, was characterized by vadose, uniform, channel lowering at annual timescales, evidenced by longitudinal grooves, whereas the exit portal reach showed both epiphreatic and vadose conditions, along with upstream knickpoint migration at intra‐annual timescales. Fine‐scale features, including grooves and scallops, were readily quantified from the TLS point cloud, highlighting the capacity of the technique to inform palaeoflow conditions, and reveal how pulses of meltwater from rainfall events may adjust englacial conduit behaviour. With forecasts of increasing Arctic precipitation in the coming decades, and a progressively greater proportion of glaciers comprising cold ice, augmenting the current knowledge of englacial channel morphology is essential to constrain future glacier hydrological system change. |
author2 |
Leverhulme Trust |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kamintzis, Jayne E. Irvine‐Fynn, Tristram D. L. Holt, Tom O. Jones, John P. P. Porter, Philip R. Jennings, Stephen J. A. Naegeli, Kathrin Hubbard, Bryn |
spellingShingle |
Kamintzis, Jayne E. Irvine‐Fynn, Tristram D. L. Holt, Tom O. Jones, John P. P. Porter, Philip R. Jennings, Stephen J. A. Naegeli, Kathrin Hubbard, Bryn Morphology, flow dynamics and evolution of englacial conduits in cold ice |
author_facet |
Kamintzis, Jayne E. Irvine‐Fynn, Tristram D. L. Holt, Tom O. Jones, John P. P. Porter, Philip R. Jennings, Stephen J. A. Naegeli, Kathrin Hubbard, Bryn |
author_sort |
Kamintzis, Jayne E. |
title |
Morphology, flow dynamics and evolution of englacial conduits in cold ice |
title_short |
Morphology, flow dynamics and evolution of englacial conduits in cold ice |
title_full |
Morphology, flow dynamics and evolution of englacial conduits in cold ice |
title_fullStr |
Morphology, flow dynamics and evolution of englacial conduits in cold ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Morphology, flow dynamics and evolution of englacial conduits in cold ice |
title_sort |
morphology, flow dynamics and evolution of englacial conduits in cold ice |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.5494 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/esp.5494 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/esp.5494 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic glacier Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier Svalbard |
op_source |
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms volume 48, issue 2, page 415-432 ISSN 0197-9337 1096-9837 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5494 |
container_title |
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms |
container_volume |
48 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
415 |
op_container_end_page |
432 |
_version_ |
1800746308691034112 |