Submarine Landforms in a Surge-Type Tidewater Glacier Regime, Engelskbukta, Svalbard, 2012

• Main Authors: George Roth, Riko Noormets, Ross Powell, Julie Brigham-Grette, Miles Logsdon
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Arctic Data Center 2013
• Subjects: EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > SEDIMENTS; EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > WATER TEMPERATURE; EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIER MASS BALANCE/ICE SHEET MASS BALANCE; EARTH SCIENCE > PALEOCLIMATE > OCEAN/LAKE RECORDS > LAKE LEVELS; EARTH SCIENCE > PALEOCLIMATE > LAND RECORDS > SEDIMENTS; EARTH SCIENCE > PALEOCLIMATE > OCEAN/LAKE RECORDS > SEDIMENTS; EARTH SCIENCE > PALEOCLIMATE > OCEAN/LAKE RECORDS > VARVE DEPOSITS; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > DEGRADATION; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > SEDIMENT TRANSPORT; EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIER MASS BALANCE/ICE SHEET MASS BALANCE; EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > MARINE SEDIMENTS > SEDIMENT TRANSPORT; EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > MARINE SEDIMENTS > TURBIDITY; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LAND TEMPERATURE > LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > ENTRAINMENT; EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIERS; EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIERS; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > SEDIMENTATION; EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > FROZEN GROUND > SOIL TEMPERATURE; EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > FROZEN GROUND > PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES; EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > SUSPENDED SOLIDS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > CONDUCTIVITY SENSORS > CONDUCTIVITY METERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > SAMPLERS > GRABBERS/TRAPS/COLLECTORS > SEDIMENT TRAPS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS > PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING > PROFILERS/SOUNDERS > TEMPERATURE PROFILERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > CORERS > SEDIMENT CORERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > RECORDERS/LOGGERS > TEMPERATURE LOGGERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > GAUGES > STREAM GAUGES; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS > PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING > POSITIONING/NAVIGATION > GPS > GPS > GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS > ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING > PROFILERS/SOUNDERS > ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS > ECHO SOUNDERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > PROBES > PROBES; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > CORERS > CORING DEVICES; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > PROBES > STEEL MEASURING TAPE; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > CURRENT/WIND METERS > CURRENT METERS; MANNED FIELD STATION; HOURLY TO DAILY; DAILY TO WEEKLY; ANNUAL; 1 MINUTE TO 1 HOUR; MONTHLY TO ANNUAL; WEEKLY TO MONTHLY; inlandWaters; oceans; environment; climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere; Arctic; Svalbard; Jan Mayen; Comfortlessbreen; Arctic Archipelago; glacier; Ice Sheet; Iceberg*; North Atlantic; Tidewater
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.18739/A2ZK55K85

Though surge-type glaciers make up a small percentage of the world’s outlet glaciers, they have the potential to further destabilize the larger ice caps and ice sheets that feed them during a surge. Currently, mechanics that control the duration and ice flux from a surge remain poorly understood. Here, we examine submarine glacial landforms in bathymetric data from Engelskbukta, a bay sculpted by the advance and retreat of Comfortlessbreen, a surge-type glacier in Svalbard, a high Arctic archipelago where surge-type glaciers are especially prevalent. These landforms and their spatial and temporal relationships, and mass balance from the end of the last glacial maximum, known as the Late Weichselian in Northern Europe, to the present. Beyond the landforms representing modern proglacial sedimentation and active iceberg scouring, distinct assemblages of transverse and parallel crosscutting moraines denote past glacier termini and flow direction. By comparing their positions with dated deposits on land, these assemblages help establish the chronology of Comfortlessbreen’s surging and retreat. Additional deformations on the seafloor showcase subterranean Engelskbukta as the site of active thermogenic gas seeps. We discuss the limitations of local sedimentation and data resolution on the use of bathymetric datasets to interpret the past behavior of surging tidewater glaciers.