Glacial flutings in bedrock, an observation

• Main Authors: In East Greenland, Svend Funder
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Greenland; Harefjord; Scoresby; Scoresby Sund; Sund; glacier
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.541.5873; http://2dgf.dk/xpdf/bull27-01-02-9-13.pdf

Large scale glacial flutings cover an area of 4 X 1.5 km on the northern shore of Harefjord in the interior Scoresby Sund fjord complex. The flutings are modelled in coarse sandstone and conglomerates, a few small features are probably composed of till. The ridges measure up to 2000 m in length and 5 m in height and occur between 50 and 250 m above sea level in the gently sloping lowland area adjacent to the fjord. They were probably formed beneath the lateral part of the former Harefjord-Glacier which receded rapidly in the fjord and exposed the area at c. 7500 years BP. Large scale glacial flutings have not been recorded before in Greenland, but seem to be of common occurrence in parts of North America. They have probably been formed near the margin of actively moving glaciers, and secondary flow in the basal ice may have played an important role.