ESTIMATION OF THE WANDA GLACIER (SOUTH SHETLANDS) SEDIMENT EROSION RATE USING NUMERICAL MODELLING

• Published in: Revista Brasileira de Geomorfologia
• Main Authors: Kátia Kellem Rosa, Rosemary Vieira, Jefferson Cardia Simões
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: União da Geomorfologia Brasileira 2013
• Subjects: numeric model glacial erosion; glacial sediment production rate; glacial dynamics; climatic variability; Geology; QE1-996.5; King George Island
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.20502/rbg.v13i4.288; https://doaj.org/article/db13d5d4457141fd9b93304b5804d109

Glacial sediment yield results from glacial erosion and is influenced by several factors including glacial retreat rate, ice flow velocity and thermal regime. This paper estimates the contemporary subglacial erosion rate and sediment yield of Wanda Glacier (King George Island, South Shetlands). This work also examines basal sediment evacuation mechanisms by runoff and glacial erosion processes during the subglacial transport. This is small temperate glacier that has seen retreating for the last decades. In this work, we examine basal sediment evacuation mechanisms by runoff and analyze glacial erosion processes occurring during subglacial transport. The glacial erosion rate at Wanda Glacier, estimated using a numerical model that consider sediment evacuated to outlet streams, ice flow velocity, ice thickness and glacier area, is 1.1 ton m yr -1 .