Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland, which has been published in final form at 10.1002/esp.3725. This article may be used for non-commercia...
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ftqueenmaryuniv:oai:qmro.qmul.ac.uk:123456789/7720 2023-05-15T16:49:06+02:00 Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland STORRAR, RD Evans, DJA Stokes, CR Ewertowski, M 2015-09-15 http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/7720 https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3725 unknown Earth Surface Processes and Landforms http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/7720 doi:10.1002/esp.3725 This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms following peer review. The version of record is available http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3725/abstract? Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Article 2015 ftqueenmaryuniv https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3725 2022-09-25T20:14:15Z This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland, which has been published in final form at 10.1002/esp.3725. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. This paper uses detailed mapping of eskers to address three questions which are important for reconstructing meltwater behaviour beneath contemporary and ancient ice masses: ‘What controls the morphology of simple and complex esker systems?’, ‘How do esker systems evolve through time?’ and ‘Are esker patterns compatible with groundwater controlled hydraulic spacing of esker tunnels?’. Esker crestlines and widths are mapped on the Breiðamerkurjökull foreland for eight time slices between 1945 and 2007, from high resolution (~50 cm) aerial photography, permitting their long-term morphological evolution to be analysed in a high level of detail. We find that complex eskers develop where meltwater and sediment is abundant, such that sediment clogs channels, forming distributary eskers. Isolated eskers are simpler and smaller and reflect less abundant meltwater and sediment, which is unable to clog channels. Eskers may take several decades to emerge from outwash deposits containing buried ice and can increase or decrease in size when ice surrounding and underlying them melts out. It has been suggested that groundwater–channel coupling dictates the spacing between eskers at Breiðamerkurjökull. Our results do not dispute this, but suggest that the routing of sediment and meltwater through medial moraines is an additional important control on esker location and spacing. These results may be used to better understand the processes surrounding esker formation in a variety of geographical settings, enabling a more detailed understanding of the operation of meltwater drainage systems in sub-marginal zones beneath glaciers and ice sheets. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Queen Mary University of London: Queen Mary Research Online (QMRO) Breiðamerkurjökull ENVELOPE(-16.340,-16.340,64.117,64.117) Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 40 11 1421 1438 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Queen Mary University of London: Queen Mary Research Online (QMRO) |
op_collection_id |
ftqueenmaryuniv |
language |
unknown |
description |
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland, which has been published in final form at 10.1002/esp.3725. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. This paper uses detailed mapping of eskers to address three questions which are important for reconstructing meltwater behaviour beneath contemporary and ancient ice masses: ‘What controls the morphology of simple and complex esker systems?’, ‘How do esker systems evolve through time?’ and ‘Are esker patterns compatible with groundwater controlled hydraulic spacing of esker tunnels?’. Esker crestlines and widths are mapped on the Breiðamerkurjökull foreland for eight time slices between 1945 and 2007, from high resolution (~50 cm) aerial photography, permitting their long-term morphological evolution to be analysed in a high level of detail. We find that complex eskers develop where meltwater and sediment is abundant, such that sediment clogs channels, forming distributary eskers. Isolated eskers are simpler and smaller and reflect less abundant meltwater and sediment, which is unable to clog channels. Eskers may take several decades to emerge from outwash deposits containing buried ice and can increase or decrease in size when ice surrounding and underlying them melts out. It has been suggested that groundwater–channel coupling dictates the spacing between eskers at Breiðamerkurjökull. Our results do not dispute this, but suggest that the routing of sediment and meltwater through medial moraines is an additional important control on esker location and spacing. These results may be used to better understand the processes surrounding esker formation in a variety of geographical settings, enabling a more detailed understanding of the operation of meltwater drainage systems in sub-marginal zones beneath glaciers and ice sheets. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
STORRAR, RD Evans, DJA Stokes, CR Ewertowski, M |
spellingShingle |
STORRAR, RD Evans, DJA Stokes, CR Ewertowski, M Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland |
author_facet |
STORRAR, RD Evans, DJA Stokes, CR Ewertowski, M |
author_sort |
STORRAR, RD |
title |
Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland |
title_short |
Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland |
title_full |
Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland |
title_sort |
controls on the location, morphology and evolution of complex esker systems at decadal timescales, breiðamerkurjökull, southeast iceland |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/7720 https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3725 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-16.340,-16.340,64.117,64.117) |
geographic |
Breiðamerkurjökull |
geographic_facet |
Breiðamerkurjökull |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/7720 doi:10.1002/esp.3725 |
op_rights |
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms following peer review. The version of record is available http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3725/abstract? Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3725 |
container_title |
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms |
container_volume |
40 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
1421 |
op_container_end_page |
1438 |
_version_ |
1766039170346647552 |