Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle:A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard
Ice-cored lateral-frontal moraines are common at the margins of receding high-Arctic valley glaciers, but the preservation potential of these features within the landform record is unclear. Recent climatic amelioration provides an opportunity to study the morphological evolution of these landforms a...
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Online Access: | https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/3904d2ea-e276-451a-9605-b9dd6005dc0d https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.12.019 |
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ftunivdundeepure:oai:discovery.dundee.ac.uk:publications/3904d2ea-e276-451a-9605-b9dd6005dc0d 2024-06-23T07:50:18+00:00 Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle:A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard Tonkin, T. N. Midgley, N. G. Cook, S. J. Graham, D. J. 2016-04-01 https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/3904d2ea-e276-451a-9605-b9dd6005dc0d https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.12.019 eng eng https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/3904d2ea-e276-451a-9605-b9dd6005dc0d info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Tonkin , T N , Midgley , N G , Cook , S J & Graham , D J 2016 , ' Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle : A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard ' , Geomorphology , vol. 258 , pp. 1-10 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.12.019 Structure-from-Motion Deglaciation Geomorphologic change detection Austre Lovenbreen /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900/1904 name=Earth-Surface Processes article 2016 ftunivdundeepure https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.12.019 2024-06-04T15:11:18Z Ice-cored lateral-frontal moraines are common at the margins of receding high-Arctic valley glaciers, but the preservation potential of these features within the landform record is unclear. Recent climatic amelioration provides an opportunity to study the morphological evolution of these landforms as they de-ice. This is important because high-Arctic glacial landsystems have been used as analogues for formerly glaciated areas in the mid-latitudes. This study uses SfM (Structure-from-Motion) photogrammetry and a combination of archive aerial and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) derived imagery to investigate the degradation of an ice-cored lateral-frontal moraine at Austre Lovénbreen, Svalbard. Across the study area as a whole, over an 11-year period, the average depth of surface lowering was - 1.75 ± 0.89 m. The frontal sections of the moraine showed low or undetectable rates of change. Spatially variable rates of surface lowering are associated with differences in the quantity of buried ice within the structure of the moraine. Morphological change was dominated by surface lowering, with limited field evidence of degradation via back-wastage. This permits the moraine a greater degree of stability than previously observed at other sites in Svalbard. It is unclear whether the end point will be a fully stabilised ice-cored moraine, in equilibrium with its environment, or an ice-free lateral-frontal moraine complex. Controls on geomorphological change (e.g. topography and climate) and the preservation potential of the lateral-frontal moraine are discussed. The methods used by this research also demonstrate the potential value of SfM photogrammetry and unmanned aerial vehicles for monitoring environmental change and are likely to have wider applications in other geoscientific sub-disciplines. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier Svalbard Discovery - University of Dundee Online Publications Arctic Svalbard Geomorphology 258 1 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Discovery - University of Dundee Online Publications |
op_collection_id |
ftunivdundeepure |
language |
English |
topic |
Structure-from-Motion Deglaciation Geomorphologic change detection Austre Lovenbreen /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900/1904 name=Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Structure-from-Motion Deglaciation Geomorphologic change detection Austre Lovenbreen /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900/1904 name=Earth-Surface Processes Tonkin, T. N. Midgley, N. G. Cook, S. J. Graham, D. J. Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle:A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard |
topic_facet |
Structure-from-Motion Deglaciation Geomorphologic change detection Austre Lovenbreen /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900/1904 name=Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Ice-cored lateral-frontal moraines are common at the margins of receding high-Arctic valley glaciers, but the preservation potential of these features within the landform record is unclear. Recent climatic amelioration provides an opportunity to study the morphological evolution of these landforms as they de-ice. This is important because high-Arctic glacial landsystems have been used as analogues for formerly glaciated areas in the mid-latitudes. This study uses SfM (Structure-from-Motion) photogrammetry and a combination of archive aerial and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) derived imagery to investigate the degradation of an ice-cored lateral-frontal moraine at Austre Lovénbreen, Svalbard. Across the study area as a whole, over an 11-year period, the average depth of surface lowering was - 1.75 ± 0.89 m. The frontal sections of the moraine showed low or undetectable rates of change. Spatially variable rates of surface lowering are associated with differences in the quantity of buried ice within the structure of the moraine. Morphological change was dominated by surface lowering, with limited field evidence of degradation via back-wastage. This permits the moraine a greater degree of stability than previously observed at other sites in Svalbard. It is unclear whether the end point will be a fully stabilised ice-cored moraine, in equilibrium with its environment, or an ice-free lateral-frontal moraine complex. Controls on geomorphological change (e.g. topography and climate) and the preservation potential of the lateral-frontal moraine are discussed. The methods used by this research also demonstrate the potential value of SfM photogrammetry and unmanned aerial vehicles for monitoring environmental change and are likely to have wider applications in other geoscientific sub-disciplines. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tonkin, T. N. Midgley, N. G. Cook, S. J. Graham, D. J. |
author_facet |
Tonkin, T. N. Midgley, N. G. Cook, S. J. Graham, D. J. |
author_sort |
Tonkin, T. N. |
title |
Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle:A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard |
title_short |
Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle:A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard |
title_full |
Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle:A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle:A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle:A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard |
title_sort |
ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle:a case study from a polythermal glacier in svalbard |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/3904d2ea-e276-451a-9605-b9dd6005dc0d https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.12.019 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic glacier Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier Svalbard |
op_source |
Tonkin , T N , Midgley , N G , Cook , S J & Graham , D J 2016 , ' Ice-cored moraine degradation mapped and quantified using an unmanned aerial vehicle : A case study from a polythermal glacier in Svalbard ' , Geomorphology , vol. 258 , pp. 1-10 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.12.019 |
op_relation |
https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/3904d2ea-e276-451a-9605-b9dd6005dc0d |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.12.019 |
container_title |
Geomorphology |
container_volume |
258 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
10 |
_version_ |
1802641173229076480 |