首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
相似文献
 共查询到20条相似文献，搜索用时 31 毫秒
1.
Bulk runoff and meteorological data suggest the occurrence of two meltwater outburst events at Finsterwalderbreen, Svalbard, during the 1995 and 1999 melt seasons. Increased bulk meltwater concentrations of Cl? during the outbursts indicate the release of snowmelt from storage. Bulk meltwater hydrochemical data and suspended sediment concentrations suggest that this snowmelt accessed a chemical weathering environment characterized by high rock:water ratios and long rock–water contact times. This is consistent with a subglacial origin. The trigger for both the 1995 and 1999 outbursts is believed to be high rates of surface meltwater production and the oversupply of meltwater to areas of the glacier bed that were at the pressure melting point, but which were unconnected to the main subglacial drainage network. An increase in subglacial water pressure to above the overburden pressure lead to the forcing of a hydrological connection between the expanding subglacial reservoir and the ice‐marginal channelized system. The purging of ice blocks from the glacier during the outbursts may indicate the breach of an ice dam during connection. Although subglacial meltwater issued continually from the glacier terminus via a subglacial upwelling during both melt seasons, field observations showed outburst meltwaters were released solely via an ice‐marginal channel. It is possible that outburst events are a seasonal phenomenon at this glacier and reflect the periodic drainage of meltwaters from the same subglacial reservoir from year to year. However, the location of this reservoir is uncertain. A 100 m high bedrock ridge traverses the glacier 6·5 km from its terminus. The overdeepened area up‐glacier from this is the most probable site for subglacial meltwater accumulation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

2.
Solute and runoff time-series at Finsterwalderbreen, Svalbard, provide evidence for considerable basal routing of water and the existence of at least two contrasting subglacial chemical weathering environments. The hydrochemistry of a subglacial upwelling provides evidence for a snowmelt-fed subglacial reservoir that dominates bulk runoff during recession flow. High concentrations of Cl− and crustal ions, high pCO2 and ratios of [*SO2−4/(*SO2−4+HCO−3)] close to 0·5 indicate the passage of snowmelt through a subglacial weathering environment characterized by high rock:water ratios, prolonged residence times and restricted access to the atmosphere. At higher discharges, bulk runoff becomes dominated by icemelt from the lower part of the glacier that is conveyed through a chemical weathering environment characterized by low rock:water ratios, short residence times and free contact with atmospheric gases. These observations suggest that icemelt is routed via a hydrological system composed of basal/ice-marginal, englacial and supraglacial components and is directed to the glacier margins by the ice surface slope. Upwelling water flows relatively independently of icemelt to the terminus via a subglacial drainage system, possibly constituting flow through a sediment layer. Cold basal ice at the terminus forces it to take a subterranean routing in its latter stages. The existence of spatially discrete flow paths conveying icemelt and subglacial snowmelt to the terminus may be the norm for polythermal-based glaciers on Svalbard. Proglacial mixing of these components to form the bulk meltwaters gives rise to hydrochemical trends that resemble those of warm-based glaciers. These hydrochemical characteristics of bulk runoff have not been documented on any other glacier on Svalbard to date and have significance for understanding interactions between thermal regime and glacier hydrology. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

3.
The significance of the baseflow component of glacier river discharge in summer varies with geographical location, altitude, glacier geometry and glacier size. Baseflow is maintained by meltwater generated above the transient equilibrium line and by water released from temporary storage on, in or beneath the glacier. At the Norwegian glacier Austre Okstindbreen, where precipitation is generally high throughout the year and the summers are cool and wet, observations in three successive, but contrasting, years have shown that Na+ ion concentrations in the glacier river water are influenced strongly by the amount of snowmelt. This itself depends on the preceding winter conditions, which determine the amount of accumulation, and on the current summer's weather. The efficiency of the glacier's drainage systems depends on the general progress of summer ablation. The speed with which the systems develop influences ion provision from subglacial sources. Ca2+ ion concentrations are largely determined by subglacial conditions. Oxygen isotope variations in glacier river water reflect the relative contributions made to total discharge by snow meltwater and other sources; the composition of the snow cover, which is a function of winter temperatures, has a strong influence. Ice meltwater has low isotopic variability, but the isotopic composition of rainfall varies markedly. A simple model of mixing of englacial and subglacial waters, each of a constant composition, cannot be applied to a high-latitude glacier of the size and altitudinal range of Austre Okstindbreen.  相似文献   

4.
A well-developed subglacial drainage system consisting of large cavities developed in the lee of bedrock steps connected together by a network of Nye channels is exposed on an area of recently deglaciated limestone bedrock in front of Glacier de Tsanfleuron, Switzerland. This system covers some 51 per cent of the bedrock surface area, and is believed to have transported the bulk of supraglacially-derived meltwaters through the glacier. Using the cavity hydraulics model of Kamb (1987), it is shown that the geometry of the system rendered it stable against collapse by meltback of channel roofs into a tunnel-dominated system. For likely combinations of glacier geometry and meltwater discharge, the steady state water pressure in this system would have been only a small fraction of that required for flotation, and for discharges of less than about 0·5–5 m3 s?1 water would have flowed at atmospheric pressure. The system appears to have adjusted to varying discharges by a combination of varying water pressure and changing the total cross-sectional area of flow by altering the number of active channels connecting cavities. Glacier sliding velocity would have been independent of meltwater discharge for discharges at which water flowed at atmospheric pressure, but would have risen with increasing discharge for higher flows. Velocities on the order of 0·1 m d?1 are predicted for a realistic range of discharges and effective pressures, and these are believed to be plausible. Episodes of enhanced sliding in glaciers with similar drainage systems could be triggered by a rise in meltwater discharge across the threshold between flows at atmospheric pressure and flow under pressure from the glacier.  相似文献   

5.
Meltwaters collected from boreholes drilled to the base of the Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland have chemical compositions that can be classified into three main groups. The first group is dilute, whereas the second group is similar to, though generally less concentrated in major ions, than contemporaneous bulk glacial runoff. The third group is more concentrated than any observed bulk runoff, including periods of flow recession. Waters of the first group are believed to represent supraglacial meltwater and ice melted during drilling. Limited solutes may be derived from interactions with debris in the borehole. The spatial pattern of borehole water levels and borehole water column stratification, combined with the chemical composition of the different groups, suggest that the second group represent samples of subglacial waters that exchange with channel water on a diurnal basis, and that the third group represent samples of water draining through a ‘distributed’ subglacial hydraulic system. High NO−3 concentrations in the third group suggest that snowmelt may provide a significant proportion of the waters and that the residence time of the waters at the bed in this particular section of the distributed system is of the order of a few months. The high NO−3 concentrations also suggest that some snowmelt is routed along different subglacial flowpaths to those used by icemelt. The average SO2−4: (HCO−3 + SO2−4) ratio of the third group of meltwaters is 0.3, suggesting that sulphide oxidation and carbonate dissolution (which gives rise to a ratio of 0.5) cannot provide all the HCO−3 to solution. Hence, carbonate hydrolysis may be occurring before sulphide oxidation, or there may be subglacial sources of CO2, perhaps arising from microbial oxidation of organic C in bedrock, air bubbles in glacier ice or pockets of air trapped in subglacial cavities. The channel marginal zone is identified as an area that may influence the composition of bulk meltwater during periods of recession flow and low diurnal discharge regimes. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

6.
There are still relatively few hydrochemical studies of glacial runoff and meltwater routing from the high latitudes, where non-temperate glacier ice is frequently encountered. Representative samples of glacier meltwater were obtained from Scott Turnerbreen, a ‘cold-based’ glacier at 78° N in the Norwegian high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, during the 1993 melt season and analysed for major ion chemistry. Laboratory dissolution experiments were also conducted, using suspended sediment from the runoff. Significant concentrations of crustal weathering derived SO2−4 are present in the runoff, which is characterized by high ratios of SO2−4: (SO2−4+HCO−3) and high p(CO2). Meltwater is not routed subglacially, but flows to the glacier terminus through subaerial, ice marginal channels, and partly flows through a proglacial icing, containing highly concentrated interstitial waters, immediately afront the terminus. The hydrochemistry of the runoff is controlled by: (1) seasonal variations in the input of solutes from snow- and icemelt; (2) proglacial solute acquisition from the icing; and (3) subaerial chemical weathering within saturated, ice-cored lateral moraine adjoining drainage channels at the glacier margins, sediment and concentrated pore water from which is entrained by flowing meltwater. Diurnal variations in solute concentration arise from the net effects of variable sediment pore water entrainment and dilution in the ice marginal streams. Explanation of the hydrochemistry of Scott Turnerbreen requires only one major subaerial flow path, the ice marginal channel system, in which seasonally varying inputs of concentrated snowmelt and dilute icemelt are modified by seepage or entrainment of concentrated pore waters from sediment in lateral moraine, and by concentrated interstitial waters from the proglacial icing, supplied by leaching, slow drainage at grain intersections or simple melting of the icing itself. The ice marginal channels are analogous neither to dilute supra/englacial nor to concentrated subglacial flow components. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

7.
Meltwaters collected from the proglacial stream escaping from Zongo Glacier (2·1 km2), Bolivia (16°S), have been monitored in order to analyse the internal drainage system of an Andean glacier. Electrical conductivity has been measured sporadically between February 1995 and March 1996, during 16 one-day field surveys, under various meteorological conditions in summer and winter. The mixing-model technique based on the electrical conductivity is used for a quantitative separation of discharge which is derived from continuous water level registration. Tracer experiments (mainly uranine dye and NaCl salt) have been carried out from March to June 1997 to obtain information about the internal drainage system. In the tropical Andes, accumulation only occurs in austral summer, whereas ablation occurs throughout the year and is higher during the accumulation season, between November and March. The assumptions involved in the use of mixing models for analysis of glacial drainage structure are applicable for tropical glaciers because glacial conduits do not suffer complete closure, and are permanently supplied by meltwaters, even in wintertime. Two components of discharge are separated: an englacial flow originating from surface meltwater which is routed without chemical enrichment, and offering low electrical conductivity; and a subglacial one routed in contact with bedrock or sediments showing high ionic concentrations. Electrical conductivity of meltwater varies diurnally, inversely to discharge fluctuations. According to this behaviour, total discharge is mainly formed by the englacial component. The drainage structures for englacial and subglacial flow have to be widely interconnected, as indicated by diurnal variations of the subglacial discharge. Comparison of hydrograph separation based on conductivity and on 18O isotope confirms that the subglacial flow is influenced by surface melting. A hydrograph separation of the subglacial flow is proposed, between a diurnal variable component, composed of water coming from the englacial network, and a base flow, which may vary seasonally. The dye tracing experiments confirm the drainage complexity of Zongo Glacier and demonstrate the interest of identifying three main drainage components. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

8.
ABSTRACT

The temporal variations in electrical conductivity and the stable isotopes of water, δD and δ18O, were examined at Chhota Shigri Glacier, India, to understand water sources and flow paths to discharge. Discharge is highly influenced by supraglacially derived meltwater during peak ablation, and subglacial meltwaters are more prominent at the end of the melt season. The slope of the best fit linear regression line for δD versus δ18O, for both supraglacial and runoff water, is lower than that for precipitation (snow and rain) and surface ice, indicating strong isotopic fractionation associated with the melting processes. The slope of the local meteoric water line (LMWL) is close to that of the global meteoric water line (GMWL), reflecting that the moisture source is predominantly oceanic. The d-excess variation in rainwater confirms that the southwest monsoon is the main contributor during summer while the remainder including winter is mostly influenced by westerlies.  相似文献   

9.
Glacier meltwater change in the north‐eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau is greatly important for the projection of the impact of future climate change on local water resource management. Although the glaciated area is only approximately 4% of the Upper Reach of the Shule River Basin (URSRB), the average glacier meltwater contribution to river run‐off was approximately 23.6% during the periods 1971/1972 to 2012/2013. A new glacier melting module coupled with the macroscale hydrologic Variable Infiltration Capacity model (VIC‐CAS) was adopted to simulate and project changes in the glacier meltwater and river run‐off of the URSRB forced by downscaled output of the BCC‐CSM1.1(m), CANESM2, GFDL‐CM3, and IPSL‐CM5A‐MR models. Comparisons between the observed and simulated river run‐offs and glacier area changes during the periods 2000/2001, 2004/2006, 2008/2009, and 2012/2013 suggest that the simulation is reasonable. Due to increases in precipitation, the annual total run‐off is projected to increase by approximately 2.58–2.73 × 108 m3 in the 2050s and 0.28–1.87 × 108 m3 in the 2100s compared with run‐off in the 2010s based on the RCP2.6 (low greenhouse gas emission) and RCP4.5 (moderate greenhouse gas emission) scenarios, respectively. The contribution of glacier meltwater to river run‐off will more likely decrease to approximately 10% and less than 5% during the 2050s and 2100s, respectively.  相似文献   

10.
The aluminium (Al) cycle in glacierised basins has not received a great deal of attention in studies of biogeochemical cycles. As Al may be toxic for biota, it is important to investigate the processes leading to its release into the environment. It has not yet been ascertained whether filterable Al (passing through a pore size of 0.45 μm) is incorporated into biogeochemical cycles in glacierised basins. Our study aims to determine the relationship between the processes bringing filterable Al and glacier‐derived filterable nutrients (particularly Fe and Si) into glacierised basins. We investigated the Werenskiöldbreen basin (44.1 km2, 60% glacierised) situated in SW Spitsbergen, Svalbard. In 2011, we collected meltwater from a subglacial portal at the glacier front and at a downstream hydrometric station throughout the ablation season. The Al concentration, unchanged between the subglacial system and proglacial zone, reveals that aluminosilicate weathering is a dominant source of filterable Al under subglacial conditions. By examining the Al:Fe ratio compared with pH and the sulphate mass fraction index, we found that the proton source for subglacial aluminosilicate weathering is mainly associated with sulphide oxidation and, to a lesser degree, with hydrolysis and carbonation. In subglacial outflows and in the glacial river, Al and Fe are primarily in the forms of Al(OH)4‐ and Fe(OH)3. The annual filterable Al yield (2.7 mmol m‐2) was of a magnitude similar to that of nutrients such as filterable Fe (3.0 mmol m‐2) and lower than that of dissolved Si (18.5 mmol m‐2). Our results show that filterable Al concentrations in meltwater are significantly correlated to filterable and dissolved glacier‐derived nutrients (Fe and Si, respectively) concentrations in glaciers worldwide. We conclude that a potential bioavailable Al pool derived from glacierised basins may be incorporated in biogeochemical cycles, as it is strongly related to the concentrations and yields of glacier‐derived nutrients.  相似文献   

11.
Until now, alpine glacial meltwaters have been assumed to consist of two components, dilute quickflow and concentrated delayed flow, the mixing of which has been regarded as chemically conservative for the major dissolved ions and electrical conductivity. Dye tracing results suggest that this two-component model adequately represents the sub-glacial hydrology of the Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland. However, laboratory dissolution experiments in which various concentrations of glacial rock flour are placed in dilute solutions show that this rock flour is highly reactive and suggest that bulk meltwaters may acquire significant amounts of solute through rapid chemical reactions with suspended sediment which occur after mixing of the two components. This view is supported by detailed analysis of variations in the hydrochemistry of meltwaters draining from the Haut Glacier d'Arolla over three diurnal cycles during the 1989 melt season. Variations in the composition of bulk meltwaters are controlled by two main factors: dilution of the delayed flow component by quickflow, and the extent of post-mixing reactions. The latter depends on the suspended sediment concentration in bulk meltwaters and on the duration of contact between these waters and suspended sediment. Seasonal changes in the magnitude of these factors result in changes in the character and causes of diurnal variations in meltwater chemistry. In June, these variations reflect discharge-related variations in residence time within a distributed subglacial drainage system; in July, when a channelized drainage system exists beneath the lower glacier, they primarily reflect the dilution of delayed flow by quickflow; in August, when suspended sediment concentrations are particularly high, they reflect varying degrees of solute acquisition by post-mixing reactions with suspended sediment that take place in arterial channels at the glacier bed.  相似文献   

12.
This paper describes the development and testing of a distributed, physically based model of glacier hydrology. The model is used to investigate the behaviour of the hydrological system of Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Valais, Switzerland. The model has an hourly time-step and three main components: a surface energy balance submodel, a surface flow routing submodel and a subglacial hydrology submodel. The energy balance submodel is used to calculate meltwater production over the entire glacier surface. The surface routing submodel routes meltwater over the glacier surface from where it is produced to where it either enters the subglacial hydrological system via moulins or runs off the glacier surface. The subglacial hydrology submodel calculates water flow in a network of conduits, which can evolve over the course of a melt season simulation in response to changing meltwater inputs. The main model inputs are a digital elevation model of the glacier surface and its surrounding topography, start-of-season snow depth distribution data and meteorological data. Model performance is evaluated by comparing predictions with field measurements of proglacial stream discharge, subglacial water pressure (measured in a borehole drilled to the glacier bed) and water velocities inferred from dye tracer tests. The model performs best in comparison with the measured proglacial stream discharges, but some of the substantial features of the other two records are also reproduced. In particular, the model results show the high amplitude water pressure cycles observed in the borehole in the mid-melt season and the complex velocity/discharge hysteresis cycles observed in dye tracer tests. The results show that to model outflow hydrographs from glacierized catchments effectively, it is necessary to simulate spatial and temporal variations in surface melt rates, the delaying effect of the surface snowpack and the configuration of the subglacial drainage system itself. The model's ability to predict detailed spatial and temporal patterns of subglacial water pressures and velocities should make it a valuable tool for aiding the understanding of glacier dynamics and hydrochemistry. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

13.
Proglacial icings are one of the most common forms of extrusive ice found in the Canadian Arctic. However, the icing adjacent to Fountain Glacier, Bylot Island, is unique due to its annual cycle of growth and decay, and perennial existence without involving freezing point depression of water due to chemical characteristics. Its regeneration depends on the availability of subglacial water and on the balance between ice accretion and hydro‐thermal erosion. The storage and conduction of the glacial meltwater involved in the accretion of the icing were analyzed by conducting topographic and ground penetrating radar surveys in addition to the modelling of the subglacial drainage network and the thermal characteristics of the glacier base. The reflection power analysis of the geophysical data shows that some areas of the lower ablation zone have a high accumulation of liquid water, particularly beneath the centre part of the glacier along the main supraglacial stream. A dielectric permittivity model of the glacier – sediment interface suggests that a considerable portion of the glacier is warm based; allowing water to flow through unfrozen subglacial sediments towards the proglacial outwash plain. All these glacier‐related characteristics contribute to the annual regeneration of the proglacial icing and allow for portions of the icing to be perennial. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

14.
Oxygen isotopic data are presented for bulk glacial meltwaters draining the Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Valais, Switzerland and for the sulphate contained within them in an attempt to assess the redox status of the subglacial chemical weathering environment. The sulphate derived from subglacial chemical weathering is so depleted in 18O that it must have formed, at least partially, in an anoxic environment. Under these conditions, Fe3+ can act as an oxidizing agent and oxygen atoms incorporated into sulphate are derived from 18O‐depleted water molecules (by contrast, dissolved O2 is strongly enriched in 18O). These data therefore support the hypothesis that sectors of the glacier bed are anoxic and that Fe3+ may act as a significant oxidizing agent under these conditions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

15.
This paper adopts standard tests developed in temperate catchment research to determine the total phosphorus (TP) and the algal available (base‐extractable) phosphorus (NaOH–P) content of a wide range of glaciofluvial sediments from the Northern Hemisphere. We find that the TP content of these sediments is broadly similar to the P content of major rock types in Earth's crust (230–670 µgP/g) and so the TP yields of glacier basins may be high owing to the efficacy of suspended sediment evacuation by glacial meltwaters. We show that this is best achieved where subglacial drainage systems are present. The NaOH–P pool of the sediments is found to be low (1–23 µgP/g) relative to the TP pool and also to the NaOH–P pool of suspended sediments in temperate, non‐glacierized catchments. This most probably reflects the restricted duration of intimate contact between dilute meltwaters and glacial suspended sediments during the ablation season. Thus, despite the high surface‐area:volume ratio of glacial suspended sediments, the potential for P adsorption to mineral surfaces following release by dissolution is also low. Further, sorption experiments and sequential extraction tests conducted using glacial suspended sediments from two Svalbard catchments indicate that the generation of reactive secondary minerals (e.g. Fe‐ and other hydroxides) with a strong capacity to scavenge P from solution (and thereby promote the continued dissolution of P) may also be limited by the short residence times. Most P is therefore associated with poorly weathered, calcite/apatite‐rich mineral phases. However, we use examples from the Svalbard glacier basins (Austre Brøggerbreen and Midre Lovénbreen) to show that the high sediment yields of glaciers may result in appreciable NaOH–P loading of ice‐marginal receiving waters. Again, the importance of subglacial drainage is highlighted, as it produces a major, episodic release of NaOH–P at Midre Lovénbreen that results in a yield (8·2 kg NaOH–P/km2/year) more than one order of magnitude greater than that at Austre Brøggerbreen (where subglacial drainage is absent and the yield is 0·48 kg NaOH‐P/km2/year). Therefore, as since both detrimental and beneficial effects of sediment‐bound P loading in ice marginal receiving waters are possible (i.e. either reduced primary productivity owing to increased turbidity or P fertilization following desorption) there is a pressing need to assess the ambient P status of such environments and also the capacity for ice‐marginal ecosystems to adapt to such inputs. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

16.
To improve our understanding of the interactions between hydrology and dynamics in mostly cold glaciers (in which water flow is limited by thermal regime), we analyse short‐term (every two days) variations in glacier flow in the ablation zone of polythermal John Evans Glacier, High Arctic Canada. We monitor the spatial and temporal propagation of high‐velocity events, and examine their impacts upon supraglacial drainage processes and evolving subglacial drainage system structure. Each year, in response to the rapid establishment of supraglacial–subglacial drainage connections in the mid‐ablation zone, a ‘spring event’ of high horizontal surface velocities and high residual vertical motion propagates downglacier over two to four days from the mid‐ablation zone to the terminus. Subsequently, horizontal velocities fall relative to the spring event but remain higher than over winter, reflecting channelization of subglacial drainage but continued supraglacial meltwater forcing. Further transient high‐velocity events occur later in each melt season in response to melt‐induced rising supraglacial meltwater inputs to the glacier bed, but the dynamic response of the glacier contrasts with that recorded during the spring event, with the degree of spatial propagation a function of the degree to which the subglacial drainage system has become channelized. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

17.
In high elevation cold regions of the Tibetan Plateau, suspended sediment transfer from glacier meltwater erosion is one of the important hydrological components. The Zhadang glacier is a typical valley‐type glacier in the Nyainqentanglha Mountains on the Tibetan Plateau. To make frequent and long period records of meltwater runoff and sediment processes in the very high elevation and isolated regions, an automatic system was installed near the glacier snout (5400 m a.s.l) in August 2013, to measure the transient discharge and sediment processes at 5‐min interval, which is shorter than the time span for the water flow to traverse the catchment from the farthest end to the watershed outlet. Diurnal variations of discharge, and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) were recorded at high frequency for the Zhadang glacier, before suspended sediment load (SSL) was computed. Hourly SSC varied from the range of 0.2 kg/m3 to 0.5 kg/m3 (at 8:00–9:00) to the range of 2.0 kg/m3 to 4.0 kg/m3 (at 17:00–18:00). The daily SSL was 32.24 t during the intense ablation period. Hourly SSC was linearly correlated with discharge (r = 0.885**, n = 18, p < 0.01). A digit‐eight hysteresis loop was observed for the sediment transport in the glacier area. Air temperature fluctuations influence discharge, and then result in the sediment variations. The results of this study provide insight into the responses of suspended sediment delivery processes with a high frequency data in the high elevation cold regions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

18.
We investigate the spatial and temporal englacial and subglacial processes associated with a temperate glacier resting on a deformable bed using the unique Glacsweb wireless in situ probes (embedded in the ice and the till) combined with other techniques [including ground penetrating radar (GPR) and borehole analysis]. During the melt season (spring, summer and autumn), high surface melt leads to high water pressures in the englacial and subglacial environment. Winter is characterized by no surface melting on most days (‘base’) apart from a series of positive degree days. Once winter begins, a diurnal water pressure cycle is established in the ice and at the ice/sediment interface, with direct meltwater inputs from the positive degree days and a secondary slower englacial pathway with a five day lag. This direct surface melt also drives water pressure changes in the till. Till deformation occurred throughout the year, with the winter rate approximately 60% that of the melt season. We were able to show the bed comprised patches of till with different strengths, and were able to estimate their size, relative percentage and temporal stability. We show that the melt season is characterized by a high pressure distributed system, and winter by a low pressure channelized system. We contrast this with studies from Greenland (overlying rigid bedrock), where the opposite was found. We argue our results are typical of soft bedded glaciers with low englacial water content, and suggest this type of glacier can rapidly respond to surface-driven melt. Based on theoretical and field results we suggest that the subglacial hydrology comprises a melt season distributed system dominated by wide anastomosing broad flat channels and thin water sheets, which may become more channelized in winter, and more responsive to changes in meltwater inputs. © 2019 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.  相似文献   

19.
Dye tracing techniques were used to investigate the glacier-wide pattern of change in the englacial/subglacial drainage system of Haut Glacier d'Arolla during the ablation seasons of 1990 and 1991. Analysis of breakthrough curve characteristics indicate that over the course of a melt season, a system of major channels developed by headward growth at the expense of a hydraulically inefficient distributed system. By the end of the melt season, this channel system extended at least 3·3 km from the snout of the 4 km long glacier and drained the bulk of supraglacially derived meltwater passing through the glacier. The upper limit of the channel system closely followed the retreating snowline up-glacier. Rates of headward channel growth reached c. 65 m d−1, although these rates decreased in the upper 1 km of the glacier where snowline retreat exposed a patchy firn aquifer. It appears that the removal of snow (with its high albedo and significant water storage capacity) from the glacier surface resulted in a dramatic increase in the volume of runoff into moulins, and in the peakedness of daily runoff cycles. This induced transient high water pressures within the distributed drainage system, which caused it to evolve rapidly into a channelised system. It is therefore likely that, at a local scale, channel growth occurred down-glacier from moulins, and that the overall up-glacier-directed pattern of channel formation was caused by the retreating snowline exposing new moulins and crevasses to inputs of ice-derived meltwater. Damping of diurnal melt inputs by storage in the firm aquifer accounts for the slowing of channel growth in the upper glacier. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

20.
We present field observations from Bláhnúkur, a small volume (<0.1 km3) subglacial rhyolite edifice at the Torfajökull central volcano, south-central Iceland. Bláhnúkur was probably emplaced during the last glacial period (ca. 115–11 ka). The characteristics of the deposits suggest that they were formed by an effusive eruption in an exclusively subglacial environment, beneath a glacier >400 m thick. Lithofacies associations attest to complex patterns of volcano-ice interaction. Erosive channels at the base of the subglacial sequence are filled by both eruption-derived material and subglacial till, which show evidence for deposition by flowing meltwater. This suggests that meltwater was able to drain away from the vent area during the eruption. Much of the subglacial volcanic deposits consist of conical-to-irregularly shaped lava lobes typically 5–10 m long, set in poorly sorted breccias with an ash-grade matrix. A gradational lavabreccia contact at the base of lava lobes represents a fossilised fragmentation interface, driven by magma-water interaction as the lava flowed over poorly consolidated, waterlogged debris. Sets of columnar joints on the upper surfaces of lobes are interpreted as ice-contact features. The morphology of the lobes suggests that they chilled within conically shaped subglacial cavities 2–5 m high. Avalanche deposits mantling the flanks of Bláhnúkur appear to have been generated by the collapse of lava lobes and surrounding breccia. A variety of deposit characteristics suggests that this occurred both prior to and after quenching of the lava lobes. Collapse events may have occurred when the supporting ice walls were melted back from around the cooling lava lobes and breccias. Much larger lava flows were emplaced in the latter stages of the eruption. Columnar joint patterns suggest that these flowed and chilled within subglacial cavities 20 m high and 100–200 m in length. There is little evidence for magma-water interaction at lava flow margins which suggests that these larger cavities were drained of meltwater. As rhyolite magma rose to the base of the glacier, the nature of the subglacial cavity system played an important role in governing the style of eruption and the volcanic facies generated. We present evidence that the cavity system evolved during the eruption, reflecting variations in both melting rate and edifice growth that are best explained by a fluctuating eruption rate.  相似文献   

设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号