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1.
Tunnel valleys are major features of glaciated margins and they enable meltwater expulsion from underneath a thick ice cover. Their formation is related to the erosion of subglacial sediments by overpressured meltwater and direct glacial erosion. Yet, the impact of pre-existing structures on their formation and morphology remains poorly known. High-quality 3D seismic data allowed the mapping of a large tunnel valley that eroded underlying preglacial delta deposits in the southern North Sea. The valley follows the N–S strike of crestal faults related to a Zechstein salt wall. A change in downstream tunnel valley orientation towards the SE accompanies a change in the strike direction of salt-induced faults. Fault offsets indicate important activity of crestal faults during the deposition of preglacial deltaic sediments. We propose that crestal faults facilitated tunnel valley erosion by acting as high-permeability pathways and allowing subglacial meltwater to reach low-permeability sediments in the underlying Neogene deltaic sequences, ultimately resulting in meltwater overpressure build-up and tunnel valley excavation. Active faults probably also weakened the near-surface sediment to allow a more efficient erosion of the glacial substrate. This control of substrate structures on tunnel valley morphology is considered as a primary factor in subglacial drainage pattern development in the study area.  相似文献   

2.
Glaciated terrains in east-central Alberta and south-central Michigan contain channels that have hummocks and transverse ridges separating depressions along their floors. This association imparts a linked pothole appearance. Similar channels are often interpreted as tunnel channels or subaerial channels, partly filled with sediment from a subsequent glacial advance, a stagnating ice roof, or slumped sediment from the channel margins. However, the truncation of sedimentary packages in the channel walls and intrachannel hummocks indicates that they are erosional landforms, cut into glacial sediments (till), bedrock, or gravel. Eskers overlie and are found within a few channels, indicating that these channels formed before the final stagnation that produced the eskers. These two characteristics, combined with the observation that many channels have convex-up long profiles, indicate that the channels were eroded by pressurized, subglacial water. Because the formative mechanisms for this type of channel are not clear, and modern environments that could produce this type of landform are inaccessible, we draw on several morphologic analogues to propose mechanisms for channel erosion. We conclude that the erosion of these linked pothole channels (incipient tunnel channels) was the product of the complex interaction between complex turbulent flow structures and various scales of roughness elements.  相似文献   

3.
The analysis of the glacial landscape of southern Saskatchewan (Canada) through multiple data sets (e.g. digital elevation model, till compositional data) has revealed previously unrecognized subglacial sediment–landform assemblages. A southwest-trending corridor of mega-scale till lineations (Maskwa corridor) bounded on each side by hummocky terrain extends from the Canadian Shield to southwestern Saskatchewan. This landform assemblage is clearly cross-cut by a broad south to southeast trending corridor (Buffalo corridor) consisting of subparallel curvilinear till ridges. The carbonate content of the surface till is spatially consistent within these assemblages, suggesting a strong sediment–landform relationship. The two corridors are interpreted as the product of palaeo-ice streams. The Maskwa palaeo-ice stream flowed up the regional slope and across preglacial valleys, indicating it was thick and stable. Narrow dispersal trains extending across as well as down-glacier from the Athabasca Basin suggest that the Maskwa palaeo-ice stream extended far into the ice sheet across contrasting shield and platform terrains. In comparison, the Buffalo palaeo-ice stream was thinner and largely controlled by subglacial geology and topography. Its catchments were located at the Canadian Shield boundary and the system was oriented along-slope. It experienced lateral shifts and it was fed by a network of tributaries. The glacial dynamics shift from the Maskwa to the Buffalo system occurred at about 13.5 14C kyr BP. The Buffalo system later evolved into thin outlet lobes until final deglaciation of the area. The proposed model has implications for ice-sheet reconstruction and the assessment of till properties in the prairies and in similar terrains.  相似文献   

4.
This article presents the results of a geomorphological and sedimentological investigation of former glacial meltwater drainage in the region of the lower Afon Teifi, one of the major rivers of southwest Wales. Former drainage characteristics in the region are reconstructed concentrating on palaeo-drainage routes associated with successive Pleistocene glaciations and their role in the Quaternary evolution of the lower Teifi. Mapping of these features throughout a c. 100 km 2 area reveals a complex evolution in the establishment of the present-day drainage system, with evidence for the following surface channel types: (i) type 1 channels of primary subglacial origin cut during the late Devensian (late Wisconsinan/late Weichselian) glaciation; (ii) type 2 channels representing either pre-late Devensian subaerial fluvial run-off, unconnected to the course of the preglacial Afon Teifi, or originating as subglacial chute channels; (iii) type 3 channels developed as subglacially modified pre-late Devensian tributaries of the Afon Teifi. Two further features are also described: (iv) type 4 channels are drift-plugged abandoned preglacial courses of the Afon Teifi, and (v) type 5 channels formed as lateglacial and post-late Devensian gorges which bypass type 4 channels. A relative chronostratigraphy based on channel geomorphology and sedimentology reveals an evolutionary sequence considerably more complicated than identified in previous studies, with extensive modification of the lower Afon Teifi region by glacial meltwater during at least two periods of Pleistocene glaciation.  相似文献   

5.
The Blackspring Ridge (BSR), located in south-central Alberta, Canada, is dominated by a prominent flute field. Flutes (elongated streamlined depressions) and ridges (elongate streamlined hills) are up to 15 km long and are composed of two material types: in situ bedrock, and in situ pre-Laurentide glaciation fluvial sand and gravel beds. The preglacial beds are Tertiary or early Quaternary in age. The beds are undisturbed, maintain primary bedding structures, and even maintain clast imbrication. No till overlies the gravel beds, although in places large granite boulder erratics lie on the surface, indicating that ice was present in the region in the past. Because the ridges are composed of preglacial materials, they are remnant erosional landforms rather than constructional landforms. Geomorphic and sedimentary evidence favor subglacial meltwater as the erosional agent, rather than ice. We suggest that the elevation of the BSR relative to basal ice would have resulted in confined subglacial meltwater flow, with associated flow acceleration and increased scouring resulting in flute formation. This meltwater stripped away any till cover, leaving behind only a few boulders. Observations at the BSR flute field preclude the possibility that flutes and remnant ridges are the result of deformation of soft clayey beds.  相似文献   

6.
At some time close to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) high-energy, subglacial, Laurentide, meltwater flows eroded a series of discontinuous tunnel channels into the northeastern flanks of the Porcupine Hills and adjacent parts of the high plains near Nanton, Stavely and Claresholm. Discrete channel segments, kilometers long, up to about 1 km wide, and 100 m deep, were carved into Paleocene sandstone and shale of the Porcupine Hills Formation. Floors of Pine, Boneyard, and Crocodile channels all occur at elevations between 1050 and 1175 m a.s.l., and share the characteristic of strongly convex-up long profiles. Intrachannel drainage divides on each channel floor are tens of meters above the water entry and exit points. Formative flows, therefore, must have been pressurized in the subglacial Nye-channels. Prominent scour-holes at some major bends in the channels now host ephemeral ponds or lakes. During the channel erosion, the overlying Laurentide ice surface was probably close to its local LGM maximum elevation of ca. 1400–1500 m a.s.l. Misfit modern streams now drain in opposite directions within the tunnel channels, and there are only minor, local, distal accumulations of sediment derived from the tunnel channel erosion.  相似文献   

7.
Clast-supported boulder gravel in outwash-fans along the glacial-maximum margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in Wisconsin indicates the occurrence of outburst floods. These sediments, with clast intermediate axes of up to 2 m, are located downstream of tunnel channels and were deposited shortly before cessation of glaciofluvial activity on each fan. Since tunnel channels with fans are widespread along the ice-sheet margin in the western Great Lakes region, these outburst floods were probably common. Paleodischarge estimates derived from the boulder deposits are poorly constrained, but values of at least several hundred m3 s−1 are likely. Four potential water sources for the floods exist: an extreme surface-melt event, an extreme precipitation event, drainage of supraglacial lakes, or drainage of stored subglacial meltwater. We focus on the storage of subglacial meltwater behind the ice-sheet margin, as proglacial permafrost was present as ice advanced to its maximum extent, and a frozen-bed zone upstream from the margin probably impeded drainage through groundwater aquifers. Decay of this permafrost ‘seal’ would have eventually allowed trapped water to drain through the tunnel channels. We suggest that the 2-m boulders were entrained in an outburst of subglacial water that enlarged a pre-existing channel cut by ablation-derived flows.  相似文献   

8.
Subglacial landsystems in and around Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada are investigated in order to evaluate landscape development, subglacial hydrology and Cordilleran Ice Sheet dynamics along its southern margin. Major landscape elements include drumlin swarms and tunnel valleys. Drumlins are composed of bedrock, diamicton and glaciofluvial sediments; their form truncates the substrate. Tunnel valleys of various scales (km to 100s km length), incised into bedrock and sediment, exhibit convex longitudinal profiles, and truncate drumlin swarms. Okanagan Valley is the largest tunnel valley in the area and is eroded >300 m below sea level. Over 600 m of Late Wisconsin-age sediments, consisting of a fining-up sequence of cobble gravel, sand and silt fill Okanagan Valley. Landform–substrate relationships, landform associations, and sedimentary sequences are incompatible with prevailing explanations of landsystem development centred mainly on deforming beds. They are best explained by meltwater erosion and deposition during ice sheet underbursts.During the Late-Wisconsin glaciation, Okanagan Valley functioned as part of a subglacial lake spanning multiple connected valleys (few 100s km) of southern British Columbia. Subglacial lake development started either as glaciers advanced over a pre-existing sub-aerial lake (catch lake) or by incremental production and storage of basal meltwater. High geothermal heat flux, geothermal springs and/or subglacial volcanic eruptions contributed to ice melt, and may have triggered, along with priming from supraglacial lakes, subglacial lake drainage. During the underburst(s), sheetflows eroded drumlins in corridors and channelized flows eroded tunnel valleys. Progressive flow channelization focused flows toward major bedrock valleys. In Okanagan Valley, most of the pre-glacial and early-glacial sediment fill was removed. A fining-up sequence of boulder gravel and sand was deposited during waning stages of the underburst(s) and bedrock drumlins in Okanagan Valley were enhanced or wholly formed by this underburst(s).Subglacial lake development and drainage had an impact on ice sheet geometry and ice volumes. The prevailing conceptual model for growth and decay of the CIS suggests significantly thicker ice in valleys compared to plateaus. Subglacial lake development created a reversal of this ice sheet geometry where grounded ice on plateaus thickened while floating valley ice remained thinner (due to melting and enhanced sliding, with significant transfer of ice toward the ice sheet margin). Subglacial lake drainage may have hastened deglaciation by melting ice, lowering ice-surface elevations, and causing lid fracture. This paper highlights the importance of ice sheet hydrology: its control on ice flow dynamics, distribution and volume in continental ice masses.  相似文献   

9.
The net effect of ice‐flow shifts resulting in the dilution or reworking of clasts on a single preserved till sheet is often unknown yet has major implications for palaeoglaciology and mineral exploration. Herein, we analyse variations in till clast lithologies from a single till sheet, within palimpsest‐type Glacial Terrain Zones in NE Manitoba, Canada, to better understand sediment–landform relationships in this area of high landform inheritance. This near‐ice‐divide area is known to consist of a highly fragmented subglacial landscape, resulting from spatio‐temporal variations in intensity of reworking and inheritance throughout multiple glacial events (subglacial bed mosaic). We show that a seemingly homogenous ‘Keewatin’ till sheet is composed of local (>15 km) and continental‐scale (～100‐km‐long carbonate train and 350–600 km long Dubawnt red erratic train) fan, irregular (amoeboid) or lobate palimpsest dispersal patterns. Local dispersal is more complex than the preserved local landform flowset(s) record, but appears consistent with the overall glacial history reconstructed from regional flowset and striation analyses. The resultant surface till is a spatial mosaic interpreted to reflect variable intensities in modification (overprinting) and preservation (inheritance) of a predominately pre‐existing till sheet. A multi‐faceted approach integrating till composition, regional landforms, ice‐flow indicators, and stratigraphic knowledge is used to map relative spatio‐temporal erosion/reworking intensity.  相似文献   

10.
《Quaternary Science Reviews》2007,26(5-6):585-597
This paper examines ice-sheet wide variations in subglacial thermal regime and ice dynamics using the landform record exposed on the beds of former mid-latitude ice sheets (the Laurentide, Cordilleran, Fennoscandian and British-Irish Ice Sheets). We compare the landform patterns beneath these former ice sheets to the flow organisation beneath parts of the contemporary Antarctic Ice Sheet inferred from RADARSAT-1 Antarctic Mapping Project (RAMP) data. The evidence preserved in the landform record and observed on contemporary ice masses can be grouped into four major ice-dynamical components that collectively define the subglacial thermal organisation (STO) of ice sheets. These ice-dynamical components are frozen-bed patches, ice streams, ice-stream tributaries and lateral shear zones. Frozen-bed patches appear at a wide range of spatial scales, spanning four orders of magnitude. In some areas, frozen-bed zones comprise large proportions of the bed (e.g. near the ice divide in continental areas), whilst in other areas they constitute isolated “islands” in areas dominated by thawed-bed conditions. Ice streams, narrow zones of fast flow in ice sheets that are otherwise dominated by slow sheet flow, are also common features of Quaternary ice sheets. Tributaries to ice streams flow at velocities intermediate between full ice-stream and sheet flow, and may divert ice drainage from one primary ice-stream corridor to an adjacent one. Sharp lateral boundaries between landforms indicate sliding and non-sliding conditions, respectively. These lateral boundaries represent important discontinuities in the glacial landscape and mark the location of shear zones between thawed-bed ice streams and intervening frozen-bed areas. We use the landform evidence in the area around Great Bear Lake, Canada to trace the evolution of an ice-stream web through time, demonstrating that frozen-bed patches are integral components of this complex system. We conclude that frozen-bed patches are important for the stability of ice sheets because they laterally constrain and isolate peripheral drainage basins and their ice streams.  相似文献   

11.
冰川冰内及冰下水系研究综述   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
冰内及冰下水系的形成与演化具有时空变化性,对冰川汇水储水及径流过程产生影响,与之紧密联系的冰下水文过程(水力状况)与冰川运动、冰川侵蚀及冰川洪水形成等过程息息相关。冰内及冰下水系空间结构和形态复杂,且不同于一般喀斯特水文系统,具有明显的季节变化性,其空间分布和水力状况会因外界水体输入(降水和冰雪融水)的变化而改变。冰内及冰下水系的变化通过影响汇流对冰川融水的径流过程产生影响,冰川区一些溃决洪水事件的发生与冰内及冰下蓄水的突然释放有很大关系。冰川蓄排水还通过改变冰下水力条件来影响冰川运动,反之冰川运动不仅影响蓄排水过程的转换效率,且通过改变冰川消融强度(冰体向下游消融区输送速率的变化)影响冰川排水系统的空间分布范围。在气候变暖及冰川变化的背景下,研究冰内冰下水系演化的时空特征及其影响具有重要科学意义。综述了目前国内外针对冰川冰内及冰下水系相关研究的进展及主要成果,并对该领域的研究前景进行了展望。  相似文献   

12.
An excellent section in the Welzow-Süd open-cast lignite mine in Lower Lusatia, eastern Germany, provided a rare opportunity to study a small (5 m deep), buried subglacial meltwater channel of Saalian age. The channel is steep-sided and distinctly U-shaped. It is separated from undeformed outwash deposits in which it is incised by a sharp erosional contact and it is filled with meltwater sand and till. The till was possibly squeezed into the channel from the adjacent ice/bed interface. Directly beneath the channel, there is a partly truncated diapir of clayey silt, evidencing sediment intrusion into the channel from below. During channel formation, the pressure gradient was oriented from the surrounding sediments into the channel, so that the channel served as a drainage conduit for groundwater from the adjacent subglacial aquifer. The substratum consists largely of sandy aquifers with a total thickness of about 100 m, separated by two aquitards. Channel formation was initiated when hydraulic transmissivity of the bed did not suffice to evacuate all the subglacial meltwater as groundwater flow. As the Welzow-Süd channel belongs to a dense network of subglacial channels in eastern Germany, temporary ice-sheet instability in this region prior to channel formation seems possible.  相似文献   

13.
Hummocky terrain composed of boulder gravel and a wavy contact between stratified till and sand are described and explained as products of subglacial meltwater activity beneath the Saginaw Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in south-central Michigan. Exposures and geophysical investigations of hummocky terrain in a tunnel channel reveal that hummocks (˜100m diameter) are glaciofluvial bedforms with a supraglacial melt-out till or till flow veneer. The hummocky terrain is interpreted as a subglacial glaciofluvial landscape rather than one of stagnant ice processes commonly assumed for hummocky landscapes. Sandy bedforms at another site are in-phase with a wavy contact at the base of a stratified till exposed for 50m along the margin of a tunnel channel. The 0.4m thick stratified till is overlain by up to 5m of compact, pebble-rich, sandy subglacial melt-out till. The contact between the till and sand has a wave form with a 0.5m amplitude and 3-5m wavelength. Bedding within the stratified till, sandy bedforms and melt-out till are mostly in-phase with each other. Clasts from the overlying stratified till penetrate and deform the underlying sand recording recoupling of the ice to its bed. Ice ripples cut into the base of river ice have a similar morphology and are considered analogs for cavities cut into the base of the glacier and subsequently filled with sand. Subglacial meltwater activity was not coeval at each study site, indicating that subglacial meltwater played important roles in the evolution of the subglacial environment beneath the Saginaw Lobe at different times.  相似文献   

14.
Flutes are a distinctive type of glacial landform and comprise closely-spaced, streamlined ridges and furrows usually developed on till surfaces and aligned parallel to ice movement direction. Several models proposed to explain their formation involve, at least in part, post-depositional deformation or transfer of subglacial sediments; others involve primary deposition or erosion. The flutes on several glacier forelands in the mountains of the southern Lyngen peninsula in North Norway are associated with glaciers with cold-based margins. To explain the formation of the flutes three main sets of variables are investigated: 1, the landforms and their shapes, dimensions and field relationships; 2, the physical properties of the materials comprising the flutes; and 3, the glacier properties, and in particular, the basal thermal regime and ice-debris relationships at the glacier margin. Existing models of flute formation which involve post-depositional deformation or transfer of subglacial sediments do not explain satisfactorily several aspects of the flutes found in Lyngen. Instead, a model is proposed in which the flutes are primary features formed by deformation of the basal ice layer around subglacial boulders or other obstacles.  相似文献   

15.
Tunnel valleys are elongated incisions formed by meltwater underneath ice sheets that rest on unlithified bed materials. The formation of tunnel valleys is commonly believed to be influenced by the properties of the preglacial bed; however, a detailed analysis of this relationship has not been performed to date. To determine whether tunnel‐valley location and morphology are controlled by the substratum, a 3D seismic survey was combined with lithological data from the Wadden Sea area in the Dutch sector of the southern North Sea Basin. This study shows that tunnel‐valley floors often coincide with seismic reflectors that mark lithological boundaries in the substratum, and that the location and depth of tunnel‐valley incision vary as a function of the properties of the substratum as expressed by lithological and geophysical‐log variations. Tunnel valleys are incised preferentially into fine‐grained layers, while the top of coarser‐grained units commonly coincide with the tunnel‐valley floor. These observations indicate that the geometry and orientation of tunnel valleys in the study area are controlled by contrasts in lithological properties of the bed. An explanation for the observed lithological control might lie in large water‐pressure differences over fine‐grained and impermeable layers along the flow‐path of subglacial meltwater flowing through the substratum, from areas with high pore‐water pressure towards areas with relatively low pressures in the vicinity of meltwater channels. These pressure differences might have been sufficient for the fracturing and fluidization of these layers. The concepts presented here have implications for existing genetic models and for the prediction of tunnel‐valley morphology in understudied areas.  相似文献   

16.
JANE K. HART 《Sedimentology》2006,53(1):125-146
The subglacial processes at Briksdalsbreen, Norway, are examined by a combination of sedimentology, thin section and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis of till samples from an exposed subglacial surface and from beneath the glacier. Studies of a fluted surface indicate that subglacial deformation is occurring on a field scale with flutes forming behind most clasts 0·6 m high. At the thin section scale (0·014–2·0 mm) it is seen that deformation is by rotation and attenuation and is dependent on till texture. At the SEM scale (0·1–0·4 mm) it is seen that erosion is controlled by abrasion and percussion which produces distinct grain ‘styles’ as part of an erosional continuum. Overall it is shown that rotation and attenuation is a dominant process at all scales and that the clast interactions associated with different scale perturbations within the shear zone control erosion and deposition, as well as landform and fabric production.  相似文献   

17.
It is proposed that a lake, here named “Subglacial Lake McGregor”, existed beneath the Laurentide Ice Sheet at, or near, the last glacial maximum. The lake resided in the ancient buried McGregor and Tee Pee preglacial valleys, which are now mostly filled with glacigenic deposits. The greatest thickness of sediment in the valleys is in the form of chaotically deposited lake beds that were laid down in a subaqueous environment by a number of process: gravity flow, water transport, and suspension settling. Topographic, sedimentary, and stratigraphic evidence point to a subglacial, not a proglacial, origin for the beds. During the early stages of lake existence, ice movement was significant as there are numerous sets of shear planes in the sedimentary beds. This indicates that the lake filled (lake sedimentation) and drained (shearing of the beds by overlying ice when ice contacted the bed) often. Thus, early in its history, the lake(s) was/were ephemeral. During the later stages of lake existence, the lake was relatively stable with no rapid draining or influx of sediment. Gradual drainage of the lake resulted in lowering of the ice onto the lake beds resulting in subglacial till deposition. Drainage was not a single continuous event. Rather it was characterized by multiple phases of near total drainage (till deposition), followed by water accumulation (lake sedimentation). Water accumulation events became successively less significant reflected by thinning of lake beds and thickening of till beds higher in the stratigraphic sequence. Since subglacial lake sedimentation appears to be restricted to the subglacial valleys, it is suggested that the valleys acted as a large-scale interconnected cavity system that both stored and transported water. It is also suggested that these acted as the main routes of water flow beneath the Laurentide Ice Sheet.  相似文献   

18.
Hilda Glacier, a small cirque glacier in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, yields two principal types of sediment: ablation till, deficient in fine material and produced by rockfalls and avalanches falling on to the glacier surface, and basal lodgement till, rich in fines and formed mainly by subglacial erosion. Recent recession from its Neoglacial maximum has exposed large areas of basal till with thin veneers of ablation till which, when combined with present subglacial and supraglacial debris, provide abundant material for erosion and transport by the mcltwatcr stream. Sediment transport measurements over two summers (1977–1978) showed that bed load and suspended load occur in approximately equal proportions and that dissolved loads are minor. Local source variations, especially bank slumps, are a major cause of scatter in sediment rating curves. Suspended-sediment concentrations are greater early in the melt season due to availability of loose sediment produced by freezing and thawing. Other contributors to scatter in suspended-sediment rating curves include rain showers and diurnal hysteretic effects. Although the distinction between bed load and suspended load is never sharp, available data suggest that the sand/ gravel grain-size boundary (-1ø) approximates the suspendcd-load/bed-load division for characteristic Hilda flows transporting gravel. This approximation, combined with till grain-size analyses, suspended-sediment measurements, and spatial distributions of till types, leads to the following computations of fluvial sediment sources: for suspended load - 6% supraglacial, 47% subglacial, 47% channel banks; for bed load - 46% supraglacial, 27% each subglacial and channel banks. Supraglacial debris provides only about one-fourth of all fluvial sediment, but nearly half of the bed load.  相似文献   

19.
The Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety has characterized the Martinsville Alternative Site (MAS) for a proposed low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. The MAS is located in east-central Illinois approximately 1.6 km (1 mi) north of the city of Martinsville. Geologic investigation of the 5.5-km2 (1380-acre) site revealed a sequence of chiefly Illinoian glacigenic sediments from 6 to 60 m (20–200 ft) thick overlying two major bedrock valleys carved in Pennsylvanian strata. Relatively permeable buried units include basal, preglacial alluvium; a complex of intraglacial and subglacial sediment; englacial deposits; and supraglacial fluvial deposits. Postglacial alluvium underlies stream valleys on and adjacent to the site. In most areas, the buried sand units are confined by low-permeability till, lacustrine sediment, colluvium, and loess. The distribution and thickness of the most extensive and continuous buried sand units have been modified considerably by subglacial erosion, and their distributions have been influenced by the buried bedrock valleys. The most continuous of the various sand units were deposited as preglacial and postglacial alluvium and are the uppermost and lowermost stratigraphic units at the alternative site. Sand units that were deposited in englacial or ice-marginal environments are less continuous. Aquifer pumping tests, potentiometric head data, and groundwater geochemistry analyses indicate minimal interaction of groundwater across localized interconnections of the permeable units.  相似文献   

20.
《Quaternary Science Reviews》2007,26(7-8):1067-1090
OverallThis work is presented in two parts. Part I presents observations on the coupling between subglacial channel flow and groundwater flow in determining subglacial hydraulic regime and creating eskers from an Icelandic glacier that is suggested as an analogue for many parts of Pleistocene ice sheets. Part II develops a theory of perennial subglacial stream flow and the origin of esker systems, and models the evolution of the subglacial stream system and associated groundwater flow in a glacier of the type described in Part I. It is suggested that groundwater flow may be the predominant mechanism whereby meltwater at the glacier bed finds its way to the major subglacial streams that discharge water to glacier margins.Part IBoreholes drilled through an Icelandic glacier into an underlying till and aquifer system have been used to measure variations in head in the vicinity of a perennial subglacial stream tunnel during late summer and early winter. They reveal a subglacial groundwater catchment that is drained by a subglacial stream along its axis. The stream tunnel is characterised by low water pressures, and acts as a drain for the groundwater catchment, so that groundwater flow is predominantly transverse to ice flow, towards the channel.These perennial streams flow both in summer and winter. Their portals have lain along the same axes for the 5 km of retreat that has occurred since the end of the Little Ice Age, 100 years ago, suggesting that the groundwater catchments have been relatively stable for at least this period. In the winter season, stream discharges are largely derived from basal melting, but during summer, water derived from the glacier surface finds its way, via fractures and moulins, to the glacier bed, where it dominates the meltwater flux. Additional subglacial streams are created in summer to help drain this greater flux from beneath the glacier, through poorly integrated and unstable networks. Summer streams cease to flow during winter and tend not to form in the same places in the following summer. Perennial streams are the stable component of the system and are the main sources of extensive esker systems.Strong flow of groundwater towards low-pressure areas along channels and the ice margin is a source of major upwelling that can produce sediment liquefaction and instability. A theory is developed to show how this could have a major effect on subglacial sedimentary processes.  相似文献   

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