What are supraglacial lakes? Supraglacial lakes form on the surface of glaciers. Meltwater accumulates in depressions or hollows on the ice surface. We think of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet as being very cold and dry, with temperatures well below 0°C, but in some places, surface melting does occur in the summer melt season. In […]
Antarctic supraglacial lakes and ice-shelf collapse Read More »
Ice-dammed lakes are a common feature of glaciated mountain ranges. They form wherever glacial ice blocks the drainage of rivers or meltwater. This includes: where a glacier blocks a trunk or tributary valley; and where a glacier fills an overdeepened valley created by glacial erosion Today, ice-dammed lakes exist at the margins of many mountain
Ice-dammed lake landsystems Read More »
This article, while drawing on a variety of literature, is largely based on an excellent review of calving processes by Prof. Doug Benn and colleagues in the journal Earth Science Reviews. If you want to know more about glacier calving, this review paper would make a great starting point. What is calving? Calving is the glaciological
Calving of freshwater glaciers Read More »
This article summarises a recent publication by the AntarcticGlaciers.org author Bethan Davies and colleagues on glaciolacustrine sediment-landform assemblages in Chilean Patagonia: Davies, B. J., Thorndycraft, V. R., Fabel, D. & Martin, J. R. V. Asynchronous glacier dynamics during the Antarctic Cold Reversal in central Patagonia. Quaternary Science Reviews 200, 287-312, (2018). Ice-dammed lakes in Patagonia
Glaciolacustrine Landforms in Patagonia, Chile Read More »
Glaciers and lakes are intrinsically connected. Lakes form when meltwater ponds, and this can happen on the ice surface (supraglacial lakes), in front of the ice (proglacial lakes), or even underneath the ice (subglacial lakes). Glacier lakes can affect ice flow by reducing friction at the ice-bed interface, encouraging basal sliding. They can change the
A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a release of meltwater from a moraine- or ice-dam glacial lake due to dam failure1,2. GLOFs often result in catastrophic flooding downstream, with major geomorphic and socioeconomic impacts3,4. GLOFs have three main features: They involve sudden (and sometimes cyclic) releases of water. They tend to be rapid events,
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This page is mostly sourced from Davies et al. 2017, and focuses on the epishelf lakes at Ablation Point Massif, Alexander Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Read the full paper here: Davies, B.J., Hambrey, M.J., Glasser, N.F., Holt, T., Rodés, A., Smellie, J.L., Carrivick, J.L., Blockley, S.P.E., 2017. Ice-dammed lateral lake and epishelf lake insights into Holocene
This page is based on an article by Dr Jonathan Carrivick that appeared in Geology Today. Introduction | Geological importance of jökulhlaups | Deglacial association of jökulhlaups | Case study: volcanically-triggered jökulhlaups at Eyafjallajökull, Iceland | Comments | Introduction Jökulhlaups, or glacial outburst floods (GLOFS) are a key part of the deglaciation of alpine mountains
Introduction | Supraglacial hydrology | Englacial hydrology | Subglacial hydrology | Proglacial drainage | References | Comments | Introduction Glacier hydrology is the study of the flow of water through glaciers. It is a mysterious world, where water running on the surface of the glacier disappears through cracks and holes in the glaciers, and powerful
Introduction | Radio echo sounding | Satellite altimetry: elevation changes | Effects of active lakes on ice dynamics | Drilling projects | References | Comments | Introduction The Antarctic continent is underlain by subglacial lakes. Despite the fact that they are overlain by several kilometres of ice, these lakes are interconnected and water flows from
