St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Multiple Late Holocene surges of a High-Arctic tidewater glacier system in Svalbard

Thumbnail
View/Open
Lovell_et_al._2018b_QSR_accepted_manuscript_.pdf (69.07Mb)
Date
01/12/2018
Author
Lovell, Harold
Benn, Douglas I.
Lukas, Sven
Ottesen, Dag
Luckman, Adrian
Hardiman, Mark
Barr, Lestyn D.
Boston, Clare M.
Sevestre, Heidi
Keywords
Glacier surge
Glacial geomorphology
Glaciology
Little Ice Age
Holocene
Svalbard
QE Geology
NDAS
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
Most large tidewater glaciers in Svalbard are known to have surged at least once in the last few hundred years. However, very little information exists on the frequency, timing or magnitude of surges prior to the Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum in ∼1900. We investigate the sediment-landform assemblages produced by multiple advances of the Nathorstbreen glacier system (NGS) in order to reconstruct its Late Holocene surge history. The glacier has recently undergone one of the largest surges ever observed in Svalbard, advancing ∼16 km from 2008 to 2016. We present flow velocities and ice-marginal observations (terminus change, proglacial geomorphological processes) from the later stages of this surge. A first detailed assessment of the development of a glaciotectonic mud apron within the fjord during a surge is provided. Geomorphological and sedimentological examination of the terrestrial moraine areas formed prior to the most recent surge reveals that at least two advances were responsible for their formation, based on the identification of a previously unrecognised ice-contact zone recorded by the distribution of sediment facies in coastal exposures. We distinguish between an outer, older advance to the distal part of the moraine system and an inner, younger advance to a position ∼2 km upfjord. Radiocarbon dating of shells embedded in glaciotectonic composite ridges formed by the onshore bulldozing of marine mud during the outer (older) of the two advances shows that it occurred at some point during the interval 700–890 cal. yr BP (i.e. ∼1160 AD), and not during the LIA as previously assumed. We instead attribute the inner (younger) advance to the LIA at ∼1890. By combining these data with previous marine geological investigations in inner and outer Van Keulenfjorden, we demonstrate that NGS has advanced at least four times prior to the recent 2008–2016 surge: twice at ∼2.7 kyr BP, at ∼1160 AD, and in ∼1890. This represents a unique record of the timing and magnitude of Late Holocene tidewater glacier surges in Svalbard.
Citation
Lovell , H , Benn , D I , Lukas , S , Ottesen , D , Luckman , A , Hardiman , M , Barr , L D , Boston , C M & Sevestre , H 2018 , ' Multiple Late Holocene surges of a High-Arctic tidewater glacier system in Svalbard ' , Quaternary Science Reviews , vol. 201 , pp. 162-185 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.10.024
Publication
Quaternary Science Reviews
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.10.024
ISSN
0277-3791
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.10.024
Description
Much of this work was undertaken whilst HL was a PhD student at Queen Mary University of London and UNIS (The University Centre in Svalbard) funded by a NERC PhD studentship (NE/I528050/1), the Queen Mary Postgraduate Research Fund and an Arctic Field Grant from the Research Council of Norway. SL acknowledges funding from the Westfield Trust.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/18750

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter