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Topographic controls on plateau icefield recession : insights from the Younger Dryas Monadhliath Icefield, Scotland

Boston, Clare M. and Lukas, Sven LU (2019) In Journal of Quaternary Science 34(6). p.433-451
Abstract

Plateau icefields are a common form of mountain ice mass, frequently found in mid-latitude to high-arctic regions and increasingly recognized in the Quaternary record. Their top-heavy hypsometry makes them highly sensitive to changes in climate when the equilibriaum line altitude (ELA) lies above the plateau edge, allowing ice to expand significantly as regional ELAs decrease, and causing rapid recession as climate warms. With respect to future climate warming, it is important to understand the controls on plateau icefield response to climate change in order to better predict recession rates, with implications for water resources and sea-level rise. Improving knowledge of the controls on glacier recession may also enable further... (More)

Plateau icefields are a common form of mountain ice mass, frequently found in mid-latitude to high-arctic regions and increasingly recognized in the Quaternary record. Their top-heavy hypsometry makes them highly sensitive to changes in climate when the equilibriaum line altitude (ELA) lies above the plateau edge, allowing ice to expand significantly as regional ELAs decrease, and causing rapid recession as climate warms. With respect to future climate warming, it is important to understand the controls on plateau icefield response to climate change in order to better predict recession rates, with implications for water resources and sea-level rise. Improving knowledge of the controls on glacier recession may also enable further palaeoclimatic information to be extracted from the Quaternary glacial record. We use the distribution of moraines to examine topographic controls on Younger Dryas icefield recession in Scotland. We find that overall valley morphology influences the style of recession, through microclimatic and geometric controls, with bed gradient affecting moraine spacing. Ice mass reconfiguration may occur as recession progresses because ice divide migration could alter the expected response based on hypsometric distribution. These results add to a growing body of research examining controls on glacier recession and offer a step towards unravelling non-linear ice mass behaviour.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
glacier recession, moraines, plateau icefield, topographic controls, Younger Dryas
in
Journal of Quaternary Science
volume
34
issue
6
pages
19 pages
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85070199379
ISSN
0267-8179
DOI
10.1002/jqs.3111
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2e66e186-0773-4e53-a1ac-5dcfadd9c88f
date added to LUP
2019-08-22 12:50:10
date last changed
2022-04-26 03:41:59
@article{2e66e186-0773-4e53-a1ac-5dcfadd9c88f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Plateau icefields are a common form of mountain ice mass, frequently found in mid-latitude to high-arctic regions and increasingly recognized in the Quaternary record. Their top-heavy hypsometry makes them highly sensitive to changes in climate when the equilibriaum line altitude (ELA) lies above the plateau edge, allowing ice to expand significantly as regional ELAs decrease, and causing rapid recession as climate warms. With respect to future climate warming, it is important to understand the controls on plateau icefield response to climate change in order to better predict recession rates, with implications for water resources and sea-level rise. Improving knowledge of the controls on glacier recession may also enable further palaeoclimatic information to be extracted from the Quaternary glacial record. We use the distribution of moraines to examine topographic controls on Younger Dryas icefield recession in Scotland. We find that overall valley morphology influences the style of recession, through microclimatic and geometric controls, with bed gradient affecting moraine spacing. Ice mass reconfiguration may occur as recession progresses because ice divide migration could alter the expected response based on hypsometric distribution. These results add to a growing body of research examining controls on glacier recession and offer a step towards unravelling non-linear ice mass behaviour.</p>}},
  author       = {{Boston, Clare M. and Lukas, Sven}},
  issn         = {{0267-8179}},
  keywords     = {{glacier recession; moraines; plateau icefield; topographic controls; Younger Dryas}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{433--451}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Journal of Quaternary Science}},
  title        = {{Topographic controls on plateau icefield recession : insights from the Younger Dryas Monadhliath Icefield, Scotland}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3111}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/jqs.3111}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}