Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Fowler, AC,Chapwanya, M
2014
November
Proceedings Of The Royal Society A-Mathematical Physical And Engineering Sciences
An instability theory for the formation of ribbed moraine, drumlins and mega-scale glacial lineations
Published
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Optional Fields
drumlins ribbed moraine mega-scale glacial lineations instability ROGEN MORAINE ICE-FLOW TILL STABILITY LANDFORMS SHEET CAVITATION STREAMS MODEL WATER
470
We present a theory for the coupled flow of ice, subglacial water and subglacial sediment, which is designed to represent the processes which occur at the bed of an ice sheet. The ice is assumed to flow as a Newtonian viscous fluid, the water can flow between the till and the ice as a thin film, which may thicken to form streams or cavities, and the till is assumed to be transported, either through shearing by the ice, squeezing by pressure gradients in the till, or by fluvial sediment transport processes in streams or cavities. In previous studies, it was shown that the dependence of ice sliding velocity on effective pressure provided a mechanism for the generation of bedforms resembling ribbed moraine, while the dependence of fluvial sediment transport on water film depth provides a mechanism for the generation of bedforms resembling mega-scale glacial lineations. Here, we combine these two processes in a single model, and show that, depending largely on the granulometry of the till, instability can occur in a range of types which range from ribbed moraine through three-dimensional drumlins to mega-scale glacial lineations.
10.1098/rspa.2014.0185
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