A Mathematical Analysis of Glacier Surges

Characteristics of the last five surges of Lowell Glacier, Yukon, Canada, since 1948

Field observations, aerial photographs and satellite images are used to reconstruct the past surges of Lowell Glacier, Yukon, Canada, since 1948 based on the timing of terminus advances. A total of five surges occurred over this time, each with a duration of 1–2 years. The time between successive surges ranged from 12 to 20 years, and appears to have been shortening over time. The relatively sh...

The evolution of a submarine landform record following recent and multiple surges of Tunabreen glacier, Svalbard

This study focuses on the glacial landform record associated with recent surge events of Tunabreen a calving tidewater glacier in Tempelfjorden, Spitsbergen. Submarine geomorphology and recent terminal fluctuations of Tunabreen’s glacier front were studied using high-resolution multibeambathymetric data and a range of published and remotesensing sources, including topographic maps, satellite im...

The concept of glacier storage: a review

Glacier storage is a widely used term, applied to different processes and time-scales by different disciplines in hydrology and glaciology. We identify that storage occurs as ice, snow, and water associated with three time-scales. Long-term storage concerns storage of ice and firn as glaciers on time-scales of years to centuries and longer. This storage affects global sea level and long-term wa...

A Theory of Glacier Surges

We propose a model of glacier flow for at least a hundred years, and a major conthat is capable of explaining temperate glacier ference (see Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, surges. The laws of conservation of mass and vol. 6, pp. 807-1018, 1969) was devoted to their momentum are supplemented by the prescription study. Meier and Post [1969] summed up many of of a sliding law that gives the b...

Snow Avalanches, Ice Avalanches and Glacier Surges