Articles | Volume 18, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2297-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2297-2024
Research article
 | 
07 May 2024
Research article |  | 07 May 2024

Insights into glacial processes from micromorphology of silt-sized sediment

Allison P. Lepp, Lauren E. Miller, John B. Anderson, Matt O'Regan, Monica C. M. Winsborrow, James A. Smith, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Julia S. Wellner, Lindsay O. Prothro, and Evgeny A. Podolskiy

Related authors

Spatial variability of marine-terminating ice sheet retreat in the Puget Lowland
Marion A. McKenzie, Lauren E. Miller, Allison P. Lepp, and Regina DeWitt
Clim. Past, 20, 891–908, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-891-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-891-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Alley, R. B., Blankenship, D. D., Bentley, C. R., and Rooney, S. T.: Deformation of till beneath ice stream B, West Antarctica, Nature, 322, 57–59, https://doi.org/10.1038/322057a0, 1986. 
Alley, R. B., Cuffey, K. M., Evenson, E. B., Strasser, J. C., Lawson, D. E., and Larson, G. J.: How glaciers entrain and transport basal sediments: physical constraints, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 16, 1017–1038, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(97)00034-6, 1997. 
Alley, R. B., Cuffey, K. M., and Zoet, L. K.: Glacial erosion: status and outlook, Ann. Glaciol., 60, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.38, 2019. 
Anderson, J. B. and Fretwell, L. O.: Geomorphology of the onset area of a paleo-ice stream, Marguerite Bay, Antarctic Peninsula, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 33, 503–512, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1662, 2008. 
Anderson, J. B., Conway, H., Bart, P. J., WItus, A. E., Greenwood, S. L., McKay, R. M., Hall, B. L., Ackert, R. P., Licht, K., Jakobsson, M., and Stone, J. O.: Ross Sea paleo-ice sheet drainage and deglacial history during and since the LGM, Quaternary Sci. Adv., 100, 31–54, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.08.020, 2014. 
Download
Short summary
Shape and surface texture of silt-sized grains are measured to connect marine sediment records with subglacial water flow. We find that grain shape alteration is greatest in glaciers where high-energy drainage events and abundant melting of surface ice are inferred and that the surfaces of silt-sized sediments preserve evidence of glacial transport. Our results suggest grain shape and texture may reveal whether glaciers previously experienced temperate conditions with more abundant meltwater.