Title
The sedimentological death mask of a dying glacier
Author
... show all
Abstract
The Pasterze is Austria's largest glacier, and it is experiencing rapid downwasting and retreat. A mosaic of complex sedimentary deposits has been produced in recent years which have not hitherto been studied, yet provide excellent lessons into the facies distribution expected from a dying valley glacier. In this paper, a new glaciological–geomorphological–geological map is presented for the glacier in July 2021. Freshly exposed (since 2018) tills and flutes constitute a subglacial sediment–landform assemblage. An ice-marginal sediment–landform assemblage comprises meltwater streams, a delta system and proglacial lake terrace deposits. The supraglacial assemblage, meanwhile, includes fossil englacial channel deposits revealed by ablation, together with debris bands, rockfall deposits and supraglacial channel deposits. Collectively, these sediment–landform assemblages constitute the building blocks of a dying glacier landsystem.
Keywords
glacierlakemorainetillUAV
Object type
Language
English [eng]
Persistent identifier
phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1671379
DOI
Appeared in
Title
The Depositional Record
Volume
8
Issue
3
ISSN
2055-4877
Issued
2022
From page
992
To page
1007
Publication
Wiley
Version type
Date modified
2022
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