Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T21:06:03.593Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reliability of a Fjord Glacier's Fluctuations for Paleoclimatic Reconstructions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Daniel H. Mann
Daniel H. Mann*
Affiliation:
College of Forest Resources and Quaternary Research Center, AR-10, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Historical observations of fjord glaciers in southern Alaska suggest that their fluctuations may be asynchronous with one another and with climate. Possible causes for anomalous fjord glacier response to climatic changes involve the instabilities inherent in a calving terminus, the interaction of fjord geometry with the extent of the calving terminus, and the intersection of low-lying snow line by a thickening glacier. The Lituya glacier system in southeast Alaska is analyzed with reference to these phenomena to test the reliability of its Holocene glacial deposits as paleoclimatic records. This fjord glacier is shown to have been probably free of major, nonclimatic responses during the Holocene except for an insensitive period of up to 1000 yr that followed calving retreats. The insensitive period has no functional effect on how the relatively coarse geologic record is interpreted in terms of paleoclimate. However, it makes impossible any inference of climatic trends from this glacier's behavior in historical times. Fjord glacier deposits can be dependable records of paleoclimate but each glacier requires careful scrutiny. Anomalous glacier responses to climate are most likely to occur in fjords of complex geometry, in regions of relatively low snow line, and where glaciers terminate at fjord mouths bordering the open sea.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 1986 , pp. 10 - 24
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, B. G. 1981 Late Weichselian ice sheets in Eurasia, Greenland, and Norway. Denton, G. H., Hughes, T. J. The Last Great Ice Sheets, Wiley New York 20 27 Google Scholar
Bengston, K. B. 1962 Recent history of the Brady Glacier, Glacier Bay National Monument, Alaska, U.S.A.. International Association of Scientific Hydrology, Symposium of Obergurgl, Publication Number 58, 78 87 Google Scholar
Beschel, R. E., Egan, C. P. 1965 Geobotanical investigation of a 16th-century moraine of the Bucher Glacier, Juneau Icefield, Alaska. Proceedings of the 16th Alaska Science Conference, College Alaska 114 115 [Abstract]Google Scholar
Boulton, G. S. 1979 Glacial history of the Spitsbergen Archipelago and the problem of the Barents Shelf ice sheet. Boreas, 8 31 57 Google Scholar
Brown, C. S., Meier, M. F., Post, A. 1982 Calving Speed of Alaska Tidewater Glaciers, with Application to Columbia Glacier, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1258-CGoogle Scholar
Clague, J. J. 1981 Late Quaternary Geology and Geochronology of British Columbia. Part 2: Summary and Discussion of Radiocarbon-Dated Quarternary History, Geological Society of Canada Paper 80-35Google Scholar
Cooper, W. S. 1937 The problem of Glacier Bay, Alaska: A study of glacier variations. Geographical Review, 27 37 62 Google Scholar
Derksen, S. J. 1976 Glacial Geology of the Brady Glacier Region, Alaska, Institute of Polar Studies Report Number 60Google Scholar
Dyke, A. S., Andrews, J. T., Miller, G. H. 1982 Quarternary geology of Cumberland Penninsula, Baffin Island, District of Franklin. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir, 403 Google Scholar
Field, W. O. 1975 Mountain Glaciers of the Northern Hemisphere Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory Hanover, New Hampshire Google Scholar
Goldthwait, R. P. 1966 Glacial history. Soil Development and Ecological Succession in a Recently Deglaciated Area of Muir Inlet, Southeast Alaska, . Institute of Polar Studies Report, Number 20.1 17 Google Scholar
Goldthwait, R. P., McKellar, I. C., Cronk, C. 1963 Fluctuations of Crillon glacier system, southeast Alaska. International Association of Scientific Hydrology, Symposium of Obergurgl, . Bulletin VIII.62 74 Google Scholar
Gross, V. G., Kerschner, H., Patzelt, G. 1977 Methodische Untersuchungen uber die schneegrenze in Alpinen gletschergebieten. Zietschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie, 12 223 251 Google Scholar
Grove, J. M. 1979 The glacial history of the Holocene. Progress in Physical Geography, 3 1 54 Google Scholar
Heusser, C. J., Marcus, M. G. 1964 Historical variations of Lemon Creek Glacier, Alaska, and their relationship to the climatic record. Journal of Glaciology, 5 77 86 Google Scholar
Klotz, O. J. 1899 Notes on glaciers of southeastern Alaska. Geographical Journal, 14 523 534 Google Scholar
LaPerouse, J.F.G.De. 1799 Voyage 'round the world, performed in the years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788 by the Boussole and Astrolabe, Vol. 1 Atlas Hamilton, London Google Scholar
Lawrence, D. B. 1950 Glacier fluctuation for six centuries in southeastern Alaska and its relation to solar activity. Geographical Review, 40 191 223 Google Scholar
Lawrence, D. B. 1958 Glaciers and vegetation in southeastern Alaska. American Scientist, 46 88 122 Google Scholar
Mann, D. H. 1983 The Quaternary History of the Lituya Glacial Refugium, Alaska. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington Google Scholar
Mann, D. H., Ugolini, F. C. 1985 Holocene glacial history of the Lituya District, southeast Alaska. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 22 913 928 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meier, M. F., Post, A. 1962 Recent variations in mass net budgets of glaciers in western North America. International Association of Scientific Hydrology, Symposium of Obergurgl, . Publication Number 58.63 77 Google Scholar
Meier, M. F., Rasmussen, L. A., Post, A., Brown, C. S., Sikonia, W. G., Bindschadler, R. A., Mayo, L. R., Trabant, D. C. 1980 Predicted Timing of the Disintegration of the Lower Reach of Columbia Glacier, Alaska, U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 80-582Google Scholar
Meierding, T. C. 1982 Late Pleistocene glacial equilibrium-line altitudes in the Colorado Front Range: A comparison of methods. Quaternary Research, 18 289 310 Google Scholar
Mercer, J. H. 1961a The response of fjord glaciers to changes in the firn limit. Journal of Glaciology, 3 850 858 Google Scholar
Mercer, J. H. 1961b The estimation of the regimen and former firn limit of a glacier. Journal of Glaciology, 3 1053 1062 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, D. J. 1960 Giant Waves in Lituya Bay, Alaska, 51 83 U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 354-CGoogle Scholar
Nye, J. F. 1963 On the theory of the advance and retreat of glaciers. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 7 431 456 Google Scholar
Paterson, W. S. B. 1981 The Physics of Glaciers, Pergamon New York Google Scholar
Plafker, G., Hudson, T., Bruns, T. 1978 Late Quaternary offsets along the Fairweather Fault and crustal plate interactions in southern Alaska. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 5 805 816 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S. C. 1981 Glaciological evidence of Holocene climate change. Wigley, T. M. C., Ingram, M. J., Farmer, G. Climate and History, Cambridge Univ. Press New York/London 82 110 Google Scholar
Post, A. 1975 Preliminary Hydrography and Historic Terminal Changes of Columbia Glacier, Alaska, U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Investigations Atlas, Map HA-559 1:10,000Google Scholar
Post, A. 1980a Preliminary Bathymetry of McCarthy Fjord and Neoglacial Changes of McCarthy Glacier, Alaska, U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 80-424, 4 sheetsGoogle Scholar
Post, A. 1980b Preliminary Bathymetry of Northwestern Fjord and Neoglacial Changes of Northwestern Glacier, Alaska, U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 80-414, 2 sheetsGoogle Scholar
Post, A., Streveler, G. 1976 The titled forest: Glaciological-geologic implications of vegetated Neoglacial ice at Lituya Bay, Alaska. Quaternary Research, 6 111 117 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, J. R. 1970 Late Wisconsin and Neoglacial history of the Martin River Glacier, Alaska. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 81 3593 3604 Google Scholar
Thorson, R. M. 1980 Ice-sheet glaciation of the Puget lowland, Washington, during the Vashon Stade (late Pleistocene). Quarternary Research, 13 303 321 Google Scholar
Viereck, L. A. 1967 Botanical dating of recent glacial activity in western North America. Wright, H. F., Osburn, W. H. Arctic and Alpine Environments, Indiana Univ. Press Bloomington 189 204 Google Scholar
Williams, J. R., Ferrians, O. J. 1961 Late Wisconsin and recent history of the Matanuska Glacier, Alaska. Arctic, 14 83 90 Google Scholar