Karin Ebert

Selective glacial erosion on the Norwegian passive margin

Glaciated passive margins display dramatic fjord coasts, but also commonly retain plateau fragments inland. It has been proposed recently that such elevated, low-relief surfaces on the Norwegian margin are products of highly efficient and extensive glacial and periglacial erosion (the glacial buzzsaw) operating at equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs). We demonstrate here that glacial erosion has acted instead to dissect plateaus in western Norway. Low-relief surfaces are not generally spatially associated with cirques, and do not correlate regionally with modern and Last Glacial Maximum ELAs. Glacier dynamics require instead that glacial erosion is selective, with low-relief surfaces representing islands of limited Pleistocene erosion. Deep glacial erosion of the coast and inner shelf has provided huge volumes of sediment (70,000 km3), largely resolving apparent mismatches (65–100,000 km3) between fjord and valley volumes and Pliocene–Pleistocene sediment wedges offshore. Nonetheless, as Pleistocene glacial valleys and cirques are cut into preexisting mountain relief, tectonics rather than isostatic compensation for glacial erosion have been the main driver for late Cenozoic uplift on the Norwegian passive margin.

Pre‐glacial landform inheritance in a glaciated shield landscape

Abstract We seek to quantify glacial erosion in a low relief shield landscape in northern Sweden. We use analyses of digital elevation models and field mapping of glacial erosion indicators to explore the geomorphology of three granite areas with the same sets of landforms and of similar relative relief, but with different degrees of glacial streamlining. rea 1, the arkajoki district, shows no streamlining and so is a type area for negligible glacial erosion. Parkajoki retains many delicate pre‐glacial features, including tors and saprolites with exposure histories of over 1 . rea 2 shows the onset of significant glacial erosion, with the development of glacially streamlined bedrock hills. rea 3 shows extensive glacial streamlining and the development of hill forms such as large crag and tails and roches moutonnées. Preservation of old landforms is almost complete in rea 1, due to repeated covers of cold‐based, non‐erosive ice. In rea 2, streamlined hills appear but sheet joint patterns indicate that the lateral erosion of granite domes needed to form flanking cliffs and to give a streamlined appearance is only of the order of a few tens of metres. The inheritance of large‐scale, pre‐glacial landforms, notably structurally controlled bedrock hills and low relief palaeosurfaces, remains evident even in rea 3, the zone of maximum glacial erosion. Glacial erosion here has been concentrated in valleys, leading to the dissection and loss of area of palaeosurfaces. Semi‐quantitative estimates of glacial erosion on inselbergs and palaeosurfaces and in valleys provide mean totals for glacial erosion of 8 ± 8 m in rea 1 and 27 ± 11 m in rea 3. These estimates support previous views that glacial erosion depths and rates on shields can be low and that pre‐glacial landforms can survive long periods of glaciation, including episodes of wet‐based flow.

Scottish Landform Examples: The Cairngorms – A Pre-glacial Upland Granite Landscape

The Cairngorm massif in NE Scotland (Figure 1) is an excellent example of a preglacial upland landscape formed in granite. Glacial erosion in the mountains has been largely confined to valleys and corries (Rea, 1998) and so has acted to dissect a pre-existing upland (Figure 2). Intervening areas of the massif experienced negligible glacial erosion due to protective covers of cold-based ice (Sugden, 1968) and preserve a wide range of pre-glacial and non-glacial landforms and regolith. This assemblage is typical for many formerly glaciated upland and mountain areas around the world. The cliffs that sharply demarcate the edges of glacial valleys and corries allow the main pre-glacial landforms to be easily identified. The former shape of pre-glacial valleys and valley heads can then be reconstructed by extrapolation of contours to provide a model of the pre-glacial relief of the Cairngorms (Thomas et al., 2004). This relief model (Figure 3) provides a basis for understanding the development of the landscape over timescales of many millions of years, including the role of geology, weathering, fluvial erosion and, lately, glacial erosion in shaping the relief.

Opportunities and Challenges for Building Alumni Networks in Sweden: A Case Study of Stockholm University.

Because of the potential value of alumni involvement for student success, for connections to society and as a base for future philanthropy, there is growing interest in developing university alumni relations programmes in countries that do not have a long tradition in this area. This case study of Stockholm University describes the goals, strategies, barriers and successes of building an alumni programme in an environment that lacks a tradition of alumni relations and aims to provide perspectives and ideas that can help other universities worldwide with their work towards building alumni programmes that fit their cultural contexts and goals.