Noel Potter

Formation of patterned ground and sublimation till over Miocene glacier ice in Beacon Valley, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica

A thin glacial diamicton, informally termed Granite drift, occupies the floor of central Beacon Valley in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. This drift is 40 Ar/ 39 Ar analyses of presumed in situ ash-fall deposits that occur within Granite drift. At odds with the great age of this ice are high-centered polygons that cut Granite drift. If polygon development has reworked and retransported ash-fall deposits, then they are untenable as chronostratigraphic markers and cannot be used to place a minimum age on the underlying glacier ice. Our results show that the surface of Granite drift is stable at polygon centers and that enclosed ash-fall deposits can be used to define the age of underlying glacier ice. In our model for patterned-ground development, active regions lie only above polygon troughs, where enhanced sublimation of underlying ice outlines high-centered polygons. The rate of sublimation is influenced by the development of porous gravel-and-cobble lag deposits that form above thermal-contraction cracks in the underlying ice. A negative feedback associated with the development of secondary-ice lenses at the base of polygon troughs prevents runaway ice loss. Secondary-ice lenses contrast markedly with glacial ice by lying on a δD versus δ 18 O slope of 5 rather than a precipitation slope of 8 and by possessing a strongly negative deuterium excess. The latter indicates that secondary-ice lenses likely formed by melting, downward percolation, and subsequent refreezing of snow trapped preferentially in deep polygon troughs. The internal stratigraphy of Granite drift is related to the formation of surface polygons and surrounding troughs. The drift is composed of two facies: A nonweathered, matrix-supported diamicton that contains >25% striated clasts in the >16 mm fraction and a weathered, clast-supported diamicton with varnished and wind-faceted gravels and cobbles. The weathered facies is a coarse-grained lag of Granite drift that occurs at the base of polygon troughs and in lenses within the nonweathered facies. The concentration of cosmogenic 3 He in dolerite cobbles from two profiles through the nonweathered drift facies exhibits steadily decreasing values and shows the drift to have formed by sublimation of underlying ice. These profile patterns and the 3 He surface-exposure ages of 1.18 ± 0.08 Ma and 0.18 ± 0.01 Ma atop these profiles indicate that churning of clasts by cryoturbation has not occurred at these sites in at least the past 10 5 and 10 6 yr. Although Granite drift is stable at polygon centers, low-frequency slump events occur at the margin of active polygons. Slumping, together with weathering of surface clasts, creates the large range of cosmogenic-nuclide surface-exposure ages observed for Granite drift. Maximum rates of sublimation near active thermal-contraction cracks, calculated by using the two 3 He depth profiles, range from 5 m/m.y. to 90 m/m.y. Sublimation rates are likely highest immediately following major slump events and decrease thereafter to values well below our maximum estimates. Nevertheless, these rates are orders of magnitude lower than those computed on theoretical grounds. During eruptions of the nearby McMurdo Group volcanic centers, ash-fall debris collects at the surface of Granite drift, either in open thermal-contraction cracks or in deep troughs that lie above contraction cracks; these deposits subsequently lower passively as the underlying glacier ice sublimes. The fact that some regions of Granite drift have escaped modification by patterned ground for at least 8.1 Ma indicates long-term geomorphic stability of individual polygons. Once established, polygon toughs likely persist for as long as 10 5 –10 6 yr. Our model of patterned-ground formation, which applies to the hyperarid, cold-desert, polar climate of Antarctica, may also apply to similar-sized polygons on Mars that occur over buried ice in Utopia Planitia.

Ice-Cored Rock Glacier, Galena Creek, Northern Absaroka Mountains, Wyoming

Galena Creek rock glacier (44°38930″ N., 109°47930″ W., elevation 2,680 to 3,110 m, length 1.6 km) originates in a north-facing cirque. Although this rock glacier morphologically resembles others described elsewhere, its upvalley two-thirds is composed of a continuous layer of debris 1 to 1.5 m thick over relatively clean glacier ice and has a maximum measured surface velocity of 80 cm/yr. The downvalley one-third is mantled by 2 to 3 m of debris (measured by seismic refraction) over ice of unknown debris content; it has a maximum measured velocity of 14 cm/yr. The transition zone between these two regions has several large (6-m-high, 90-m-wide) lobes that override one another at a maximum measured velocity of 6 cm/yr. Accumulation occurs primarily as wind-drifted snow in a narrow lens-shaped area against the cirque headwall. Most of the coarse debris is not incorporated in the ice, but is carried past the steep (13° to 33°) snow accumulation area beneath the cirque headwall by snow avalanche and rockfall to form the debris mantle. The debris mantle is sorted, with coarse fragments dominant at the surface and a zone of fines just above the debris-ice contact. The ice beneath the debris mantle contains a maximum of 10 to 12 percent debris by volume, except in probable longitudinal septa downglacier from large debris concentrations in the source area. Intersecting ridges and furrows on the up-valley portion of the rock glacier probably differ in age, according to lichen sizes and ridge sharpness, and are probably formed by compression below steep reaches of the glacier and by collapse into crevasses. Ice-cored rock glaciers uniquely have a very low ratio of accumulation area to ablation area (1:7 in this case). This is mainly the result of an ablation rate beneath the debris mantle that is estimated to be about two orders of magnitude less than that of clean ice. The slow rate of addition of ice makes the glacier thin and thus slow-moving. Because of the debris cover, rock glaciers are not nearly so sensitive to climate as are clean glaciers. The lag effect between retreat of clean glaciers and deactivation of rock glaciers may be several thousand years, and therefore mountain glacier moraines should be correlated with rock glaciers only with extreme care.

Late Cenozoic Antarctic paleoclimate reconstructed from volcanic ashes in the Dry Valleys region of southern Victoria Land

We report the discovery of numerous in situ Miocene and Pliocene airfall volcanic ashes that occur within the hyperarid Dry Valleys region of the Transantarctic Mountains in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Ashes that occur above 1000 m elevation rest at the ground surface, covered only by a thin ventifact pavement 1 to 2 cm thick. The ash deposits are loose and unconsolidated and show no signs of chemical weathering. Laser-fusion 40 Ar/ 39 Ar analyses of volcanic crystals and glass shards indicate that the ashes range from 4.33 Ma to 15.15 Ma in age. The Arena Valley ash (4.33 ± 0.07 Ma) rests on the surface of a well-developed desert pavement and ultraxerous soil profile at 1410 m elevation. Lack of geomorphic evidence of liquid water on surficial sediments coeval and older than the Arena Valley ash, together with the pristine condition of volcanic crystals and lack of authigenic clay formation, indicates a cold desert at and since 4.33 Ma. The Beacon Valley ash (10.66 ± 0.29 Ma), the Koenig Valley ash (13.65 ± 0.06 Ma), and the Nibelungen Valley ash (15.15 ± 0.02 Ma) fill the upper half of relict sand-wedge troughs that form only in cold-desert conditions. The lack of authigenic clay-sized minerals in these ash deposits, along with preservation of sharp lateral contacts with surrounding sand-and-gravel deposits, suggests that frozen conditions (without rain or well-developed active layers during summer months) have persisted in Beacon, Koenig, and Nibelungen Valleys since ash deposition. Ash-avalanche deposits that rest on rectilinear slopes contain matrix ash dated to 7.42 ± 0.31 Ma in upper Arena Valley and 11.28 ± 0.05 Ma in lower Arena Valley. Little slope development has occurred since emplacement of these ash-avalanche deposits. Such slope stability is consistent with cold-desert conditions well below 0 °C. Taken together, these ash deposits point to persistent polar conditions similar to the present at elevations above 1000 m in the western Dry Valleys region during at least the last 15.0 m.y. This conclusion contradicts the view that, during part of the Pliocene epoch, East Antarctica was largely free of glacier ice and that scrub vegetation (Nothofagus, Southern Beech) survived along the Transantarctic Mountain front in the Dry Valleys region and to at least lat 86°S (Webb and Harwood, 1993). Instead, it supports marine and geomorphological evidence that calls for a stable Antarctic cryosphere, much the same as today, since middle Miocene time.

The influence of riparian vegetation on stream width, eastern Pennsylvania, USA

We surveyed adjacent reaches with differing riparian vegetation to explain why channels with forested banks are wider than channels with nonforested banks. Cross sections and geomorphic mapping demonstrate that erosion occurs at cutbanks in curving reaches, while deposition is localized on active floodplains on the insides of bends. Our data indicate that rates of deposition and lateral migration are both higher in nonforested reaches than in forested reaches. Two dimensionless parameters, α and E , explain our observations. α represents the influence of grassy vegetation on rates of active floodplain deposition; it is 5 times higher in nonforested reaches than in forested reaches. E is proportional to rates of cutbank migration; it is 3 times higher in nonforested reaches than in forested reaches. Differences in width between forested and nonforested reaches are proportional to E/ α. In forested reaches, channels are wide with banks that are difficult to erode. Dense tree roots create a low value of E , and the channel migrates slowly. E/ α is high, however, because α is very low: shade from trees inhibits the growth of grass on active floodplains. In nonforested reaches, channels are narrow with banks that are easy to erode. E is high, and the channel migrates rapidly. E/ α is low, however, due to a very large value of α: grass grows readily on nonforested convex bank floodplains. Thus, differences in width between forested and nonforested reaches are related to a balance between rates of cutbank erosion and rates of deposition on active floodplains, implying that equilibrium widths develop to equalize rates of cutbank erosion and vegetation-mediated rates of deposition on active flood-plains. These results suggest that accurate models of width adjustment should consider the combined effects of bank erodibility and floodplain depositional processes, rather than focusing on these processes in isolation from one another.

Rock glacier dynamics and paleoclimatic implications

Many rock glaciers contain massive ice that may be useful in paleoclimate studies. Interpreting geochemical ice-core records from rock glaciers requires a thorough understanding of rock glacier structure and dynamics. High-precision surface-velocity data were obtained for the Galena Creek rock glacier, Absaroka Mountains, Wyoming. Surface velocities range from 0 to 1.00 m/yr and vary across the rock glacier in a manner similar to true glaciers. We used Glens flow law to calculate the thickness of the deforming ice layer. The modeled ice thickness ranges from 0 to 50 m, and is confirmed by direct observations. This agreement shows that rock glacier movement can be entirely explained by deformation of massive ice within the rock glacier; neither basal sliding nor deformation of basal debris is necessary. Recovered ice cores (to depths of 25 m) contain thin debris layers associated with summer ablation in the accumulation zone. The ages of four samples of organic material removed from several debris layers inthe southern half of the rock glacier range from 200 ± 40 to 2250 ± 35 14C yr B.P., demonstrating that the rock glacier formed well before the Little Ice Age and may contain ice dating to the middle Holocene or earlier.

Pliocene-Pleistocene diatoms in Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks from Antarctica: A Sirius problem solved

There are two competing scenarios on the behavior of the East Antarctic ice sheet during the late Tertiary. In one scenario, the ice sheet was very dynamic and underwent major drawdown and renewal as late as the Pliocene. In the other, the ice sheet was relatively stable during the late Neogene. The presence of marine diatoms in Sirius Group sedimentary rocks in East Antarctica is at the center of the disagreement. One side regards the diatoms as the major piece of evidence to support the drawdown and renewal hypothesis and infers that they were introduced into the Sirius during renewed glaciation of East Antarctica; others suggest that these diatoms were likely introduced into the Sirius by atmospheric (largely eolian) processes. We propose a simple test of the eolian hypothesis. If diatoms were introduced into the Sirius by eolian processes, then they should also be present in older (Paleozoic and Mesozoic) sedimentary and igneous rocks. Samples from two units of the Beacon Supergroup (Devonian to Jurassic) from Beacon Valley, East Antarctica, were analyzed: the Beacon Heights Orthoquartzite (Devonian) and the Feather Conglomerate (Permian-Triassic). Also examined was sediment found in cracks of Paleozoic and Mesozoic (Devonian to Cretaceous) igneous rocks from Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. Largely Pliocene-Pleistocene planktonic marine diatoms were found in all sample sets. Because neither Beacon Supergroup sedimentary rocks nor igneous rocks from Marie Byrd Land are Pliocene-Pleistocene in age, such findings strongly suggest that diatoms were introduced into them by eolian processes. This same scenario can be applied to Sirius Group sedimentary rocks.

Old ice in rock glaciers may provide long‐term climate records

Anyone who spends much time above the treeline has probably seen rock glaciers and paused to wonder about them. Their curious and occasionally spectacular forms (Figure 1) occur in alpine and polar regions throughout the world, yet much remains uncertain about how they develop. A core of ice recently recovered from a rock glacier in the Absaroka Mountains of northwestern Wyoming vividly illustrates several important aspects about rock glaciers. At least some rock glaciers are a form of debris-covered glacier, and original isotopic stratigraphy may be preserved within their ice. Perhaps most interesting of all, the core of some rock glaciers is composed of layered ice that can be drilled and recovered, and some of this ice is exceptionally old.

Permafrost process research in the United States since 1960

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of the significant scientific advances in understanding the physical and chemical aspects of periglacial processes and the geomorphology of permafrost areas. It presents the more significant advances in terms of new approaches, methodology, or insight gained into key processes. The study of permafrost evolves from a descriptive science based mostly on field observations and limited temperature measurements in the summer to a quantitative science capitalizing on advances in understanding fundamental principles in condensed matter physics, nonlinear dynamics, soil physics, geochemistry and on technological advances that make it possible to measure soil properties and to monitor key physical and biogeochemical processes year-round, including the important times of phase transitions in the spring and autumn. Research in permafrost processes is evolving because of the recent widespread recognition of the interdependency of physical, chemical, and biological processes in the active layer, the sensitivity of the upper permafrost to ongoing climate change, and the potential for changes in the polar regions to affect the global climate.

Chapman Conference delves into the significance of rock glaciers

Rock glaciers are rubble-covered, flowing mixtures of rock and ice common in many alpine and polar regions. They even may occur on Mars. Although rock glaciers are important agents of geomorphic modification of the landscapes in which they occur, they are less well studied than their “true” ice-glacier cousins, and many questions surround their origin and development. The scientific benefits of answering these questions may be considerable, in part because rock glaciers could provide accessible archives of local climatic conditions throughout much of the last 10,000 years, and possibly extending back much longer in some settings. A Chapman Conference on the geomorphic and climatic significance of rock glaciers was sponsored by AGU at the Northwest College Field Station in the Absaroka Mountains near Cody, Wyo., August 23–28, 1996. Despite more than 40 years of study, surprisingly little is understood about rock glaciers. Even hypotheses about their genesis are controversial: one view holds that regardless of compartheir similar appearance and distribution, rock glaciers are distinct from true glaciers and strictly result from periglacial processes [Barsch, 1996]; the other holds that the formation of rock glaciers involves a continuum of processes from glacial to periglacial [Potter, 1972]. The conference was convened to help resolve the issue of the origin of rock glaciers, to highlight the significance of rock glaciers as geomorphic systems, and to identify areas for future research.