Sediment, glaciohydraulic supercooling, and fast glacier flow

Abstract

AbstractGlaciers often advance over proglacial sediments, which then may enhance basal motion. For glaciers with abundant meltwater, thermodynamic considerations indicate that the sediment–ice contact in the direction of ice flow tends toward an angle opposed to and somewhat steeper than the surface slope (by slightly more than 50%). A simple model based on this hypothesis yields the extent of over-ridden sediments as a function of sediment thickness and strength, a result that may be useful in guiding additional fieldwork for hypothesis testing. Sediment-floored as well as rock-floored overdeepenings are common features along glacier flow paths and are expected based on theories of glacier erosion, entrainment, transport and deposition.