Glacier extent and climate in the Maritime Alps during the Younger Dryas

We would like to acknowledge: Prof. Rea and Dr Pellitero for fruitful discussions on various aspects of this work, and in particular on the use of glacier reconstruction and ELA GIS tools and extraction of climatic variables at a glacier ELA; Dr Ortu for kindly providing easy access to pollen data and for discussions on the climate of the Younger Dryas across the Alps; Prof. Edwards for discussions on pollen analyses; and Prof. Federici, for inspiring glaciological research in this beautiful region. The constructive and useful feedback provided by Dr Monegato and an anonymous reviewer is greatly appreciated. L. Cignoni is thanked for reviewing the English. MS acknowledges support from NERC (CIAF 9092.1010).Peer reviewedPostprin

Testing the efficacy of the glacial buzzsaw: insights from the Sredinny Mountains, Kamchatka

Peak altitudes, hypsometry, geology, and former equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) are analysed across the Sredinny Mountains (Kamchatka). Overall, evidence is found to suggest that the glacial buzzsaw has operated to shape the topography of this mountain range, but the strength of this signature is not spatially uniform. In the southern sector of the mountains, we see evidence that an efficient glacial buzzsaw has acted to impose constraints upon topography, limiting peak altitudes, and concentrating land-surface area (hypsometric maxima) close to palaeo-ELAs. By contrast, in the northern sector of the mountains, a number of peaks rise high above the surrounding topography, and land-surface area is concentrated well below palaeo-ELAs. This deviation from a classic 'buzzsaw signature', in the northern sector of the mountains, is considered to reflect volcanic construction during the Quaternary, resulting in a series of high altitude peaks, combined with the action of dynamic glaciers, acting to skew basin topography toward low altitudes, well below palaeo-ELAs. These glaciers are considered to have been particularly dynamic because of their off-shore termination, their proximity to moisture-bearing air masses from the North Pacific, and because accumulation was supplemented by snow and ice avalanching from local high altitude peaks. Overall, the data suggest that the buzzsaw remains a valid mechanism to generally explain landscape evolution in mountain regions, but its signature is significantly weakened in mountain basins that experience both volcanic construction and climatic conditions favouring dynamic glaciation. © 2013 Elsevier B.V

Understanding controls on cirque floor altitudes: insights from Kamchatka

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. Glacial cirques reflect former regions of glacier initiation, and are therefore used as indicators of past climate. One specific way in which palaeoclimatic information is obtained from cirques is by analysing their elevations, on the assumption that cirque floor altitudes are a proxy for climatically controlled equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) during former periods of small scale (cirque-type) glaciation. However, specific controls on cirque altitudes are rarely assessed, and the validity of using cirque floor altitudes as a source of palaeoclimatic information remains open to question. In order to address this, here we analyse the distribution of 3520 ice-free cirques on the Kamchatka Peninsula (eastern Russia), and assess various controls on their floor altitudes. In addition, we analyse controls on the mid-altitudes of 503 modern glaciers, currently identifiable on the peninsula, and make comparisons with the cirque altitude data. The main study findings are that cirque floor altitudes increase steeply inland from the Pacific, suggesting that moisture availability (i.e., proximity to the coastline) played a key role in regulating the altitudes at which former (cirque-forming) glaciers were able to initiate. Other factors, such as latitude, aspect, topography, geology, and neo-tectonics seem to have played a limited (but not insignificant) role in regulating cirque floor altitudes, though south-facing cirques are typically higher than their north-facing equivalents, potentially reflecting the impact of prevailing wind directions (from the SSE) and/or variations in solar radiation on the altitudes at which former glaciers were able to initiate. Trends in glacier and cirque altitudes across the peninsula are typically comparable (i.e., values typically rise from both the north and south, inland from the Pacific coastline, and where glaciers/cirques are south-facing), yet the relationship with latitude is stronger for modern glaciers, and the relationship with distance to the coastline (and to a lesser degree with aspect) is notably weaker. These differences suggest that former glacier initiation (leading to cirque formation) was largely regulated by moisture availability (during winter months) and the control this exerted on accumulation; whilst the survival of modern glaciers is also strongly regulated by the variety of climatic and non-climatic factors that control ablation. As a result, relationships between modern glacier mid-altitudes and peninsula-wide climatic trends are more difficult to identify than when cirque floor altitudes are considered (i.e., cirque-forming glaciers were likely in climatic equilibrium, whereas modern glaciers may not be)

Geomorphology and surface geology of Mount St. Helens volcano

Acknowledgments This work has been supported by SAGES (Scottish Alliance for Geosciences Environment and Society) Small Grants Scheme and the Jack Kleinman Grant for Volcano Research to travel to the US and perform fieldwork necessary for the realization and interpretation of the map. Thanks to the Associate Editor, Prof. Knight and the reviewers Dr. Heike Apps, Mr. Adolfo Quesada and Dr. Guido Ventura for their constructive comments and suggestions. Thanks to Alexa Van Eaton, J. J. Major and R. Waitt for their suggestions and Corrado Palucci for fieldwork assistance.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Reconstructing temperatures in the Maritime Alps, Italy, since the Last Glacial Maximum using cosmogenic noble gas paleothermometry

The Gesso Valley, located in the southwestern-most, Maritime portion of the European Alps, contains an exceptionally well-preserved record of glacial advances during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Detailed geomorphic mapping, geochronology of glacial deposits, and glacier reconstructions indicate that glaciers in this Mediterranean region responded to millennial scale climate variability differently than glaciers in the interior of the European Alps. This suggests that the Mediterranean Sea somehow modulated the climate of this region. However, since glaciers respond to changes in temperature and precipitation, both variables were potentially influenced by proximity to the Sea. To disentangle the competing effects of temperature and precipitation changes on glacier size, we are constraining past temperature variations in the Gesso Valley since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) using cosmogenic noble gas paleothermometry. The cosmogenic noble gases 3He and 21Ne experience diffusive loss from common minerals like quartz and feldspars at Earth surface temperatures. Cosmogenic noble gas paleothermometry utilizes this open-system behavior to quantitatively constrain thermal histories of rocks during exposure to cosmic ray particles at the Earth’s surface. We will present measurements of cosmogenic 3He in quartz sampled from moraines in the Gesso Valley with LGM, Bühl stadial, and Younger Dryas ages. With these 3He measurements and experimental data quantifying the diffusion kinetics of 3He in quartz, we will provide a preliminary temperature reconstruction for the Gesso Valley since the LGM. Future work on samples from younger moraines in the valley system will be used to fill in details of the more recent temperature history

Deep-water sedimentation processes on a glaciated margin : the Foula Wedge trough mouth fan, West of Shetland.

Acknowledgments We acknowledge and thank Siccar Point Energy for permission to use and present their 3D seismic reflection and well data. We are thankful to Vela Software International, IHS, and Schlumberger for granting access to their interpretation and visualisation software Petrosys PRO, Kingdom Suite, and Petrel, respectively. Thanks to Ben Kneller for his interest and insightful discussion on turbidite versus debris flow processes. The authors would like to thank the Editor Michele Rebesco and two anonymous reviewers who helped improve the quality of the manuscript. S. Caruso has been supported by the University of Aberdeen Elphinstone PhD scholarship. V. Maselli acknowledges support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2020–04461).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Drumlin relief

Drumlin relief is a key parameter for testing predictions of models of drumlin formation. Although this metric is commonly described in textbooks as being of the order of a fewtens ofmetres, our critical review of the literature suggests an average value of about 13 m, but withmuch uncertainty. Hereweinvestigate a large sample of drumlins (25,848) mapped from a high resolution digital terrain model of Britain, which allowed the identification of extremely shallow drumlins. Results indicate that most drumlins have a relief between 0.5 and 40m (with a surprisingly low average value of only 7.1 m) a mode of 3.5–4 m, and with 41% of all drumlins characterized by a relief < 5 m. Drumlin relief is found to never exceed 7% of the width and is positively correlated with this parameter, possibly indicating that drumlins need a large base to stand against the flow of the ice. Drumlin relief is also positively correlated with the length, which shows that drumlins do not grow in length by redistributing sediments from their summits to their downflow (lee) end, as previously hypothesised.publishedVersio

Deltaic Sedimentary Environments in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Chinotu Franklin George would like to thank his sponsor: Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and SPDC Port Harcourt for providing the satellite images used. He expresses his gratitude to his mentors: Dr. K. O. Ladipo and late Professor L. C. Amajor, and to Ms. Okwuchi Omekara for the technical support, she offered for data assembly.Peer reviewedPostprin

Glaciology in Aberdeen

Thanks to David Sugden, Doug Benn, Nick Spedding, Doug Mair, Alastair Dawson, Rob Bingham and Tim Lane for providing photographs and images.Peer reviewedPostprin