Structural evolution, debris structure & the landform record of Arctic glaciers
This innovative work, originally supported by NERC in 1996, has applied the tools and techniques of conventional structural geology to Arctic glaciers (Alaska, Iceland & Svalbard). Structural models of both surge-type and polythermal glaciers have been developed and these models have been used to understand the distribution and loading of glacial debris within glaciers. The landform and sedimentary record which result from these debris structures has been explored leading to the development of new landform-sediment assemblage models. This work has also contributed to potential models by which surge phases may terminate. Recently this work has been supported by the Royal Society who funded research into the surge-type glacier Hagafellsjökull-Eystri. This glacier surged in the winter of 1998/99. This winter surge not only resulted in some distinctive ice-marginal landforms due to the glacier advance into seasonally frozen foreland, but also entrained large amounts of snow giving a distinctive 'white ice' facies which can be used to map strain during the surge.
Selected Publications
BENNETT, M.R., HAMBREY, M.J., HUDDART, D. & GHIENNE, J.F. 1996. The formation of a geometrical ridge network by the surge-type glacier Kongsvegen, Svalbard. Journal of Quaternary Science 11, 437-449.
GLASSER, N.F., HUDDART, D. & BENNETT, M.R. 1998. The ice-marginal characteristics of Fridtjovbreen (Svalbard) during its recent surge. Polar Research 17, 93-100.
GLASSER, N.F., HAMBREY, M.J., CRAWFORD, K.R., BENNETT, M.R. & HUDDART, D. 1998. The structural glaciology of Kongsvegen, Svalbard and its role in landform genesis. Journal of Glaciology 146, 136-148.
BENNETT, M.R., HAMBREY, M.J., HUDDART, D., GLASSER, N.F. & CRAWFORD, K. 1999. The landform and sediment assemblage produced by a tidewater glacier surge in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Quaternary Science Reviews 18, 1213-1246.
HAMBREY, M.J., BENNETT, M.R., DOWDESELL, J.A., GLASSER, N.F. & HUDDART, D. 1999. Debris entrainment and transfer in polythermal valley glaciers. Journal of Glaciology 45, 69-86.
BENNETT, M.R., HUDDART, D., McCORMICK, T. & WALLER, R.I. 2000. Glaciofluvial crevasse- and conduit-fills as indicators of subglacial dewatering during a surge, Skeiðarárjökull, Iceland. Journal of Glaciology 46, 25-34.
For more details contact Professor Matthew Bennett
