Glacial-interglacial cycles drive changes in the discharge and sediment flux from the headwaters of glaciated basins, which are recorded by proglacial fluvial sediments. Linking braided river stratigraphy to the Quaternary climate record could indicate the control of climate-driven variations in discharge and sediment flux on fluvial processes, and the magnitude and frequency of past climate variations. New Zealand is a key location for investigating terrestrial records of Southern Hemisphere climate change. The Late Quaternary braided river deposits on the Canterbury Plains, South Island, New Zealand have formed over the last 400 ka. The coastal cliff marking the southeastern margin of the Canterbury Plains provides excellent exposure of fluvial sediments deposited during the last glacial period, from ~40 ka until the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (~18 ka).Deposition at the modern coastline of the Canterbury Plains is interpreted in the context of the climate event stratigraphy for New Zealand, which requires a precise geochronology. This thesis demonstrates the first successful application of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to glaciofluvial sediments on South Island: a technique that was previously considered unsuitable for this region. Ages produced for the coastal stratigraphy range from 36.7 ± 2.9 to 18.2 ± 1.3 ka, indicating that deposition took place during the last glacial, with little or no postglacial aggradation. Three adjacent catchments on the southern Canterbury Plains - the Rakaia, Ashburton and Rangitata - have undergone glacial-drainage capture during the period represented by the coastal stratigraphy. During glacials, transfluent ice reversed the flow direction in several key tributaries, resulting in dramatic variations in effective drainage area of the Ashburton and Rangitata, and variations in discharge and sediment flux which are recorded in the stratigraphy of these catchments. The magnitude, timing and duration of drainage capture were quantified using the Plummer and Phillips (2003) glacier model. The Ashburton catchment increased to 160% of the modern effective drainage area when temperature change relative to modern conditions exceeded -6°C during the LGM. Meanwhile, the effective drainage area of the Rangitata decreased to 63%, and the Rakaia to 93%, reducing discharge from these catchments. Furthermore, glaciation dramatically affects the seasonality of the annual hydrograph. At four coastal sites, the fluvial stratigraphy was surveyed to investigate possible variations in depositional architecture, due to both climate variations, and glacial-drainage capture in the Ashburton and Rangitata. Unexpectedly, little vertical variation in depositional architecture was found, indicating that the deposits created by the braided rivers represent sediment transport during a similar set of flow (and by inference, climate) conditions. Laterally extensive erosional surfaces separating storeys of one or two flow depths in thickness, in combination with the OSL geochronology, suggest that the gravel-bed braided river stratigraphy primarily records a response to climate variations within glacial maxima, rather than on the scale of the glacial-interglacial cycle.

The Darwin-Hatherton glacial system (DHGS) drains from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) and through the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) before entering the Ross Embayment. Large ice-free areas covered in glacial sediments surround the DHGS, and at least five glacial drift sheets mark the limits of previous ice extent. The glacier belongs to a group of slow-moving EAIS outlet glaciers which are poorly understood. Despite this, an extrapolation of a glacial drift sheet boundary has been used to determine the thickness of the EAIS and the advanced West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). In order to accurately determine the past and present contributions of the Antarctic ice sheets to sea level changes, these uncertainties should be reduced. This study aims to examine the present and LGM ice dynamics of the DHGS by combining newly acquired field measurements with a 3-D numerical ice sheet-shelf model. The fieldwork included a ground penetrating radar survey of ice thickness and surface velocity measurements by GPS. In addition, an extensive dataset of airborne radar measurements and meteorological recordings from automatic weather stations were made available. The model setup involved nesting a high-resolution (1 km) model of the DHGS within a lower resolution (20 km) all-Antarctic simulation. The nested 3-D modelling procedure enables an examination of the impact of changes of the EAIS and WAIS on the DHGS behaviour, and accounts for a complex glacier morphology and surface mass balance within the glacial system. The findings of this study illustrate the difference in ice dynamics between the Darwin and Hatherton Glaciers. The Darwin Glacier is up to 1500 m thick, partially warm-based, has high driving stresses (~150 kPa), and measured ice velocities increase from 20-30 m yr⁻¹ in the upper parts to ~180 m yr⁻¹ in the lowermost steepest regions, where modelled flow velocities peak at 330 m yr⁻¹. In comparison, the Hatherton Glacier is relatively thin (<900 m), completely cold-based, has low driving stresses (~85 kPa), and is likely to flow with velocities <10 m yr⁻¹ in most regions. It is inferred that the slow velocities with which the DHGS flows are a result of high subglacial mountains restricting ice flow from the EAIS, large regions of frozen basal conditions, low SMB and undulating bedrock topography. The model simulation of LGM ice conditions within the DHGS implies that the ice thickness of the WAIS has been significantly overestimated in previous reconstructions. Results show that the surface of the WAIS and EAIS away from the TAM would have been elevated 600-750 and 0-80 m above present-day levels, respectively, for the DHGS to reach what was inferred to represent the LGM drift sheet limit. Ultimately, this research contributes towards a better understanding of the dynamic behaviour of slow moving TAM outlet glaciers, and provides new insight into past changes of the EAIS and WAIS. This will facilitate more accurate quantifications of contributions of the WAIS and EAIS to changes in global sea level.

Future sea level rise associated to global warming is one of the greatest societal and environmental challenges of tomorrow. A large part of the contribution comes from glaciers and ice sheets discharging ice and meltwater into the ocean and the recent worldwide increase is worrying. Future predictions of sea level rise try to encompass the complex processes of ice dynamics through glacier modelling but there are still large uncertainties due to the lack of observations or too coarse parameterisation, particularly for processes occurring at the glacier interfaces with the bed (sliding) and with the ocean (calving). This thesis focuses on modelling these processes from two marine-terminating glaciers in Svalbard, Kronebreen and Tunabreen. By inverting three years of high temporal resolution time-series of surface velocities on Kronebreen, basal properties are retrieved with the ice flow model Elmer/Ice in Paper I. Results suggest that surface melt during the summer greatly influences the dynamics of the following season and that sliding laws for such glaciers should be adapted to local and global processes changing in space and time. The subglacial drainage system, fed by the surface melt, is modelled in Paper II during two melting seasons. Results show different configurations of efficient and inefficient drainage systems between years and the importance of using a sliding law dependent on spatio-temporal changes in effective pressure. The interaction with the ocean is incorporated in Paper III by combining a series of models, including an ice flow model, a plume model and a particle model for discrete calving and compares the output with observations. Results show the importance of glacier geometry, sliding and undercutting on calving rate and location. However, more observations and analytic methods are needed. Time-lapse imagery placed in front of Tunabreen have been deployed and a method of automatic detection for iceberg calving is presented in Paper IV. Results show the influence of the rising plume in calving and the front destabilisation of the local neighbourhood.