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Flow obstructions in valley glaciers

Valley glaciers often occur within complex dendritic systems where tributary glaciers
contribute ice mass and blocking potential to the trunk glacier. Analysis of glacier
inventories and maps in the regions of Svalbard, East Greenland, Yukon Territory and the
Thompson Glacier system indicates that trunk - tributary intersections commonly occur at
angles between 45° and 90°. An analogue material with flow properties similar to creep
in pure ice has been used to simulate flow in a model valley glacier. The model and a
series of blockages were constructed based on dimensions derived from the inventory and
map analysis. The angled blockage indicates lower overall velocity rates and appears to
have a funnelling rather than blocking affect on the analogue material. The perpendicular
obstruction that blocked half the width of the model valley caused a piling up of analogue
material prior to a release into the unobstructed side of the valley. / ix, 149 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:ALU.w.uleth.ca/dspace#10133/654
Date January 2007
CreatorsCaruso, Raven, University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
ContributorsJiskoot, Hester
PublisherLethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Arts and Science, 2007, Arts and Science, Department of Geography
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
RelationThesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science)

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