The Holocene retreat dynamics and stability of Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland.

ABSTRACT: Submarine glacial landforms in fjords are imprints of the dynamic behaviour of marine-terminating glaciers and are informative about their most recent retreat phase. Here we use detailed multibeam bathymetry to map glacial landforms in Petermann Fjord and Nares Strait, northwestern Greenland. A large grounding-zone wedge (GZW) demonstrates that Petermann Glacier stabilised at the fjord mouth for a considerable time, likely buttressed by an ice shelf. This stability was followed by successive backstepping of the ice margin down the GZW's retrograde backslope forming small retreat ridges to 680 m current depth (∼730-800 m palaeodepth). Iceberg ploughmarks occurring somewhat deeper show that thick, grounded ice persisted to these water depths before final breakup occurred. The palaeodepth lim

SUBMITTER: Jakobsson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5974188 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature