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Debris from the basal ice of the Agassiz ice cap, Ellesmere Island, arctic Canada
Author(s) -
Gemmell A. M. D.,
Sharp M. J.,
Sugden D. E.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.3290110203
Subject(s) - geology , debris , ice shelf , ice stream , bedrock , ice sheet , debris flow , glacier , oceanography , arctic , ice caps , arctic ice pack , geomorphology , antarctic sea ice , physical geography , cryosphere , sea ice , geography
This article describes the characteristics of debris obtained from the basal ice in a borehole in the Agassiz ice cap, Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories by the Canadian Polar Continental Shelf Project in 1979. The debris appears to have been incorporated by basal freezing at a time when the base of the glacier upstream was near the pressure melting point and some 19°C warmer than at the present site. Such an occurrence may be explained by a different flow regime, by a thicker ice sheet, by the influence of irregular bedrock topography on basal ice conditions at some stage in the past, or by a combination of these factors.