Open AccessMorphology and sedimentology of a high‐arctic esker system: Vegbreen, Svalbard
Author(s) -
HUDDART DAVID,
BENNETT MATTHEW R.,
GLASSER NEIL F.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
boreas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1502-3885
pISSN - 0300-9483
DOI - 10.1111/j.1502-3885.1999.tb00219.x
Subject(s) - geology , sedimentology , ephemeral key , glacier , geomorphology , landform , paleontology , computer science , algorithm
Although eskers are frequently described glaciofluvial landforms, they are poorly understood. To assist with the interpretation of Pleistocene examples, modern analogue data are required. This paper documents the morphology, sedimentology and formation of a 650 m long esker system in front of the high‐arctic glacier Vegbreen in Svalbard. The esker is located between the Neoglacial maximum and the present ice front and appears to have formed both as a supraglacial trough‐fill and as a channel/conduit‐fill along the suture formed by two confluent glacier lobes. A range of sedimentary facies is preserved within this ridge system providing evidence for braided rivers, ephemeral lakes, episodic flow regimes and sediment gravity flows. This case study provides an important analogue for glaciofluvial sedimentation between retreating ice lobes.