Seasonal velocity patterns provide insights for the soft-bed subglacial hydrology continuum
Seasonal velocity patterns provide insights for the soft-bed subglacial hydrology continuum
Subglacial hydrology plays an important role in controlling glacier behaviour, influencing glacier retreat and the resulting contributions to sea level rise. Here we present a detailed seasonal data set from four soft-bedded temperate glaciers and demonstrate a continuum of subglacial hydrology from channelized to a multichannel distributed behaviour. Our results illustrate how this continuum may be affected by till grain size and subaqueous processes, and we quantify the relative timings of basal sliding and deformation. These different hydrologies have a distinctive seasonal velocity pattern, which although have been identified using a multi-data stream, we suggest can be classified using solely Sentinel-1 satellite-based glacier velocity data. The ability to categorize subglacial glacier hydrology over a much larger data set would allow a better parameterization of subglacial processes for ice sheet models.
Hart, Jane K.
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Baurley, Nathaniel R.
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Bonnie, Amy
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Robson, Benjamin A.
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Bragg, Graeme McLachlan
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Martinez, Kirk
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Hart, Jane K.
e949a885-7b26-4544-9e15-32ba6f87e49a
Baurley, Nathaniel R.
d567850b-2030-4d33-8d1d-5fcad6e60417
Bonnie, Amy
2f08b4e7-768a-4aa0-8c4c-4d23f0b01311
Robson, Benjamin A.
ea6a160c-5678-4de6-be5b-4a9686891f12
Bragg, Graeme McLachlan
b5fd19b9-1a51-470b-a226-2d4dd5ff447a
Martinez, Kirk
5f711898-20fc-410e-a007-837d8c57cb18
Hart, Jane K., Baurley, Nathaniel R., Bonnie, Amy, Robson, Benjamin A., Bragg, Graeme McLachlan and Martinez, Kirk
(2025)
Seasonal velocity patterns provide insights for the soft-bed subglacial hydrology continuum.
Communications Earth & Environment, 6 (1), [223].
(doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02198-0).
Abstract
Subglacial hydrology plays an important role in controlling glacier behaviour, influencing glacier retreat and the resulting contributions to sea level rise. Here we present a detailed seasonal data set from four soft-bedded temperate glaciers and demonstrate a continuum of subglacial hydrology from channelized to a multichannel distributed behaviour. Our results illustrate how this continuum may be affected by till grain size and subaqueous processes, and we quantify the relative timings of basal sliding and deformation. These different hydrologies have a distinctive seasonal velocity pattern, which although have been identified using a multi-data stream, we suggest can be classified using solely Sentinel-1 satellite-based glacier velocity data. The ability to categorize subglacial glacier hydrology over a much larger data set would allow a better parameterization of subglacial processes for ice sheet models.
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s43247-025-02198-0
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e-pub ahead of print date: 21 March 2025
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Local EPrints ID: 500165
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/500165
PURE UUID: 391a6b6a-0b21-4f00-ab76-8cfffe0b9e08
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Date deposited: 22 Apr 2025 16:47
Last modified: 23 Sep 2025 02:11
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