Ribbed bedforms on palaeo-ice stream beds resemble regular patterns of basal shear stress (‘traction ribs’) inferred from modern ice streams

Stokes, C.R.; Margold, M.; Creyts, T.T.

doi:10.1017/jog.2016.63

Ribbed bedforms on palaeo-ice stream beds resemble regular patterns of basal shear stress (‘traction ribs’) inferred from modern ice streams

Stokes, C.R.; Margold, M.; Creyts, T.T.

Authors

Professor Chris Stokes c.r.stokes@durham.ac.uk
Professor

M. Margold

T.T. Creyts

Abstract

Rapidly-flowing ice streams are an important mechanism through which ice sheets lose mass, and much work has been focussed on elucidating the processes that increase or decrease their velocity. Recent work using standard inverse methods has inferred previously-unrecognised regular patterns of high basal shear stress (‘sticky spots’ >200 kPa) beneath a number of ice streams in Antarctica and Greenland, termed ‘traction ribs’. They appear at a scale intermediate between smaller ribbed moraines and much larger mega-ribs observed on palaeo-ice sheet beds, but it is unclear whether they have a topographic expression at the bed. Here, we report observations of rib-like bedforms from DEMs along palaeo-ice stream beds in western Canada that resemble both the pattern and dimensions of traction ribs. Their identification suggests that traction ribs may have a topographic expression that lies between, and partly overlaps with, ribbed moraines and much larger mega-ribs. These intermediate-sized bedforms support the notion of a ribbed bedform continuum. Their formation remains conjectural, but our observations from palaeo-ice streams, coupled with those from modern ice masses, suggest they are related to wave-like instabilities occurring in the coupled flow of ice and till and modulated by subglacial meltwater drainage. Their form and pattern may also involve glaciotectonism of subglacial sediments.

Citation

Stokes, C., Margold, M., & Creyts, T. (2016). Ribbed bedforms on palaeo-ice stream beds resemble regular patterns of basal shear stress (‘traction ribs’) inferred from modern ice streams. Journal of Glaciology, 62(234), 696-713. https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.63

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Apr 4, 2016
Online Publication Date	May 10, 2016
Publication Date	Aug 1, 2016
Deposit Date	Apr 7, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Apr 7, 2016
Journal	Journal of Glaciology
Print ISSN	0022-1430
Electronic ISSN	1727-5652
Publisher	International Glaciological Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	62
Issue	234
Pages	696-713
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.63

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Copyright Statement
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.