Articles | Volume 4, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-125-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-125-2016
Research article
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27 Jan 2016
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 27 Jan 2016

Efficacy of bedrock erosion by subglacial water flow

F. Beaud, G. E. Flowers, and J. G. Venditti

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Cited articles

Alley, R. B., Cuffey, K. M., Evenson, E. B., Strasser, J. C., Lawson, D. E., and Larson, G. J.: How glaciers entrain and transport basal sediment: Physical constraints, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 16, 1017–1038, 1997.
Anderson, R. S. and Anderson, S. P.: Geomorphology: the mechanics and chemistry of landscapes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 212–269, 2010.
Anderson, R. S., Anderson, S. P., MacGregor, K. R., Waddington, E. D., O'Neel, S., Riihimaki, C. A., and Loso, M. G.: Strong feedbacks between hydrology and sliding of a small alpine glacier, J. Geophys. Res., 109, F03005, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JF000120, 2004.
Anderson, R. S., Molnar, P., and Kessler, M. A.: Features of glacial valley profiles simply explained, J. Geophys. Res., 111, F01004, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JF000344, 2006.
Bartholomaus, T. C., Anderson, R. S., and Anderson, S. P.: Growth and collapse of the distributed subglacial hydrologic system of Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, USA, and its effects on basal motion, J. Glaciol., 57, 985–1002, 2011.
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Short summary
In regions formerly, or currently, covered by glaciers, landscapes have largely been shaped by glaciers. Glaciers erode bedrock through three main mechanisms: abrasion, quarrying, and subglacial meltwater erosion (SME). The latter, however, remains enigmatic. We present the first numerical modelling study of bedrock erosion by subglacial water and find that SME is negligible compared to abrasion and quarrying across the glacier, but its localization can explain the formation of bedrock channels.
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