Campus Units
Geological and Atmospheric Sciences
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
3-18-2006
Journal or Book Title
Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
Volume
111
Issue
F1
DOI
10.1029/2005JF000359
Abstract
In most models of glacial erosion, glacier sliding velocity is hypothesized to control rates of bedrock erosion. If this hypothesis is correct, then the elevation difference between hanging and trunk valley floors, the hang height, should be dictated by the relative sliding velocities of the glaciers that occupied these valleys. By considering sliding velocity to be proportional to balance velocity and using mass continuity, hang height is expressed in terms of glacier catchment areas, slopes, and widths, which can be estimated for past glaciers from the morphology of glacial valleys. These parameters were estimated for 46 hanging valleys and their trunk valleys in three adjacent regions of Jasper National Park. The variability in valley morphology can account for 55–85% of the hang height variability if erosion rate scales with balance velocity raised to a power of 1/3. This correspondence is in spite of spatial variations in glaciation duration, snow accumulation rates, and other variables that likely affected hang heights but cannot be readily estimated and so are not included in our formulation. Thus it appears that balance velocity, and by extension, sliding velocity if the two are proportional, may be a reasonable control variable for assessing erosion rate.
Copyright Owner
American Geophysical Union
Copyright Date
2006
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Amundson, J. M. and Iverson, Neal R., "Testing a glacial erosion rule using hang heights of hanging valleys, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada" (2006). Geological and Atmospheric Sciences Publications. 143.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ge_at_pubs/143
Comments
This article is from Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 111 (2006): F01020, doi:10.1029/2005JF000359. Posted with permission.