Cold glaciers erode and deposit: Evidence from Allan Hills, Antarctica

Abstract

Here we report previously undescribed features of erosion and deposition by a cold (polar) glacier. A recent study challenged the assumption that cold glaciers neither slide nor abrade their beds, but no geological evidence was offered. The features we describe include abrasion marks, subglacial deposits, glaciotectonically deformed substrate, isolated blocks, ice-cored debris mounds, and boulder trains, all products of a recent cold ice advance and retreat. Mapping these features elsewhere in Antarctica will document recent shifts in the East Antarctic Ice Sheet margin, providing new insight on regional mass-balance changes.