Glacitectonics – a key approach to examining ice dynamics, substrate rheology and ice-bed coupling

Abstract

The role of ice masses within the Earth's climate system and in landscape change is increasingly being recognised within regions that are either currently glaciated or were glaciated during the geological past. There are many different remote and field-based approaches to studying the products of glaciation. One approach – that of glacitectonics, focuses on the styles of deformation and tectonic imprint (folds, fractures, fabrics, foliations and lineations) produced as ice overrides or pushes into pre-existing rocks or sediment. This approach, when used in combination with other types of evidence, can be used to infer ice-dynamics, substrate rheology and ice-bed coupling. Of equal significance is the influence of glacitectonic structure upon the applied properties of glaciated terranes such as ground stability, hydrogeology and fluid migration (e.g. water, gas hydrates and hydrocarbons). This paper provides an introduction to this Special Issue on Glacitectonics, outlining the significance and historical development of this field of glacial geology, before introducing and summarising the contributions that make up the volume.