Groundwater flow beneath ice sheets: Part II — Its impact on glacier tectonic structures and moraine formation

Abstract

Meltwater flowing as groundwater from beneath the margin of an ice sheet determines the distribution of sub-surface heads and effective pressures. A subglacial groundwater flow model is used, together with an ice sheet loading model, to compute the magnitudes and directions of the principal effective stresses in the subsurface, from which the distribution of different types of sub-surface failure in the subglacial and proglacial zones are deduced. Zones of hydrofracturing, shear fracture and pervasive shear failure are distinguished. Beneath the ice sheet divide area, intact rocks of high tensile strength may fail. Hydrofracturing and liquefaction are two coupled processes which lead to the formation of upward-filled and downward-filled sediment dykes and till wedges. Quicksand conditions are developed where strong vertical seepage pressures occur, producing sediment diapirism. It is suggested that subglacial permeability magnitude may be the product of a self organising process. Certain types of moraine (extrusion moraines) are suggested to be a consequence of upward movement and surface extrusion of sediment driven by rising groundwater. It is suggested that groundwater over pressure associated with narrow proglacial permafrost plates are conductive to the formation of large push moraines, and that many large ancient and modern examples are produced in this setting.