Glacimarine Processes and Submarine Landform Dynamics
Summary
Glacimarine processes describe the complex interplay between ice sheets or glaciers and the marine environment, encompassing erosion, sediment transport and deposition at the ice–ocean interface. As marine-terminating glaciers advance and retreat, they sculpt the seafloor through mechanisms such as basal abrasion, meltwater-driven turbidity currents and iceberg scouring. The resulting submarine landforms—linear moraines, grounding-zone wedges, ploughmarks and iceberg keel imprints—record former ice-margin positions and flow dynamics. Mega-scale glacial lineations trace fast ice-stream pathways, while stacked moraine ridges capture episodic retreat punctuated by seasonal or surge cycles. High-resolution bathymetric mapping, seismic profiling and sediment coring have revealed how variations in water depth, ocean temperature and subglacial meltwater flux govern sediment supply and distribution. These insights are critical for reconstructing past ice-sheet behaviour, predicting future stability under warming climates and assessing geohazards on continental margins. Applications range from refining sea-level models to guiding sustainable infrastructure development in polar regions and informing resource exploration in formerly glaciated basins.
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Glacimarine Processes and Submarine Landform Dynamics publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in glacimarine processes and submarine landform dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Glacimarine processes: Interactions between glacial ice, ocean waters and sediments that shape submarine environments.
De Geer moraine: Low-amplitude, closely spaced ridges formed at seasonal stillstands of marine-terminating glaciers.
Crevasse-squeeze ridge: Elongated landform produced by sediment extrusion into surface crevasses near glacier margins.
Tidewater glacier: A glacier that terminates in the sea, where its dynamics and mass balance are influenced by marine conditions.
Bathymetry: Measurement and mapping of water depth to characterise seafloor topography.
References
- 3D morphometry of De Geer Moraines and Crevasse-Squeeze Ridges: Differentiating between pushing and squeezing mechanisms from remotely sensed data. Quaternary Science Reviews (2023).
- Repeated surging and rapid retreat of a tidewater glacier in Scotland (Younger Dryas/Greenland Stadial 1). Journal of Quaternary Science (2025).
- Submarine geomorphology at the front of the retreating Hansbreen tidewater glacier, Hornsund fjord, southwest Spitsbergen. Journal of Maps (2018).
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