Morphology, Surface Characteristics, and Flow Velocity of Soler Glacier, Patagonia

Abstract

The morphology and surface characteristics of the Soler Glacier, Patagonia, were analyzed utilizing vertical aerial photographs taken in 1984 and 1986, coupled with a field survey. The bedrock topography was measured in a gravimetric survey. The three subglacial cross-profiles indicate that a longitudinal subglacial ridge runs roughly along the median of the glacier. The major surface features recognized include an ablation medial moraine, ice-cored lateral and supraglacial moraines, ice mounds, crevasses, supraglacial stream systems, and five sets of ogive patterns.

Ogive band spacings indicate that ice flow velocities range from less than 100 m yr^–1 near the snout to more than 300 m yr^–1 below icefalls and bedrock cliffs. These values generally agreed well with the distance ice mounds moved and the velocity inferred by extrapolation of two short-term field measurements.