Flute (glacial)

Not to be confused with flutes, scours eroded into soft, fine sediment that are typically preserved on the bottom of the overlying bed as flute casts.

Glacial flutes, also known as glacial fluting, are low, narrow, elongate, straight, parallel ridges that range between several centimeters to a few meters both in width and height. This glacial landform generally consist of glacial till, but sometimes either sand or silt and clay. They form subglacially and are orientated parallel to the direction of glacier flow. They occur in parallel sets of ridges known as swarms.[1][2][3] Because of their narrow width and low height, they are often hard to identify during ground or bottom surveys. As a result, they have to be mapped by high-resolution satellite data or LiDAR techniques on land and by high-resolution side-scan sonar at sea.[3][4][5]

A fluted moraine, also called a fluted moraine surface, is a moraine whose surface exhibits numerous glacial flutes. The long axes of these flutes are parallel to the flow direction of the glacier. Fluted moraines are typically associated with terrestrial glaciers, but some have been found in glaciomarine settings.[1][3][6]

  1. ^ a b Bell, T., Cooper, A.K., Solheim, A., Todd, B.J., Dowdeswell, J.A., and others, 2016. Glossary of glaciated continental margins and related geoscience methods. In: Dowdeswell, J.A., Canals, M., Jakobson, M., Todd, B.J., Dowdeswell, E.K. and Hogan, K.A., eds. Atlas of Submarine Glacial Landforms: Modern, Quaternary and Ancient. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 46, 555–574.
  2. ^ Boyall, L., 2021. Flute-formation, Glacial depositional landforms, AntarcticGlaciersOrg.
  3. ^ a b c Benn, D.I., and Evans, D.J.A., 2010. Glaciers and Glaciation. London, England, Hodder-Arnold. 816 pp. ISBN 978-0340905791
  4. ^ Ely, J.C., Graham, C., Barr, I.D., Rea, B.R., Spagnolo, M. and Evans, J., 2017. Using UAV acquired photography and structure from motion techniques for studying glacier landforms: application to the glacial flutes at Isfallsglaciären. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 42(6), pp.877-888.
  5. ^ Boulton, G.S., 1976. The origin of glacially fluted surfaces-observations and theory. Journal of Glaciology, 17(76), pp.287-309.
  6. ^ Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds. (2005) Glossary of Geology (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute. 779 pp. ISBN 0-922152-76-4