The landform and sediment assemblage produced by a tidewater glacier surgein Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

This paper describes the landform and sediment assemblage produced by a sur ge (in 1948) of the Kongsvegen/Kronebreen tidewater glacier complex in nort hwest Spitsbergen. The main geomorphological products of this advance are t wo large thrust-moraine complexes on opposite sides of the fjord, and a sys tem of geometrical ridges revealed on glacier decay. The thrust-moraines ar e composed largely of diamicton, sandy and muddy gravel, gravelly sand, san d and mud, with minor laminites, All of these appear to be derived from the fjord floor and represent both fine fjord basin sediments and coarse groun ding-line fan deposits. Thrusting was the principal mode of emplacement of the sediment onto the adjacent land areas during the 1948 advance. However, the geomorphology of the thrust-moraine complexes on either side of the fj ord is quite different, reflecting a transpressive regime on the southwest side (mainly long ridges) and a normal compressive regime on the northeast side (short ridges and pinnacles of a 'hummocky' nature), The advance which produced the moraine complex has previously been attributed to a surge of Kongsvegen, but the glaciological and geomorphological evidence suggests th at the advance involved both Kongsvegen and Kronebreen. Comparison of the l andform assemblage produced by this event with that produced by other tidew ater glacier surges demonstrates the diverse range of landform assemblages associated with glacier surges, or other episodes of rapid flow, within gla ciomarine environments. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.