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Titre Hydrologie et érosion sous-glaciaires
Auteur Robert Vivian
Mir@bel Revue Revue de Géographie Alpine
Numéro vol. 58, no 2, 1970
Page 24 pages
Résumé anglais Summary. — The work done in the western Alps by various electricity boards in the capture and control of sub-glacial torrents allowed us to study more thoroughly the different flow processes of temperate glacier and anabled us to define a série of new proposals about glacial erosion. This results from the combined and simultaneous action of three processes acting at the level of the glacier (erosion by sub-glacial waters and abrasion) and along its sides (proglacial breaking up). Only the erosion processes which occur under the glacier are discussed here. The melting of ice, a permanent and irregular phenomenon, which can be observed far upstream of the glacial front, is the origin of a concentrated and diffuse run-off. The erosion by sub-glacial water is both chemical and mechanical. Different intensities, evaluated here, produce three main shapes : torrential polish, sub-glacial channels and « gorges ». From the study of the « phreatic » sheet observed at the Argentière glacier, the idea of « glacial phreatic sheet » is assessed, giving emphasis to the hydrological, glaciological, and morphological effects. Observation of the sub-glacial sites shows that few rocks fragments (mainly sands) are dragged along by the glacier and beneath it. Splitting and plucking are a small portion of sub-glacial erosion, for it is clear that abrasion is predominant. The intensity of the abrasion depends on the quantity of rock inclusions coming into contact with the surface of the bed (maximum erosion on the lateral sides — beginning of the U shape which is characteristic of a glacial valley) and also on the velocity of bed slip, which depends itself on the sub-glacial hydraulic conditions (surgrooves and basins).
Source : Éditeur (via Persée)
Article en ligne https://www.persee.fr/doc/rga_0035-1121_1970_num_58_2_3471