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Glaciofluvial Valley

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

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Definition

A valley formed by runoff from melting of a glacier or glacial ice.

Subtypes

  1. (1)

    Proglacial valley (formed by erosion of the region immediately in front of or adjacent to a glacier)

  2. (2)

    Supraglacial valley (formed by erosion of a glacier’s surface)

  3. (3)

    Subglacial valley (formed by erosion beneath a glacier)

Distribution

Subglacial, proglacial, and supraglacial streams are common on Earth (Benn and Evans 1998), since even cold-based glaciers in Antarctica experience at least some melting (Atkins and Dickinson 2007).

Planetary Analogs

Valleys associated with probable glacial features in the Martian mid-latitudes (Dickson et al. 2009; Fassett et al. 2010).

Description

A variety of landforms have been interpreted as having their origin as glaciers or glacier-like forms on Mars, including lobate debris aprons and lineated valley fill. On the surface and margins of some of these landforms, inferred glaciofluvial valleys are observed. Many of these valleys have no tributaries and...

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References

  • Atkins C, Dickinson WW (2007) Landscape modification by meltwater channels at the margins of cold-based glaciers, Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Boreas 36:47–55

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  • Benn DI, Evans DJA (1998) Glaciers and glaciation. Wiley, New York, p 734

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  • Dickson JL, Fassett CI, Head JW (2009) Amazonian-aged fluvial valley systems in a climatic microenvironment on Mars: melting of ice deposits on the interior of Lyot Crater. Geophys Res Lett 36:L08021. doi:10.1029/2009GL037472

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  • Fassett CI, Dickson JL, Head JW, Levy JS, Marchant DR (2010) Supraglacial and proglacial valleys on Amazonian Mars. Icarus 208:86–Ā

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  • Hobley DEJ, Howard AD, Moore JM (2014) Fresh shallow valleys in the Martian midlatitudes as features formed by meltwater flow beneath ice. J Geophys Res 119:128–153. doi:10.1002/2013JE004396

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  • Howard AD, Moore JM (2011) Late Hesperian to early Amazonian midlatitude Martian valleys: evidence from Newton and Gorgonum basins. J Geophys Res 116:E05003. doi:10.1029/2010JE003782

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Astronomy, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, USA

    Caleb Fassett

Authors
  1. Caleb Fassett
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Correspondence to Caleb Fassett .

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Fassett, C. (2014). Glaciofluvial Valley. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_174-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_174-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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