Journal Article

Coevolving edge rounding and shape of glacial erratics: the case of Shap granite, UK

Carling, Paul A

2024

نظرة عامة

The size distributions and the shapes of detrital rock clasts can shed light on the environmental history of the clast assemblages and the processes responsible for clast comminution. For example, mechanical fracture due to the stresses imposed on a basal rock surface by a body of flowing glacial ice releases initial \"parent\" shapes of large blocks of rock from an outcrop, which then are modified by the mechanics of abrasion and fracture during subglacial transport. The latter processes produce subsequent generations of shapes, possibly distinct in form from the parent blocks. A complete understanding of both the processes responsible for block shape changes and the trends in shape adjustment with time and distance away from the source outcrop is lacking. Field data on edge rounding and shape changes of Shap granite blocks (dispersed by Devensian ice eastwards from the outcrop) are used herein to explore the systematic changes in block form with distance from the outcrop.

• الناشر: Copernicus GmbH,Copernicus Publications
• موضوع: Abrasion / Distance / Environmental history / Fracture mechanics / Glacial erratics / Granite / Ice / Mechanics / Outcrops / Predation / Process controls / Rock / Rocks / Rounding / Self-similarity / Shape / Silver / Stochasticity