<<

in Aberdeen

Brice R. Rea*, Alastair M.D. Gemmell and Matteo Spagnolo

Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences,

University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.

* - corresponding author ([email protected]) Page 1 of 40 Scottish Geographical Journal

1 2 3 Glaciology in Aberdeen 4 5 6 7 8 9 ABSTRACT 10 11 12 13 The Department of has been engaged with glaciological research 14 from its early beginnings. The paper concentrates on the period from the 15 16 appointment of Chalmers Clapperton in 1962 onwards, which coincides with the 17 time when academic staff developed focused areas of research expertise. A brief 18 For Peer Review Only 19 biography of each of the eleven academic members of staff who worked in the 20 area of glaciology is presented. This is followed by an overview of the recurring 21 22 research themes and locations which have been revisited within glaciology over 23 24 the years. It aims to provide an overview and flavour of the Department’s 25 glaciological research. 26 27 28 29 30 31 Keywords 32 33 34 glaciology, Department of Geography, Aberdeen 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Introduction 43 44 45 Glacial publications date from the early days of a recognisable Department of 46 47 Geography (e.g. Bremner 1934, 1939) and glaciology has had a continual presence 48 49 50 since the arrival of Chalmers Clapperton in 1962. We first present short biographies of 51 52 the academic members of staff who have contributed to Aberdeen’s glaciological 53 54 legacy. Subsequently we identify and elaborate on some of the research areas and 55 56 57 themes which appear, disappear and reappear across the years while those individuals 58 59 worked in Aberdeen. There are too many PhD students and post-doctoral staff to 60

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1 2 3 mention, bar one individual who has a recurrent presence. We have tried to be as 4 5 6 inclusive as possible but apologise to anyone who is not named and feels that they 7 8 should have been. 9 10 11 12 13 14 The glaciology staff chronology 15 16 17 Chalmers Clapperton joined the Department of Geography at Aberdeen in academic 18 For Peer Review Only 19 year 1962-63 after having studied at Edinburgh University both as an undergraduate and 20 21 as a postgraduate. Chalmers brought skills and enthusiasm to the post, as well as a 22 23 24 formidable work ethic and a personality which endeared him rapidly to both colleagues 25 26 and students. He soon expanded the geographical range of his field research areas from 27 28 his native Scottish borders into the north-east of Scotland, and from there to the Polar 29 30 environments of Iceland and Svalbard. Following the appointment of David Sugden to 31 32 33 the Department, the two of them found a mutual enthusiasm for all things glacial and 34 35 thus began an extensive and most fruitful research partnership. In the course of their 36 37 research, they further extended the scope of Aberdeen-based glacier-related research to 38 39 40 the Southern Hemisphere (Clapperton & Sugden, 1982; Clapperton, 1990). Chalmers’ 41 42 work was expanded into landforms of tectonically-active environments. His work in the 43 44 Andes and other parts of Latin America ultimately culminated in a major book 45 46 47 and of South America (Clapperton, 1993), which 48 49 is still regarded as the “bible” on this topic. His field work was not without risk and it 50 51 appeared for a time that he was perhaps the catalyst for major natural events. He was in 52 53 Peru around the time of the major earthquake in 1970 which devasted huge tracts of that 54 55 56 country, and later visited Heimaey, off the south coast of Iceland, when a major 57 58 volcanic eruption (1973) threatened to engulf the local fishing port in ash and lava. 59 60 Chalmers loved nothing better than being in the field making new discoveries or

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1 2 3 introducing others to those discoveries and he enthused a multitude of students with his 4 5 6 teaching. In 1998 Chalmers suffered a severe stroke and did not recover sufficiently to 7 8 return to work. Sadly, he passed away on the 23rd of October 2018 (Sugden, 2019). 9 10 In 1966 David Sugden was appointed to the Department. The location was ideal 11 12 as his doctoral thesis, undertaken at Oxford University, had been on glacial erosion in 13 14 15 the Cairngorms. David had already participated in student expeditions to Norway, 16 17 Iceland and East Greenland. Early publications, while in Aberdeen, included seminal 18 For Peer Review Only 19 work on the Cairngorms and the selectivity of glacial erosion (Sugden & Watts, 1977). 20 21 22 Together with Chalmers he undertook work in the Southern Hemisphere in the sub- 23 24 Antarctic islands and the Antarctic Peninsula (Sugden & Clapperton, 1980). While in 25 26 Aberdeen, in collaboration with fellow Oxford undergraduate Brian John (then at 27 28 29 Durham), David co-wrote Glaciers and (Sugden & John, 1976), the 30 31 benchmark glacial geomorphology textbook for the next two decades. David next 32 33 pioneered research developing computer models to link patterns of glacial landforms to 34 35 modelled distributions of glacier bed conditions beneath ice-sheets in Greenland and in 36 37 38 the area covered by the former Laurentide ice-sheet. It was at this time that David left 39 40 the Department and moved to the University of Edinburgh where he remained for the 41 42 rest of an illustrious career. It was perhaps fitting that he received the prestigious 43 44 45 Seligman Crystal award of the International Glaciological Society in 2012, during the 46 47 annual meeting, that year hosted by the glaciologists in Aberdeen. 48 49 Alastair (Al) Gemmell was appointed to a lectureship in geomorphology at 50 51 52 Aberdeen University in 1973. Al had been an undergraduate in the Department (1964- 53 54 68), when he also participated in the “Aberdeen University Expedition to Greenland” 55 56 (Sugden, 1968a), an undergraduate expedition to the Sukkertoppen area of West 57 58 Greenland, led by David Sugden. Al completed his PhD at the University of Glasgow in 59 60

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1 2 3 1971 (The Glaciation of the Island of Arran). He subsequently had a brief appointment 4 5 6 as a Teaching Assistant in Glasgow, and then returned to a lectureship in Aberdeen, in 7 8 1973. His research in Aberdeen focused on the Quaternary history of the north-east of 9 10 Scotland with respect to the possibility of there having been an unglaciated enclave in 11 12 the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire. Al produced a range of publications on this over the 13 14 15 years, working with colleagues including Chalmers Clapperton (Kesel & Gemmell, 16 17 1981; Clapperton & Gemmell, 1998; Gemmell & Stove, 1999; Rea & Gemmell, 2009;). 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Al also led the development of an Aberdeen luminescence dating facility in the early 20 21 22 1980s. The lab expanded in the early 1990s and the new equipment led to benchmark 23 24 papers demonstrating for the first time that the accuracy of luminescence dating of 25 26 glacial and fluvioglacial sediments varied according to sediment transport history 27 28 29 (Gemmell, 1988; 1994; 1997; 1999). Al retired from the University in 2011. 30 31 The appointment of Judith Maizels in 1979 marked a further expansion in 32 33 glaciological research capacity in the Department. Judith came north from London to 34 35 Aberdeen with research interests in fluvioglacial geomorphology of the Alps (Maizels, 36 37 38 1979), with particular emphasis on the and sedimentary structures of 39 40 meltwater stream deposits. Judith continued the tradition of field-based research 41 42 completing a sustained period of very detailed research into glacifluvial structures and 43 44 45 sediments in southern Iceland. Judith focussed much of her attention at this time on 46 47 glacial meltwater streams and the sediments linked to jökulhlaup (glacier burst) activity 48 49 (Maizels, 1989a, 1992, 1993, 1997). The resultant data were used to construct 50 51 52 theoretical models of the sequence of events during such floods. Judith’s research 53 54 interest remained with massive flood deposits, which she then studied in New Zealand 55 56 (Maizels, 1989b) and, even more adventurously, to inform a study of Plio-Pleistocene 57 58 raised channel deposits in the Wahiba area of Oman (Maizels, 1990). Judith had a 59 60

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1 2 3 ferocious appetite for research which extended from the cold and warm deserts of the 4 5 6 world to her own kitchen, where she conducted experiments to test theories on the 7 8 generation of kettle holes using an oven and ice. Judith left the Department in 1995. 9 10 In 1993 Doug Benn joined the Department as a lecturer. Doug had moved up 11 12 the road a short distance following a PhD and a post-doctoral fellowship at the 13 14 15 University of St Andrews. Doug brought with him an exceptional enthusiasm for all 16 17 things glacial and the Scottish landscape, an ideal person to team up with Chalmers 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Clapperton. His expertise in sedimentology and ability to innovate led to the publication 20 21 22 of a series of seminal papers which transformed the analysis and interpretation of 23 24 glaciogenic sediments (e.g. Benn, 1994a, 1994b; Benn & Ballantyne, 1994; Benn & 25 26 Evans, 1996). Doug began working in the and in South America while in 27 28 29 Aberdeen, producing highly cited publications (Clapperton et al., 1997; Benn & Owen, 30 31 1998). Teaming up with Al Gemmell, they produced a transformational tool for 32 33 palaeoglaciology (Benn & Gemmell, 1997). If that were not enough, Doug also co- 34 35 authored the new “bible” of glacial geomorphology, Glaciers and Glaciation (Benn & 36 37 38 Evans, 1998). Doug is now back down the road at the University of St Andrews and 39 40 continues research collaborations with colleagues in Aberdeen. 41 42 Nick Spedding arrived in the Department as a lecturer in 1995, coming via a 43 44 45 PhD in Edinburgh, supervised by David Sugden, closing the Aberdeen loop. Nick 46 47 joined Al Gemmell, Doug Benn and Chalmers Clapperton in glaciology, bringing 48 49 strengths in glacial and sedimentology to the team, along with a passion for 50 51 52 statistical analyses and an integrated approach to research in glaciological processes, 53 54 landforms and landsystems. Nick published a number of highly cited glacial 55 56 sedimentology papers (Kirkbride & Spedding, 1996, Swift et al., 2002; Spedding & 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 Evans, 2002) while impressively contributing publications on the more philosophical 4 5 6 side of (Spedding, 1997, 1999). 7 8 In 2002, Douglas (Doug) Mair joined the Department as a lecturer, after 9 10 completion of a Leverhulme Trust post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta, 11 12 in Canada. Doug gained his PhD from Cambridge University, under the co-supervision 13 14 15 of Martin Sharp (who had himself completed his PhD at Aberdeen under the 16 17 supervision of Chalmers Clapperton and David Sugden). Doug brought a new focus on 18 For Peer Review Only 19 contemporary glaciology processes, thus reinvigorating glaciological research. His main 20 21 22 interests were surface mass balance, subglacial hydrology and glacier and ice sheet 23 24 dynamics. While at Aberdeen, Doug was involved in a pioneering NERC Consortium 25 26 grant focused on the calibration and validation of satellite-derived measurements of 27 28 29 glaciers and ice sheets. Subsequently, he worked on an ambitious project linking surface 30 31 melt, subglacial hydrology and ice dynamics of terrestrial terminating margins of the 32 33 Greenland Ice Sheet and then an interdisciplinary study reconstructing the millennial 34 35 scale history of a large tidewater outlet glacier in SW Greenland. Doug authored 36 37 38 multiple highly cited papers during his time in the Department (Mair, 2004; 39 40 Bartholomew et al., 2010, 2011a and b, and 2012; Sole et al., 2011, 2013; Chandler et 41 42 al., 2013). Doug, now Head of the School of Environmental Sciences at the University 43 44 45 of Liverpool, continues to collaborate with colleagues in Aberdeen. 46 47 The group expanded again in 2004, with the arrival of Brice Rea via a PhD 48 49 from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and post-doctoral positions at QUB, Cardiff 50 51 52 University and the University of Leicester. Brice brought strengths in palaeoglaciology, 53 54 periglacial processes and glacier-climate interactions. At Aberdeen, Brice has led an 55 56 international team working on a Europe-wide reconstruction of palaeoglaciers during 57 58 the Younger Dryas while developing a suite of GIS tools for this purpose (Pellitero- 59 60

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1 2 3 Ondicol et al., 2015, 2016). He wrote a benchmark paper providing a global and 4 5 6 regional datasets of AABRs (area altitude balance ratios, Rea (2009)) to be used for 7 8 determination of the equilibrium line altitude on glaciers. He has undertaken a 9 10 significant amount of work in Greenland developing glacial histories across multiple 11 12 timescales (Roberts et al., 2013). He has also worked in the subsurface world via 13 14 15 seismic and cores. Initially this work was focused on the Cenozoic history of the Arctic 16 17 Ocean (e.g. Moran et al., 2006; Sluijs et al., 2006). Subsequently, the North Sea became 18 For Peer Review Only 19 an area of interest, with the reconstruction of environmental histories over the 2.6 20 21 22 million years and the rewriting of the glacial history for the region (Rea et al., 2018). He 23 24 continued working on surging glaciers from both process- (Rea and Evans, 2011) and 25 26 palaeo-perspectives (Evans et al., 2008). 27 28 29 Alastair Dawson joined the Department in 2005 from Coventry University, 30 31 becoming the Assistant Director of the Institute for Coastal Science and Management. 32 33 Alastair was an Aberdeen Geography graduate and his doctorate was from Edinburgh. 34 35 He brought expertise in geomorphology, coastal processes and change, and 36 37 38 palaeoclimatology and expanded the glaciology group to become the current 39 40 Cryosphere and Climate Change cluster. He retired in 2014 but during his time in 41 42 Aberdeen he published some very high profile papers, for example on tsunami deposits 43 44 45 (Dawson & Stewart, 2007; Dawson et al., 2007; Kortekaas & Dawson, 2007; Costa et 46 47 al., 2012) and the use of Greenland ice core records (Dawson, et al., 2007; Dugmore et 48 49 al., 2007), as well as a book devoted to the climate of Scotland (Dawson, 2009). 50 51 52 Robert (Rob) Bingham was appointed lecturer in 2009 as part of the University 53 54 of Aberdeen’s 6th Century 100 new posts initiative. Rob had previously been a Research 55 56 Scientist at the British Antarctic Survey and a post-doctoral researcher at the NERC 57 58 Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling in the University of Bristol. He gained his 59 60

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1 2 3 PhD in glaciology at the University of Glasgow, co-supervised by Martin Sharp, 4 5 6 completing another Aberdeen loop. Over four years in Aberdeen, Rob led projects in 7 8 Antarctic science and especially contemporary ice-sheet dynamics and their controls, 9 10 investigated through a suite of field observations utilising geophysical techniques and 11 12 satellite remote sensing. Notable outputs were the discovery of Antarctica’s “Ferrigno 13 14 15 Rift” (Bingham et al., 2012) and publications on the shape and of the glacier 16 17 bed in key sectors of West Antarctica such as Pine Island Glacier (Smith et al., 2012) 18 For Peer Review Only 19 and the Robin Subglacial Basin (Ross et al., 2012). Robert has continued to collaborate 20 21 22 with the Aberdeen Cryosphere and Climate group since moving to Edinburgh (e.g. 23 24 Bingham et al., 2017). 25 26 Matteo Spagnolo joined the Cryosphere and Climate Change group in 2009 as a 27 28 29 lecturer, coming from a post-doctoral position at the University of Sheffield, and having 30 31 completed a PhD at the University of Genova. Matteo brought a broad academic 32 33 background, spanning biology and geology, and had spent much of his career in Italy 34 35 studying alpine environments. Matteo also brought expertise in GIS and the 36 37 38 morphometric analyses of , and a newly acquired fascination with the world 39 40 of ice sheet subglacial landforms. He continues to work on alpine and ice sheet glacial 41 42 processes, at regional to continental scales, driven by a relentless curiosity and wonder 43 44 45 for the environment. He has led a benchmark project investigating mega-scale glacial 46 47 lineations (Spagnolo et al., 2014; 2016; 2017), he has conducted many studies on 48 49 cirques (Barr & Spagnolo, 2015) and is now spearheading the glacier-volcano research 50 51 52 in the Department (Barr et al., 2018). He has strong international academic links, 53 54 recently focusing on the development of a new paleoclimate proxy with the University 55 56 of California at Berkeley (Tremblay et al., 2019) and new analytical approaches to 57 58 morphometry, with the University of Texas at Austin (Spagnolo et al., 2017a). 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Making a mark and recurring themes 8 9 10 An overview of glaciology research at the University of Aberdeen reveals a number of 11 12 themes and areas of interest that connect across the years. In its infancy, the strengths in 13 14 glaciology lay in the study of the glacial landscape of Scotland and what is now known 15 16 17 as palaeoglaciology, led by the formidable duo of Chalmers Clapperton and David 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Sugden. There was also a desire to deepen understanding of the origin of that landscape 20 21 through investigations of glacial processes in contemporary glaciated landscapes, 22 23 24 exemplified by the “Aberdeen University Expedition to Greenland in 1968” (Sugden, 25 26 1969a) (Figure 1). Integration of contemporary with palaeoglacial research has 27 28 remained a cornerstone for those who subsequently worked in glaciology in Aberdeen, 29 30 continuing until the present day, with the most recent field campaigns focusing on 31 32 33 Greenland and the Alps. Ground breaking fieldwork, and related publications, were 34 35 delivered early on by Chalmers and David working in the Southern Hemisphere, most 36 37 notably on South Georgia (Figure 2) and the Antarctic Peninsula (Sugden and 38 39 40 Clapperton 1981; Clapperton and Sugden, 1982). An interest in Antarctica returned to 41 42 the glaciology group in Aberdeen via the largely field-based work of Rob Bingham, the 43 44 remote sensing investigations of Matteo Spagnolo, and the collaboration between the 45 46 47 two (Spagnolo et al., 2014, 2017; Jamieson et al., 2016; Livingstone et al., 2016; 48 49 Bingham et al., 2017; Davies et al., 2017, 2018). 50 51 52 53 54 55 Landforms and Sediments 56 57 58 Early work on glacial landforms relied heavily on morphometry, linking landforms to 59 60 observations from modern landscapes. As the subject developed, increasing use was

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1 2 3 made of process-form relationships and sediment-landform associations, which required 4 5 6 greater use of sedimentology. Initially in Aberdeen this was led by Judith Maizels 7 8 working on sandur, braided river and jökulhlaup deposts, leading to the publication of a 9 10 number of highly cited works (Maizels, 1989a, 1993, 1997). With the arrival of Doug 11 12 Benn, innovative sedimentological approaches were applied to the study of glacial 13 14 15 sediments, leading to the publication of benchmark research (Benn, 1994a, 1994b, Benn 16 17 and Ballantyne 1994, Benn and Evans, 1996). Nick Spedding, who joined the 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Department in 1996, added further to the expertise in sedimentology within the team. 20 21 22 Nick contributed a number of significant works related to the debris transport pathways 23 24 in glaciers (Figure 3) and glaciated valley landsystems (Kirkbride & Spedding, 1996, 25 26 Swift et al., 2002; Spedding & Evans, 2002). 27 28 29 30 31 32 Remote Sensing and GIS 33 34 35 The development of remote sensing and GIS techniques represents one of the most 36 37 important advances in geospatial sciences and both have become increasingly 38 39 40 prominent in glaciological research since the 1990s. This move was reflected in the 41 42 work undertaken in the Department. Doug Mair, for example, was involved in 43 44 pioneering work, in the Canadian Arctic and on the Greenland Ice Sheet, to calibrate 45 46 47 and validate data from CRYOSAT, a cryosphere-dedicated satellite (Figure 4). The 48 49 revolution in remote sensing and the generation of imagery and digital elevation models 50 51 has seen a return to the morphometric techniques employed by previous generations of 52 53 researchers. However, mapping is now possible over what were once unimaginably 54 55 56 large spatial areas and without the need for ground survey. All that the new technologies 57 58 required was a workstation, satellite images or digital terrain models and dedication. 59 60 With the arrival of Matteo Spagnolo, one of the leading exponents of these techniques,

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1 2 3 Aberdeen began to deliver high quality research in this area of glaciology (Figure 5). 4 5 6 These techniques can generate very large datasets that have led to considerable 7 8 improvements in our understanding of the formation of subglacial landforms, such as 9 10 drumlins and mega-scale glacial lineations (MSGL). They can also shed light on ice 11 12 sheet dynamics and ice-bed interactions beneath glaciers, ice streams and ice sheets (Ely 13 14 15 et al., 2017; Spagnolo et al., 2012, 2014, 2017). 16 17 Rob Bingham provided an additional piece of the remote sensing jigsaw, 18 For Peer Review Only 19 bringing geophysical skills in radar glaciology (Figure 6) to investigate the beds of ice 20 21 22 sheets (Fretwell et al., 2013). Knowledge of the bed of extant ice sheets was initially 23 24 limited to a few boreholes and seismic lines, but airborne and surface acquired radar 25 26 data has completely revolutionised our understanding of the subglacial landscape and 27 28 29 bed conditions (ibid.). Robert saw the importance of combining the skills of palaeo and 30 31 contemporary glaciology for advancing our understanding of processes at the ice-bed 32 33 interface (Bingham & Seigert, 2009). The fortuitous coincident arrival of Robert and 34 35 Matteo in Aberdeen facilitated further collaboration in this area, resulting in many 36 37 38 significant publications, and improved understanding of ice stream dynamics (Bingham 39 40 et al., 2017, Davies et al., 2017, 2018). 41 42 43 44 45 46 Ice Sheets and ice streams 47 48 49 The study of ice sheet dynamics through their arterial drainage systems of ice streams 50 51 and outlet glaciers has been an enduring theme over the past two decades in Aberdeen. 52 53 Our researchers have brought together their skills in subglacial processes, glacial 54 55 56 geomorphology, ice dynamics, remote sensing, morphometry and many more, to 57 58 advance understanding. It has become apparent that subglacial hydrology plays a key 59 60 role in governing ice sheet dynamics in a system previously thought to be relatively

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1 2 3 invariant. Doug Mair co-led research on the Greenland Ice Sheet identifying clear 4 5 6 connections between surface melt, the subglacial drainage system and ice dynamics 7 8 (Bartholomew et al., 2010; 2011a, b; 2012; Chandler et al., 2013; Sole et al., 2011; 9 10 2013). Doug and Brice Rea have brought together their glaciological expertise to 11 12 develop centennial to millennial scale records of ice sheet change in Greenland (Figure 13 14 15 7). This has generated a dataset which is suited for calibration and validation of 16 17 numerical models of tidewater glacier dynamics over timescales significantly beyond 18 For Peer Review Only 19 the instrumental record. These are necessary in order to improve confidence in model 20 21 22 predictions 50 or 100 years from now. Matteo and Brice also worked together on a 23 24 project in Poland, investigating the bed of a palaeo ice stream. They applied state of the 25 26 art sedimentological techniques, such as anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and x-ray 27 28 29 tomography, combined with detailed investigations of large-scale field excavations 30 31 (Figure 8), to elucidate the processes occurring during ice streaming at the ice bed 32 33 interface and concomitant landform generation (Spagnolo et al., 2016). 34 35 36 37 38 39 Tool development 40 41 42 Glaciology at Aberdeen has a history of the development of bespoke research tools, 43 44 provided to the community through publications and open access downloads. 45 46 47 Palaeoglacier reconstruction has long been an Aberdeen strength and Doug Benn and Al 48 49 Gemmell with their paper “Calculating equilibrium-line altitudes of former glaciers by 50 51 the balance ratio method: a new computer spreadsheet” (Benn & Gemmell, 1997) 52 53 provided, for the first time, the means of determining the ELA for palaeoglaciers using 54 55 56 the AABR method, which has been shown to be superior, in many instances, to the 57 58 more widely used accumulation area ratio method. The use of this tool was further 59 60 enhanced by publication, in 2009, of a dataset of global, regional and climate-type

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1 2 3 AABRs by Brice Rea (Rea, 2009). More recently Aberdeen developed two bespoke 4 5 6 toolboxes that can, with a little GIS knowledge, a digital elevation model and a mapped 7 8 glacier end moraine, rapidly reconstruct a 3D palaeoglacier surface (Figure 9) and 9 10 extract a palaeo-ELA (Pellitero et al., 2015; 2016). This tool has been used to generate 11 12 regional datasets of palaeoglacier ELAs, which are now being used to investigate large- 13 14 15 scale atmospheric circulation, expanding the utility of glacier reconstructions. Another 16 17 recently developed tool, connects back to early work in the Department by David 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Sugden on corries (cirques) (Sugden, 1969b). This tool allows the rapid analyses of 20 21 22 glacial cirque metrics (Figure 10) and spatial distributions (Spagnolo et al., 2017b), 23 24 once again producing large datasets which can be analysed with statistical rigour, 25 26 providing links to palaeoclimate and landscape evolution (Barr et al., 2017; Barr et al., 27 28 29 in press). 30 31 32 33 34 35 Palaeoglaciers, dating and climate 36 37 Our understanding of present-day climate change requires contextualisation from past 38 39 40 events and time periods. As highlighted above, numerical models used for future 41 42 forecasting require robust calibration and validation data. The palaeo-environmental and 43 44 landform record can provide these much-needed data (Gemmell et al., 2007; Gemmell 45 46 47 & Spötl, 2009). Glaciers have been demonstrated to be an important climate proxy. 48 49 Aberdeen has a long track record of palaeoglaciology and has been active, over the past 50 51 two decades, in pushing the science into the realm of a truly quantitative palaeoclimate 52 53 proxy (Benn & Gemmell, 1997; Rea, 2009; Pellitero et al, 2015, 2016; Spagnolo & 54 55 56 Ribolini, submitted). In all of these studies chronology is paramount for understanding 57 58 the timing and rates of environmental change. Earlier work in the Department relied 59 60 solely on the use of radiocarbon dating to provide this much needed chronology.

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1 2 3 Subsequently, under the leadership of Al Gemmell, the Department established its own 4 5 6 luminescence laboratory. Al operated the lab for three decades, generating some 7 8 important publications (Gemmell, 1988, 1997). More recently Brice Rea and Matteo 9 10 Spagnolo have relied heavily on cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating to provide a 11 12 chronology for palaeoglacier reconstructions. Aberdeen has been using various 13 14 15 approaches, to chronologically constrain ice dynamics and to generate quantitative 16 17 palaeoclimate data (Rea & Evans, 2007, Rea 2009, Pellitero et al, 2015, 2016, Federici 18 For Peer Review Only 19 et al., 2012, 2017; Ribolini et al., 2018). 20 21 22 23 24 25 Glacier surging and volcano-glacier interactions 26 27 28 It is with some satisfaction we also reflect on two areas where Aberdeen, through 29 30 Chalmers Clapperton, made a mark early on and to which the present staff continue to 31 32 33 contribute. Chalmers published an important paper on surging glaciers and debris 34 35 transport (Clapperton, 1975) and Brice Rea has continued his work on surging glaciers 36 37 since coming to Aberdeen. For example, an analysis of the propagation direction and 38 39 40 mechanics of full-depth crevasses on surging glaciers and the concomitant formation of 41 42 crevasse squeeze ridges (Rea & Evans, 2011) recalls a landform impeccably analysed 43 44 by Martin Sharp in a publication (Sharp, 1985) from his Aberdeen PhD thesis. More 45 46 47 recently Aberdeen has again entered the realm of volcano-glacier interactions, a subject 48 49 previously investigated by Chalmers (Clapperton, 1990). Led by Matteo Spagnolo, 50 51 Aberdeen is currently involved in a number of projects in this area of research (Barr et 52 53 al., 2018). 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 In summary

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1 2 3 Glaciology has been a mainstay of the academic profile in Aberdeen for over half of the 4 5 6 100-year history of the Department and during this time the research group has 7 8 periodically expanded and contracted. The staff have worked across many areas of 9 10 glaciology, pushing boundaries, setting benchmarks and publishing in the highest 11 12 quality academic journals. It is also noteworthy that the two most influential text books 13 14 15 in glacial geomorphology were both co-authored by Aberdeen glaciology staff: Glaciers 16 17 and Landscape (1976) by David E. Sugden and Brian S. John; Glaciers and Glaciation 18 For Peer Review Only 19 (1998) by Douglas I. Benn and David J.A. Evans. Fieldwork has always been a core 20 21 22 strength with the associated opportunities for enthusing undergraduate students (Figure 23 24 11). Aberdeen glaciology has trained a multitude of the next generation of scientists. It 25 26 has always had a bottom-up staffing approach, appointing early career staff, providing a 27 28 29 collaborative and supportive environment where careers can flourish. Some of the staff 30 31 have moved on, some remained, others have retired and sadly one is no longer with us, 32 33 but friendships and collaborations endure (Figure 12). We look positively to the future 34 35 as the University of Aberdeen enters a new period of staff appointments and growth, 36 37 38 which will hopefully be reflected in the staffing profile of the glaciology group. 39 40 41 42 43 Acknowledgments 44 45 Thanks to David Sugden, Doug Benn, Nick Spedding, Doug Mair, Alastair Dawson, Rob 46 Bingham and Tim Lane for providing photographs and images. 47 48 49 50 51 References 52 53 Barr, I. & Spagnolo, M. (2013) Palaeoglacial and palaeoclimatic conditions in the NW 54 Pacific, as revealed by a morphometric analysis of cirques upon the Kamchatka 55 56 Peninsula, Geomorphology, 192, 15–29. 57 58 Barr, I. & Spagnolo, M. (2015) Glacial cirques as palaeoenvironmental indicators: their 59 potential and limitations, -Science Reviews, 151, 48–78. 60

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1 2 3 Barr, I., Ely, J., Spagnolo, M., Clark, C., Evans, I., Pellicer, X., Pellitero, R. & Rea, B. 4 5 (2017) Climate patterns during former periods of glacier initiation in Britain and 6 7 Ireland: inferences from the cirque record, Palaeogeography, 8 Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 485, 466–475. 9 10 Barr, I., Ely, J., Spagnolo, M., Evans, I. & Tomkins, M. D. (in press) The dynamics of 11 12 mountain erosion: cirque growth slows as landscapes age, Earth Surface 13 14 Processes and Landforms. 15 Bartholomew, I., Nienow, P., Mair, D., Hubbard, A., King, M. A. & Sole, A. (2010) 16 17 Seasonal evolution of subglacial drainage and acceleration in a Greenland outlet 18 For Peer Review Only 19 glacier, Nature Geoscience, 3, 408–411. 20 Bartholomew, I. D., Nienow, P., Sole, A., Mair, D., Cowton, T., King, M. A. & Palmer, 21 22 S. (2011a) Seasonal variations in Greenland Ice Sheet motion: Inland extent and 23 24 behaviour at higher elevations, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 307, 271– 25 26 278. 27 Bartholomew, I., Nienow, P., Sole, A., Mair, D., Cowton, T., Palmer, S. & Wadham, J. 28 29 (2011b) Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the 30 31 Greenland ice sheet, Geophysical Research Letters, 38, art. no. L08502. 32 33 Bartholomew, I., Nienow, P., Sole, A., Mair, D., Cowton, T. & King, M. A. (2012) 34 Short–term variability in Greenland Ice Sheet motion forced by time-varying 35 36 meltwater drainage: Implications for the relationship between subglacial 37 38 drainage system behavior and ice velocity, Journal of Geophysical Research: 39 Earth Surface, 117, art. no. F03002. 40 41 Benn, D. I. (1994a) Fluted moraine formation and till genesis below a temperate valley 42 43 glacier: Slettmarkbreen, Jotunheimen, southern Norway, Sedimentology, 41, 44 45 279–292. 46 Benn, D. I. (1994b) Fabric shape and the interpretation of sedimentary fabric data, 47 48 Journal of Sedimentary Research A: Sedimentary & Processes, A64, 49 50 910–915. 51 Benn, D. I. & Ballantyne, C. K. (1994) Reconstructing the transport history of 52 53 glacigenic sediments: a new approach based on the co-variance of clast form 54 55 indices, Sedimentary Geology, 91, 215–227. 56 57 Benn, D. I. & Evans, D. J. A. (1996) The interpretation and classification of 58 subglacially-deformed materials, Reviews, 15, 23–52. 59 60 Benn, D. I. & Evans, D. J. A. (1998) Glaciers and Glaciation (London: Routledge).

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1 2 3 Benn, D. I. & Gemmell, A. M. D. (1997) Calculating equilibrium-line altitudes of 4 5 former glaciers by the balance ratio method: a new computer spreadsheet, 6 7 Glacial Geology and Geomorphology. 8 Benn, D. I. & Owen, L. A. (1998) The role of the Indian summer monsoon and the mid- 9 10 latitude westerlies in Himalayan glaciation: review and speculative discussion, 11 12 Journal of the Geological Society, 155, 353–363. 13 14 Bingham, R. G. & Siegert, M. J. (2009) Quantifying subglacial bed roughness in 15 Antarctica: implications for ice-sheet dynamics and history, Quaternary Science 16 17 Reviews, 28, 223–236. 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Bingham, R. G., Ferraccioli, F., King, E. C., Larter, R. D., Pritchard, H. D., Smith, A. 20 M. & Vaughan, D. G. (2012) Inland thinning of West Antarctic Ice Sheet steered 21 22 along subglacial rifts, Nature, 487, 468–471. 23 24 Bingham, R. G., Vaughan, D. G., King, E. C., Davies, D., Cornford, S. L., Smith, A. 25 26 M., Arthern, R. J., Brisbourne, A. M., De Rydt, J., Graham, A. G. C., Spagnolo, 27 M., Marsh, O. J. & Shean, D. E. (2017) Diverse landscapes beneath Pine Island 28 29 Glacier influence ice flow, Nature Communications, 8, 16–18. 30 31 Bremner, A. (1934) The glaciation of Abernethy Forest, Transactions of the Edinburgh 32 33 Geological Society, 13, pp. 1–16. 34 Bremner, A. (1939) The late-glacial geology of the Tay Basin from Pass of Birnam to 35 36 Grantully and Pitlochry, Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological 37 38 Society, 13, pp. 473–474. 39 Chandler, D. M., Wadham, J. L., Lis, G. P., Cowton, T., Sole, A., Bartholomew, I., 40 41 Telling, J. Nienow, P., Bagshaw, E. B., Mair, D., Vinen, S. & Hubbard, A. 42 43 (2013) Evolution of the subglacial drainage system beneath the Greenland Ice 44 45 Sheet revealed by tracers, Nature Geoscience, 6, 195–198. 46 Clapperton C. M. (1975) The debris content of surging glaciers in Svalbard and 47 48 Iceland, Journal of Glaciology, 14, 395–406. 49 50 Clapperton, C. M. (1990) Glacial and volcanic geomorphology of the Chimborazo- 51 Carihuairazo Massif, Ecuadorian Andes, Transactions of the Royal Society of 52 53 Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 81, 91–116. 54 55 Clapperton, C. M. (1993) Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology of South America 56 57 (Amsterdam: Elsevier Science). 58 Clapperton, C. M. & Gemmell, A. M. D. (1998) Windy Hills SSSI, Aberdeenshire: Site 59 60 Survey and Management Phase 1 (Edinburgh: Scottish Natural Heritage).

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1 2 3 Clapperton, C. M. & Sugden, D. E. (1982) Late quaternary glacial history of George VI 4 5 Sound area, West Antarctica, Quaternary Research, 18, 243–267. 6 7 Clapperton, C. M., Clayton, J. D., Benn, D. I., Marden, C. J. & Argollo, J. (1997) Late 8 Quaternary glacier advances and palaeolake highstands in the Bolivian 9 10 Altiplano, Quaternary International, 38, 49–59. 11 12 Costa, P. J. M., Andrade, C., Dawson, A. G., Mahaney, W. C., Freitas, M. C., Paris, R. 13 14 & Taborda, R. (2012) Microtextural characteristics of quartz grains transported 15 and deposited by tsunamis and storms, Sedimentary Geology, 275–276, 55–69. 16 17 Davies, D., Bingham, R. G., Graham, A. G. C., Spagnolo, M., Dutrieux, P., Vaugan, D. 18 For Peer Review Only 19 J., Jenkins, A. & Nitsche, F. O. (2017) High-resolution sub-ice-shelf seafloor 20 records of 20th-century ungrounding and retreat of Pine Island Glacier, West 21 22 Antarctica, Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, 122, 1698–1714. 23 24 Davies, D., Bingham, R. G., King, E. C., Smith, A. M., Brisbourne, A. M., Spagnolo, 25 26 M., Graham, A. G. C., Hogg, A. E. & Vaughan, D. G. (2018) How dynamic are 27 ice-stream beds?, The Cryosphere, 12, 1615–1628. 28 29 Dawson, A. G. (2009) So Foul and Fair a Day: a History of Scotland's Weather and 30 31 Climate (Edinburgh: Birlinn). 32 33 Dawson, A.G. & Stewart, I. (2007) Tsunami deposits in the geological record, 34 Sedimentary Geology, 200 (3–4), 166–183. 35 36 Dawson, A. G., Hickey, K., Mayewski, P. A. & Nesje, A. (2007) Greenland (GISP2) ice 37 38 core and historical indicators of complex North Atlantic climate changes during 39 the fourteenth century, Holocene, 17, 427–434. 40 41 Dugmore, A. J., Borthwick, D. M., Church, M. J., Dawson, A., Edwards, K. J., Keller, 42 43 C., Mayewski, P., McGovern, T. H., Mairs, K.–A. & Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. 44 45 (2007) The role of climate in settlement and landscape change in the North 46 Atlantic Islands: An assessment of cumulative deviations in high-resolution 47 48 proxy climate records, Human Ecology, 35, 169–178. 49 50 Ely, J. C., Graham, C., Barr, I. D., Rea, B. R., Spagnolo, M. & Evans, J. (2017) Using 51 UAV acquired photography and structure from motion techniques for studying 52 53 glacier landforms: application to the glacial flutes at Isfallsglaciären, Earth 54 55 Surface Processes and Landforms, 42, 877–888. 56 57 Evans, D. J. A., Clark, C. D. & Rea, B. R. (2008) Palaeo ice stream activity in the 58 southwest Laurentide Ice Sheet, and associated styles of ice-marginal deposition, 59 60 Journal of Quaternary Science, 249–272.

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1 2 3 Federici, P. R., Granger, D., Ribolini, A., Spagnolo, M., Pappalardo, M. & Cyr, A. 4 5 (2012) Last Glacial Maximum and the Gschnitz stadial in the Maritime Alps 6 10 7 according to Be cosmogenic dating, Boreas, 41, 277–291. 8 Federici, P. R., Ribolini, A. & Spagnolo, M. (2017) Glacial history of the Maritime 9 10 Alps from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Little Ice Age. In: Hughes, P. D. & 11 12 Woodward, J. C. (eds), Quaternary Glaciation in the Mediterranean Mountains. 13 14 Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 433, 137–159. 15 Fretwell, P., Pritchard, H. D., Vaughan, D. G., Bamber, J. L., Barrand, N. E., Bell, R., 16 17 Bianchi, C., Bingham, R. G., Blankenship, D. D., Casassa, G., Catania, G., 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Callens, D., Conway, H., Cook, A. J., Corr, H. F. J., Damaske, D., Damm, V., 20 Ferraccioli, F., Forsberg, R., Fujita, S., Gim, Y., Gogineni, P., Griggs, J. A., 21 22 Hindmarsh, R. C. A., Holmlund, P., Holt, J. W., Jacobel, R. W., Jenkins, A., 23 24 Jokat, W., Jordan, T., King, E. C., Kohler, J., Krabill, W., Riger–Kusk, M., 25 26 Langley, K. A., Leitchenkov, G., Leuschen, C., Luyendyk, B. P., Matsuoka, K., 27 Mouginot, J., Nitsche, F. O., Nogi, Y., Nost, O. A., Popov, S. V., Rignot, E., 28 29 Rippin, D. M., Rivera, A., Roberts, J., Ross, N., Siegert, M. J., Smith, A. M., 30 31 Steinhage, D., Studinger, M., Sun, B., Tinto, B. K., Welch, B. C., Wilson, D., 32 33 Young, D. A., Xiangbin, C. & Zirizzotti, A. (2013) Bedmap2: improved ice bed, 34 surface and thickness datasets for Antarctica, The Cryosphere, 7, 375–393. 35 36 Gemmell, A. M. D. (1988) Zeroing of the TL signal in sediment undergoing 37 38 fluvioglacial transport. An example from Austerdalen, Western Norway, 39 Quaternary Science Reviews, 7, 339–345. 40 41 Gemmell, A. M. D. (1994) Thermoluminescence in suspended sediment of glacier 42 43 meltwater streams, Journal of Glaciology, 40, 158–166. 44 45 Gemmell, A. M. D. (1997) Fluctuations in the thermoluminescence signal of suspended 46 sediment in an alpine glacial meltwater stream, Quaternary Science Reviews, 16, 47 48 281–290. 49 50 Gemmell, A. M. D. (1999) IRSL from fine-grained glacifluvial sediment, Quaternary 51 (Quaternary Science Reviews), 18, 207–215. 52 53 Gemmell, A. M. D. & Stove, G. C. (1999) Windy Hill SSSI, Aberdeenshire: Site Survey 54 55 and Management Phase 2 (Edinburgh: Scottish Natural Heritage). 56 57 Gemmell, A. M. D., Murray, A. S. & Connell, E. R. (2007) Devensian glacial events in 58 Buchan (NE Scotland): a progress report on new OSL dates and their 59 60 implications, Quaternary Geochronology, 2, 237–242.

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1 2 3 Gemmell, A. M. D. & Spötl, C. (2009) Attempts to date the Hötting Breccia near 4 5 Innsbruck (Austria), a classical Quaternary site in the Alps, by optically- 6 7 stimulated luminescence, Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences, 102, 50–61. 8 Jamieson, S. R., Stokes, C. R., Livingstone, S. J., Vieli, A., O’ Cofaigh, C., Hillenbrand 9 10 C.-D. & Spagnolo, M. (2016) Subglacial processes on an Antarctic Ice Stream 11 12 bed 2: Can modelled ice dynamics explain the morphology of mega-scale glacial 13 14 lineations?, Journal of Glaciology, 62, 232, 285–298. 15 Kesel, R. H. & Gemmell, A. M. D. (1981) The ‘Pliocene’ Gravels of Buchan: a 16 17 reappraisal, Scottish Journal of Geology, 17, 185–203. 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Kirkbride, M. & Spedding, N. (1996) The influence of englacial drainage on sediment- 20 transport pathways and till texture of temperate valley glaciers, Annals of 21 22 Glaciology, 22, 160–166. 23 24 Kortekaas, S. & Dawson, A. G. (2007) Distinguishing tsunami and storm deposits: An 25 26 example from Martinhal, SW Portugal, Sedimentary Geology, 200, 208–221. 27 Livingstone, S. J., Stokes, C. R., O’ Cofaigh, C., Hillenbrand C.-D., Vieli, A., Jamieson, 28 29 S. R., Spagnolo, M. & Dowdeswell, J. A. (2016) Subglacial processes on an 30 31 Antarctic ice stream bed 1: sediment transport and bedform genesis inferred 32 33 from marine geophysical data, Journal of Glaciology, 62, 232, 270–284. 34 Mair, D., Willis, I., Fischer, U. H., Hubbard, B., Nienow, P. & Hubbard, A. (2004) 35 36 Hydrological controls on patterns of surface, internal and basal motion during 37 38 three "spring events": Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland, Journal of Glaciology, 39 49, 555–567. 40 41 Maizels, J. (1979) Proglacial aggradation and changes in braided channel patterns 42 43 during a period of glacier advance: an alpine example, Geografiska Annaler: 44 45 Series A, Physical Geography, 61, 87–101. 46 Maizels, J. (1989a) Sedimentology, paleoflow dynamics and flood history of Jökulhlaup 47 48 deposits: of Holocene sediment sequences in southern Iceland 49 50 sandur deposits, Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 59, 204–223. 51 Maizels, J. K. (1989b) Differentiation of late pleistocene terrace outwash deposits using 52 53 geomorphic criteria: Tekapo valley, South Island, New Zealand, New Zealand 54 55 Journal of Geology and , 32, 225–241. 56 57 Maizels, J. (1990) Raised channel systems as indicators of palaeohydrologic change: a 58 case study from Oman, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 59 60 76, 241–277.

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1 2 3 Maizels, J. (1992) Boulder ring structures produced during Jokulhlaup flows: origin and 4 5 hydraulic significance, Geografiska Annaler, 74A, 21–33. 6 7 Maizels, J. (1993) Lithofacies variations within sandur deposits: the role of runoff 8 regime, flow dynamics and sediment supply characteristics, Sedimentary 9 10 Geology, 85, 299–325. 11 12 Maizels, J. (1997) Jokulhlaup deposits in proglacial areas. Quaternary Science Reviews, 13 14 16, 793–819. 15 Moran, K., Backman, J., Brinkhuis, H., Clemens, S. C., Cronin, T., Dickens, G.R., 16 17 Eynaud, F., Gattacceca, J., Jakobsson, M., Jordan, R. W., Kaminski, M., King, 18 For Peer Review Only 19 J., Koc, N., Krylov, A., Martinez, N., Matthiessen, J., McInroy, D., Moore, T. 20 C., Onodera, J., O'Regan, M., Palike, H., Rea, B. R., Rio, D., Sakamoto, T., 21 22 Smith, D. C., Stein, R., St John, K., Suto, I., Suzuki, N., Takahashi, K., 23 24 Watanabe, M., Yamamoto, M., Farrell, J., Frank, M., Kubik, P., Jokat, W. & 25 26 Kristoffersen, Y. (2006) The Cenozoic palaeoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean, 27 Nature, 441, 601–605. 28 29 Pellitero, R., Rea, B. R., Spagnolo, M., Bakke, J., Hughes, P., Ivy-Ochs, S., Lukas, S. & 30 31 Ribolini, A. (2015) A GIS tool for automatic calculation of glacier equilibrium– 32 33 line altitudes, Computers & Geosciences, 82, 55–62. 34 Pellitero, R. Rea, B. R., Spagnolo, M., Bakke, J., Ivy-Ochs, S., Frew, C., Hughes, P., 35 36 Ribolini, A., Lukas, S. & Renssen, H. (2016) GlaRe, a GIS tool to reconstruct 37 38 the 3D surface of palaeoglaciers, Computers and Geoscience, 94, 77–85. 39 40 41 Rea, B. R. and Evans, D. J. A. (2007) Quantifying climate and glacier mass balance in 42 43 North Norway during the Younger Dryas. Palaeogeography, 44 45 Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 246, 307–330. 46 Rea B. R. (2009) Defining modern day Area-Altitude-Balance-Ratios (AABRs) and 47 48 their use in glacier-climate reconstructions, Quaternary Science Reviews, 28, 49 50 237–248. 51 Rea, B. R. & Evans, D. J. A. (2011) An assessment of surge–induced crevassing and the 52 53 formation of crevasse squeeze ridges, Journal of Geophysical Research, 116, 54 55 F04005. 56 57 Rea, B. R. & Gemmell, A. M. D. (2009) Scottish Landform Example 40: The Buchan 58 Gravels Formation; a remnant deposit of a palaeo-landscape, Scottish 59 60 Geographical Journal, 125, 182.

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1 2 3 Ribolini, A., Bini, M., Isola, I., Spagnolo, M., Zanchetta, G., Pellitero, R., Mechernich, 4 5 S., Gromig, R., Dunai, T., Wagner, B. & Milevski, I. (2018) An Oldest Dryas 6 7 glacier expansion on Mount Pelister (Former Yugoslavian Republic of 8 Macedonia) according to 10Be cosmogenic dating, Journal of the Geological 9 10 Society, 175, 100–110. 11 12 Roberts, D. H., Rea, B. R., Lane, T. P., Schnabel, C., Rodés, A. (2013) New constraints 13 14 on Greenland ice sheet dynamics during the LGM: evidence from the 15 Uummannaq ice stream system, Journal of Geophysical Research, 16 17 doi: 10.1002/jgrf.20032 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Ross, N., Bingham, R. G., Corr, H. F .J., Ferraccioli, F., Jordan, T. A., Le Brocq, A., 20 Rippin, D. M., Young, D., Blankenship, D. D. & Siegert, M. J. (2012) Steep 21 22 reverse bed slope at the grounding line of the Weddell Sea sector in West 23 24 Antarctica, Nature Geoscience, 5, 393–396. 25 26 Sharp, M. (1985) “Crevasse-fill” ridges – a landform type characteristic of surging 27 glaciers?, Geografiska Annaler, 67A, 213–220. 28 29 Sluijs, Appy, Schouten, Stefan, Pagani, Mark, Woltering, Martijn, Brinkhuis, Henk, 30 31 Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S., Dickens, Gerald R., Huber, Matthew, Reichart, 32 33 Gert–Jan, Stein, Rüdiger, Matthiessen, J., Lourens, L. J., Pedenchouk, N., 34 Backman, J., Moran, K., Clemens, S., Eynaud, F., Gattacceca, J., Jakobsson, M., 35 36 Jordan, R., Kaminski, M., King, J., Koc, N., Martinez, N. C., McInroy, D., 37 38 Moore, T. C. Jr., O´Regan, M., Pälike, H., Rea, B., Rio, D., Sakamoto, T., 39 Smith, D. C., St. John, K. E. K., Suto, I., Suzuki, N., Watanabe, M. & 40 41 Yamamoto, M. (2006) Subtropical Arctic Ocean temperatures during the 42 43 Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum, Nature, 441, 610–613. 44 45 Smith, A. M., Jordan, T. A., Ferraccioli, F. & Bingham, R. G. (2013) Influence of 46 subglacial conditions on ice stream dynamics: Seismic and potential field data 47 48 from Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, Journal of Geophysical Research: 49 50 Solid Earth, 118, 1471–1482. 51 Sole, A. J., Mair, D. W. F., Nienow, P. W., Bartholomew, I. D., King, M. A., Burke, M. 52 53 J. & Joughin, I. (2011) Seasonal speedup of a Greenland marine–terminating 54 55 outlet glacier forced by surface melt–induced changes in subglacial hydrology, 56 57 Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 116, art. no. F03014. 58 59 60

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1 2 3 Sole, A., Nienow, P., Bartholomew, I., Mair, D., Cowton, T., Tedstone, A. & King, M. 4 5 A. (2013) Winter motion mediates dynamic response of the Greenland Ice Sheet 6 7 to warmer summers, Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 3940–3944. 8 Spagnolo, M. & Ribolini, A. (submitted) Glacier extent and climate in the Maritime 9 10 Alps during the Younger Dryas, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, 11 12 Palaeoecology. 13 14 Spagnolo, M., Clark, C. D. & Hughes, A. L. C. (2012) Drumlin relief, Geomorphology, 15 153–154, 179–191. 16 17 Spagnolo, M., Clark, C. D., Ely, J. C., Stokes, C. R., Anderson, J. B., Andreassen, K., 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Graham, A. G. C. & King, E. C. (2014) Size, shape and spatial arrangement of 20 mega-scale glacial lineations, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 39, 21 22 1432–1448. 23 24 Spagnolo, M., Phillips, E., Piotrowski, J., Rea, B. R., Clark, C. D., Stokes, C. R., Carr, 25 26 S., Ely, J. C., Ribolini, A., Wysota, W. & Szuman, I. (2016) Ice stream motion 27 facilitated by a shallow-deforming and accreting bed, Nature Communications, 28 29 7, 10723, 1-11. 30 31 Spagnolo, M., Bartholomaus, T. C., Clark, C. D., Stokes, C. R., Atkinson, N., 32 33 Dowdeswell, J. A., Ely, J. C., Graham, A., Hogan, K. A., King, Larter, R. D. E., 34 Livingstone, S. J. & Pritchard. H. D. (2017a) The periodic topography of ice 35 36 stream beds: insights from the Fourier spectra of mega-scale glacial lineations, 37 38 Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, 122, 1355–1373. 39 Spagnolo, M., Pellitero, R., Barr, I. D., Ely, J. C., Pellicer, X. M. & Rea, B. R. (2017) 40 41 ACME, a GIS tool for Automated Cirque Metric Extraction, Geomorphology, 42 43 278, 280–286. 44 45 Spedding, N. (1997) On growth and form in geomorphology, Earth Surface Processes 46 and Landforms, 22, 261–265. 47 48 Spedding, N. (1999) Schrödinger's cat among the pigeons? Transactions of the Institute 49 50 of British Geographers, 24, 231–235. 51 Spedding, N. & Evans, D. J. A. (2002) Sediments and landforms at Kvíárjökull, 52 53 southeast Iceland: a reappraisal of the glaciated valley landsystem, Sedimentary 54 55 Geology, 149, 21–42. 56 57 Sugden, D. E. (1969a) Preliminary report of the Aberdeen university west Greenland 58 expedition 1968, Scottish Geographical Magazine, 85, 105–108. 59 60

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1 2 3 Sugden, D. E. (1969b) The age and form of corries in the Cairngorms, Scottish 4 5 Geographical Magazine, 85, 34–46. 6 7 Sugden, D. E. & Clapperton, C. M. (1980) West Antarctic ice sheet fluctuations in the 8 Antarctic Peninsula area, Nature, 286, 378–381. 9 10 Sugden, D. E., Clapperton, C. M. (1981) Ice-shelf moraine, George VI Sound, 11 12 Antarctica, Annals of Glaciology, 2, 131–141. 13 14 Sugden, D. E. & John, B. S. (1976) Glaciers and landscape: a geomorphological 15 approach (London: Edward Arnold). 16 17 Sugden, D. E. & Watts, S. H. (1977) Tors, felsenmeer, and glaciation in Northern 18 For Peer Review Only 19 Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 14, 20 21 2817–2823. 22 Sugden, D. E. (2019) Chalmers Moyes Clapperton–an obituary. Scottish Geographical 23 24 Journal, 135, 150-151. 25 26 Swift, D. A., Nienow, P. W., Spedding, N. & Hoey, T. B. (2002) Geomorphic 27 implications of subglacial drainage configuration: Rates of basal sediment 28 29 evacuation controlled by seasonal drainage system evolution, Sedimentary 30 31 Geology, 149, 5–19. 32 33 Tremblay, M., Shuster, D., Spagnolo, M., Renssen, H. & Ribolini, A. (2019) 34 Temperatures recorded by cosmogenic noble gases since the last glacial 35 36 maximum in the Maritime Alps, Quaternary Research, 91, 829–847. 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 Figure 1. The church in Uummannaq as seen by Al Gemmell on Aberdeen University 53 54 Expedition to Greenland in 1968 (top) and the same church, looking down the hill, as seen 55 56 when Aberdeen (Brice Rea) returned in 2008, forty years later (bottom – photo from Tim 57 58 Lane). 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 Figure 2. Geomorphological map of the St Andrews Bay – Royal Bay area South Georgia 4 5 (top) and Chalmers Clapperton (left) and David Sugden (right) with Harker Glacier in the 6 7 background (bottom) (photo from David Sugden). 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Figure 3. Nick Spedding at Gígjökull, Iceland, undertaking research on the links between 45 subglacial overdeepenings and sediment transport, evidenced here by the proglacial lake, and 46 47 the large lateral moraine ramparts, just visible on the right (photo from Nick Spedding). 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Figure 4. Doug Mair in the interior of the Greenland Ice Sheet where he spent several months 37 38 in 2004-06 working to understand the effect that surface melting, and its subsequent 39 40 refreezing, has had on measurements of ice sheet mass and elevation change. Here using a 41 Neutron probe to measure snow and ice density in a borehole (photo from Doug Mair). 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Figure 5. A high-resolution LiDar image of drumlins in the Eden Valley and inset showing 37 38 morphometric analysis of a large UK-wide dataset. 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 Figure 6. A 30-km GPR profile acquired across Antarctica’s Ferrigno Rift by Rob Bingham 22 23 in the austral season 2009-10. This feature guides ongoing ocean-forced thinning in this part 24 25 of Antarctica, and it may have provided a marine link between the Bellingshausen and 26 Weddell Seas when West Antarctica was last ice-free (image from Rob Bingham). 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Figure 7. The Aberdeen team in Greenland in 2015, leaving basecamp at Sandnes for 38 Austmannadalen. From left to right: Doug Mair, James Lea, Danni Pearce, Ed Schofield and 39 40 Brice Rea. 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 Figure 8. Detailed investigations of mega scale glacial lineations, formed at the bed of the 4 5 Odra palaeo-ice stream, in the Wielkopolska Lowland Poland. On the left Jeremy Ely 6 7 (University of Sheffield) and Matteo Spagnolo (Aberdeen). 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Figure 9. An automated palaeoglacier reconstruction and calculated ELA, generated for a frontal 45 moraine dated to the Younger Dryas in the Maritime Alps. This was generated using GIS tools (GlaRe) 46 47 developed in Aberdeen. 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Figure 10. An example the metrics, automatically extracted from a digital terrain model, 46 generated by ACME, a GIS tool developed in Aberdeen to analyse glacial cirque metrics. 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 Figure 11. Students being taught on the long-running Montane Environments course by Al 4 5 Gemmell in 1997 (top – photo from Nick Spedding) and by Matteo Spagnolo in 2014. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Figure 12. Photographs of the Aberdeen glaciologists at some point during their time in the 45 46 Department, from top left to bottom right: Chalmers Clapperton, David Sugden, Al Gemmell, 47 48 Judith Maizels, Doug Benn, Nick Spedding, Doug Mair, Brice Rea, Alastair Dawson, Rob 49 50 Bingham and Matteo Spagnolo. 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 For Peer Review Only 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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