Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Geology

Department

Geological Sciences

First Reader/Committee Chair

Claire Todd

Abstract

This study establishes parallels between the observed degradational evolution of debris-covered glaciers on Mount Rainier, WA and select glacier-like forms (GLFs) by studying the time-varying morphologies of the debris cover. Mount Rainier is home to 28 debris-covered valley glaciers, including Emmons Glacier which has a history of orthoimages taken from 1951 to 2023 and high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) coverage of 2008, 2021 and 2022. We can observe the degradational evolution of Emmons Glacier through orthorectified black and white imagery collected from an airborne platform and the National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) colored satellite images periodically collected over the last 72 years. GLFs in the Mars mid-latitude areas are indicative of past ice flow based on visual interpretations of their overall forms and from surface textures that are similar to glaciers on Earth. On Mars, GLFs are the smaller flows by area that appear most similar to debris-covered valley glaciers on Earth. Morphological textures discernable in tonal and spatial variation display supraglacial landform evolution of debris-covered glaciers on Earth, including Emmons Glacier on Mount Rainier observable at the meter scale with DEMs. Observations of Emmons Glacier show that these textures—such as crevasses, ridges, and moraines—develop and degrade over time as ice thins and debris accumulates. These evolutionary stages provide a baseline for interpreting similar textural patterns in Martian GLFs, suggesting that these Martian features may represent advanced stages of degradation, potentially analogous to the later stages observed at Mount Rainier.

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