Dr Martin Kirkbride

Research Interests

My research aims to build links between process dynamics and landform chronology in glacial and periglacial systems, with an emphasis on the Holocene. Through such an approach, landform-based interpretations of environmental change may be extended and improved. Studies of active forms establishes rates of change and sensitivity, which inform chronological interpretations of dated fossil landforms. Work on debris-covered glaciers has shown how their activity and climatic response differ significantly from "clean" glaciers but whose deposits have high preservation potential. More recently, I have been working on tephrochronological dating of Holocene landforms in Iceland, to explore the response of terrestrial landforms to ocean-atmosphere circulation changes in the North Atlantic region.

Primary research interests

Debris-covered glaciers in Europe and New Zealand

The formation and dynamic effects of extensive supraglacial debris covers has been shown to influence the mass balance, flow and response of glaciers in important ways, both during negative and positive mass balance (Kirkbride, 2000; Thomson et al., 2000; Smiraglia et al., 2000; Benn et al., in press). Current research is focused on how englacial debris generates debris covers, based primarily on field experiments and long-term monitoring at Glacier d'Estelette in the Italian Alps. The role of debris cover in glacier mass balance is part of a collaborative NERC-funded project based on Miage Glacier, Italy (Mihalcea et al, 2007).

Glacial history of the Cairngorm Mountains

Field mapping has revealed a more complex sequence of deglaciation than hitherto recognised, including ice-sheet readvance, ice-dammed lake formation and multiple moraine stages. A new relative dating method (Kirkbride, 2005) allows bouldery deposits dating from the Younger Dryas Stadial to be distinguished from older deposits. The suite of landforms observed has been related to the emergence of summit plateaux from a thinning allochthonous ice sheet.

Glacial- geomorphological applications of tephrochronology

In Iceland, tephras provide age-equivalent surfaces which can be used to elucidate the chronology and dynamics of a variety of process-form systems. Recent work has included dating of Holocene megafloods, glacial moraines and outwash sequences, solifluction dynamics, patterns of englacial transport, volcanogenic impacts on glaciers, and anthropogenic and climatic influences on aeolian soil accumulation and erosion (eg Kirkbride and Dugmore 2005; 2006; Kirkbride et al 2006).

Holocene glaciers and climate in Iceland

We have visited sites in northern, central, southern and eastern Iceland, where tephrochronological dating has lead to the identification of multiple glacier advances pre-dating the "Little Ice Age". The regional glacial chronology allows a reappraisal of the climatic history of the North Atlantic sector, and of the relationships between climate and Norse settlement. Geomorphic applications of tephrochronology in a variety of environments have been extended and refined. The work involves collaboration with Dr Andy Dugmore (University of Edinburgh). (Kirkbride and Dugmore, 2001a; 2001b; Ashburn et al., 2003; Kirkbride and Dugmore 2005; 2006; Kirkbride et al 2006).

Secondary research interests

I'm not actively working on these projects at the moment, though several colleagues are taking them forward:

Alpine lake-calving glaciers

In New Zealans, short-term monitoring of ice cliffs, combined with bathymetric surveys and historical photo-reconstructions, reveal the mechanism of ice-cliff retreat by thermal undercutting. Lake-calving glaciers are found to remain responsive to climate variability (Warren and Kirkbride, 2003), but concern exists that the Tasman Glacier is undergoing a transition to catastrophic calving retreat. Recent calving activity is significant in the context of Holocene glacial history, glaciers now being smaller than at any time in the last c.5,000 years. In Europe, recent work on lake-ice interactions at a small lateral ice-contact lake (Miage Glacier) has involved collaboration with colleagues from Milan and Savoie (Deline et al 2004; Diolaiuti et al 2005, 2006)

Rock glaciers and related forms

The spectrum of forms generated by flowing rock/ice mixes has been studied at sites in New Zealand, Iceland and Europe. Detailed study at rock glaciers in New Zealand demonstrates a non-glacial origin, and a selective representation of climatic changes by rock glacier deposits due to internal threshold controls. Relationships between climate and rock glacier distribution are compared with the European model.

Long-term evolution of mountain landscapes

The remarkable tectonics and steep climate gradients of the Southern Alps of New Zealand has resulted in a study of valley evolution. This involves quantification of the character and timescale of the transition from a fluvially-incised plateau to a classic glacial trough-and-arete landscape, using an innovative combination of techniques. Conceptual advances made in this study contribute to the PhD research into glacial cirque and valley evolution by Martin Brook, now at Massey University (NZ) (Brook et al, 2003; 2004; 2006a: 2006b).

Recent Research Grants

My research has been supported by the following sources: NERC Small Grants, NERC Airborne Research and Survey Facility, NERC Radiocarbon and Cosmogenic Isotope Analysis Facility Steering Committees, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, The Carnegie Trust, The Moray Endowment Fund, and Scottish Natural Heritage.

Academic Background

Appointments

Professional Memberships

• International Glaciological Society
• Quaternary Research Association
• Comitato Glaciologico Italiano

Kirkbride, M.P. and Bell, C.M. (in press) Edge-roundness of boulders of Torridonian Sandstone (northwest Scotland): applications for relative dating and implications for warm and cold climate weathering rates. Boreas.

Deline, P. and Kirkbride, M.P. (2009). Rock avalanches on a glacier and morainic complex in Haut Val Ferret (Mont Blanc Massif, Italy): Geomorphology 103, 80-92.

Deline P., Kirkbride M.P., Ravanel L. and Ravello M. (2008). The Tré-la-Tâte rockfall onto the Glacier de la Lex Blanche (Mont Blanc Massif, Italy) in September 2008. Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria 31, 251-254.

Kirkbride, M.P. and Dugmore, A.J. (2008) Two millennia of glacier advances in southern Iceland dated by tephrochronology. Quaternary Research 70, 398-411.

Deline, P. and Kirkbride, M.P. (2008) Deposits in Haut Val Ferret (Mont Blanc Massif, Italy): rock avalanches on a glacier and morainic complex. Geomorphology. (in press)

Brook, M.S.; Kirkbride, M.P. and Brock, B.W. (2008). Temporal constraints on glacial valley cross-profile evolution: Two Thumb Range, central Southern Alps, New Zealand. Geomorphology 97, 24-34.

Mihalcea, C.; Brock, B.W.; Diolaiuti, G.; D'Agata C.; Citterio, M.; Kirkbride, M.P.; Cutler, M.E.J. and Smiraglia, C. (2007) Using ASTER satellite and ground-based temperature measurements to derive supraglacial debris cover and thickness patterns on Miage Glacier (Mont Blanc massif, Italy). Cold Regions Science and Technology (in press) doi: 10.1016/j.coldregions.2007.3.004

Brook, M.S.; Kirkbride, M.P. and Brock, B.W. (2006a). Quantified timescale for glacial valley cross-profile evolution in alpine mountains. Geology 34, 637-640.

Brook, M.S.; Kirkbride, M.P. and Brock, B.W. (2006b). Cirque development in a steadily uplifting range: rates of erosion and long-term morphometric change in alpine cirques in the Ben Ohau Range, New Zealand. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 31, 1167-1175.

Diolaiuti, G.; Citterio, M.; Carnielli, T.; D'Agata C.; Kirkbride, M.P. and Smiraglia, C. (2006) Rates, processes and morphology of alpine lake calving at Miage Glacier (Italian Alps). Hydrological Processes 20, 2233-2244.

Kirkbride, M.P.; Dugmore, A.J and Brazier, V. (2006). Radiocarbon dating of mid-Holocene megaflood deposits in the Jökulsá á Fjöllum, Iceland. The Holocene 16 605-609.

Kirkbride, M.P. and Dugmore, A.J. (2006). Responses of mountain ice caps in central Iceland to Holocene climate change. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, 1692-1707.

Kirkbride, M.P. (2005). Boulder edge-roundness as an indicator of relative age: a Lochnagar case study. Scottish Geographical Journal 121, 219-236.

Kirkbride, M.P. and Dugmore, A.J. (2005). Holocene solifluction history reconstructed using tephrochronology. In Harris, C. and Murton, J. (editors), Cryospheric Systems: Glaciers and Permafrost. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 242, 145-155.

Diolaiuti, G.; Smiraglia, C.; Kirkbride, M.P. Benn, D.I. and D'Agata C. (2005). Calving processes and lake evolution at Miage Glacier (Mont Blanc, Italian Alps) Annals of Glaciology 40, 207-214.

Kirkbride, M.P. and Dugmore, A.J. (2005). Holocene solifluction history reconstructed using tephrochronology. In Harris, C. and Murton, J. (editors), Cryospheric Systems: Glaciers and Permafrost. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 242, 145-155.

Kirkbride, M.P. (2004). Scree. In Harrison, S., Pile, S. and Thrift, N. (editors), Patterned Ground: Entanglements of Nature and Culture. London: Reaktion Books, 64-66.

Benn, D., Kirkbride, M.P., Owen, L.A. and Brazier, V. (2004). Glaciated valley landsystems. In Evans, D.J.A. (editor), Glacial Landsystems. Edward Arnold.

Deline, P., Diolaiuti, G., Kirkbride, M.P., Mortara, G., Pavan, M. Smiraglia, C. and Tamburini, A. (2004). Drainage of ice-contact Miage Lake (Mont Blanc Massif, Italy) in September 2004. Geografia Fisica e Dimanica Quaternaria 27, 113-119.

Brook, M.S., Kirkbride, M.P. and Brock, B.W. (2004). Rock strength and development of glacial valley morphology in the Scottish Highlands and northwest Iceland. Geografiska Annaler 86A, 225-234.

Ashburn, D., Kirkbride, M.P. and Dugmore, A.J. (2003). Post-settlement land disturbance indicated by magnetic susceptibility of aeolian soils at Seljaland. Northern Studies 37, 81-94.

Brook, M.S., Brock, B.W. and Kirkbride, M.P. (2003). Glacial outlet valley size - ice drainage area relationships: some considerations. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 28, 645-653.

Kirkbride, M.P. and Dugmore, A.J. (2003). Glaciological response to distal tephra fallout from the 1947 eruption of Hekla, south Iceland. Journal of Glaciology 49, 420-428.

Warren, C.R. and Kirkbride, M.P. (2003). Calving speed and climatic sensitivity of New Zealand lake-calving glaciers. Annals of Glaciology 36, 173-178.

Selected earlier publications

Kirkbride, M.P. (2002). Icelandic climate and glacier fluctuations through the terminus of the "Little Ice Age". Polar Geography 26, 116-133.

Kirkbride, M.P. and Dugmore, A.J. (2001a) Can lichenometry be used to date the "Little Ice Age" glacial maximum in Iceland? Climatic Change 48, 151-167.

Kirkbride, M.P. and Dugmore, A.J. (2001b) Timing and significance of mid-Holocene glacier advances in northern and central Iceland. Journal of Quaternary Science 16, 145-153.

Kirkbride, M.P. (2000) Ice marginal geomorphology and Holocene expansion of debris-covered Tasman Glacier, New Zealand. In Nakawo, M., Raymond, C. and Fountain, A. (Eds.) Debris-Covered Glaciers. IAHS Publication 264, 211-217.

Thomson, M.H., Kirkbride, M.P. & Brock, B.W. (2000) Twentieth-century surface elevation change of the Miage Glacier, Italian Alps. In Nakawo, M., Raymond, C. and Fountain, A. (Eds.) Debris-Covered Glaciers. IAHS Publication 264, 219-225.

Kirkbride, M.P. & Warren, C.R. (1999) Tasman Glacier, New Zealand: Twentieth-century thinning and predicted calving retreat. Global and Planetary Change 22, 11-28.

Kirkbride, M.P. & Brazier, V. (1998) A critical evaluation of the use of glacial chronologies in climatic reconstruction, with reference to New Zealand. Quaternary Proceedings 6, 55-64.

Brazier, V., Kirkbride, M.P. and Gordon, J.E. (1998) Active ice sheet deglaciation and ice-dammed lakes in the northern Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland. Boreas 27, 297-310.

Kirkbride, M.P. & Matthews, D. (1997) The role of fluvial and glacial erosion in landscape evolution: the Ben Ohau Range, New Zealand. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 22, 317-327.

Kirkbride, M.P. & Brazier, V. (1995) On the sensitivity of Holocene talus-derived rock glaciers to climate change in the Ben Ohau Range, Southern Alps, New Zealand. Journal of Quaternary Science 10 (4), 353-365.

Kirkbride, M.P. (1993) The temporal significance of transitions from melting to calving termini at glaciers in the central Southern Alps, New Zealand. The Holocene 3 (3), 232-240.