Medial Moraines and Surface Melt on Glaciers of the Torngat Mountains, Northern Labrador, Canada

Abstract “Avalanche-type” medial moraines are described on four Torngat Mountains glaciers with single, rather than compound, firn basins. They form from debris avalanching down couloirs and are exposed by ice melt to form extensive debris covers on glacier snouts in the Torngat Mountains. The debris may play an important part in helping the glacier survive periods with warm summers and/or dry winters since, in the Torngat Mountains, average ice melt on debris-covered sites is approximately one-third that on exposed ice.