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Glacial sediments: Processes, environments and facies

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Encyclopedia of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Introduction

Significance of glacial deposits

The importance of glacial sediments can be gauged from the fact that 10 percent of the Earth's land surface currently is covered by glacier ice, a figure that exceeded 30 percent during the Quaternary glaciations of the last 2 Ma. Glacier ice has left a complex, often patchy, record of deposition on land, and offshore has contributed substantially to the build up of continental shelves. In earlier geological history, the Earth experienced several continental-scale glaciations, some of them even more extensive than those of the Quaternary Period. Glacial deposition is intimately associated with a wide range of other processes, including fluvial, mass flowage, eolian, lacustrine, and marine. The resulting facies associations are highly variable, and without detailed investigation can be subject to a wide range of interpretations. It is only within the last three decades that studies of glacial processes in modern settings have made it...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Glaciology, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwith, Wales, SY23 3DB, UK

    Michael J. Hambrey & Neil F. Glasser

Authors
  1. Michael J. Hambrey
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  2. Neil F. Glasser
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Gerard V. Middleton

  2. Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T IZ2, Canada

    Michael J. Church

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G I, Canada

    Mario Coniglio

  4. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Lawrence A. Hardie

  5. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada

    Frederick J. Longstaffe

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© 1978 Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.

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Hambrey, M.J., Glasser, N.F. (1978). Glacial sediments: Processes, environments and facies. In: Middleton, G.V., Church, M.J., Coniglio, M., Hardie, L.A., Longstaffe, F.J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3609-5_99

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3609-5_99

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-0872-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3609-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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