Abstract
Progress in studies of glacial and periglacial processes has, in the last thirty years or so, been more rapid than in any other similar period since the advent of the glacial theory itself approximately 150 years ago. In the field of techniques, the ability to drill deeply through the ice (to more than 2km in Antarctica), to obtain ice-cores and measure englacial temperatures, has revolutionised knowledge of the nature of ice-sheets and glaciers. Photogrammetric and satellite surveys are yielding increasingly accurate maps of glaciers, patterns of former glaciation and the complex physiography of frozen ground areas. New dating techniques are establishing a chronology for the growth of ice-sheets and for pinpointing climatic changes recorded in ice-cores.
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Further Reading
Even restricting our review to the last ten years still leaves a huge volume of literature to consider. Three primary sources, the first being indispensable for its introduction to glaciology rather than geomorphology, are
Paterson W. S. B. (1981) The Physics of Glaciers (Oxford: Pergamon Press).
Embleton C. and King C. A. M. (1975) Glacial Geomorphology (London: Edward Arnold).
Sugden D. E. and John B. S. (1976) Glaciers and Landscape (London: Edward Arnold).
A more recent multi-authored text dealing with glacial land systems and sediments, combined with an engineering approach to their utilisation, is
Eyles N. (ed.) (1983) Glacial Geology (Oxford: Pergamon Press).
A broader geographical perspective of both human and physical geography which places glacial processes into context is provided by
Sugden D. E. (1982) Arctic and Antarctic (Oxford: Basil Blackwell).
For a detailed discussion of the geomorphological processes operating in cold environments, see chapters 3, 6, 8 and 9 of
Embleton, C. and Thornes, J. B. (eds) (1979) Process in Geomorphology (London: Edward Arnold).
On purely glacial processes, a new text is
Drewry D. (1986) Glacial Geologic Processes (London: Edward Arnold).
A comprehensive study of frozen ground areas, their processes and characteristics, is given by
Washburn A. L. (1979) Geocryology (London: Edward Arnold).
Apart from these texts, there are many relevant volumes of conference proceedings, and research papers are published in a wide variety of journals of which the most important in English are the Journal of Glaciology (from 1947), the Annals of Glaciology (from 1980), Arctic and Alpine Research (from 1969) and Geografiska Annaler (from 1919).
The best way of locating papers on any particular topic is through the medium of Geo-Abstracts (Norwich: Geobooks) and the associated cumulative indices (from 1960). In addition, excellent review articles on glacial and periglacial geomorphology are regularly published in Progress in Physical Geography (London: Edward Arnold).
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© 1987 Clifford Embleton
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Embleton, C. (1987). Geomorphological Processes in Cold Environments. In: Clark, M.J., Gregory, K.J., Gurnell, A.M. (eds) Horizons in Physical Geography. Horizons in Geography. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18944-1_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18944-1_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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