Glacial Geology - Ice Sheets and Landforms

The new Second Edition of Glacial Geology provides a modern, comprehensive summary of glacial geology and geomorphology. It is has been thoroughly revised and updated from the original First Edition. This book will appeal to all students interested in the landforms and sediments that make up glacial landscapes.
 
The aim of the book is to outline glacial landforms and sediments and to provide the reader with the tools required to interpret glacial landscapes. It describes how glaciers work and how the processes of glacial erosion and deposition which operate within them are recorded in the glacial landscape.
 
The Second Edition is presented in the same clear and concise format as the First Edition, providing detailed explanations that are not cluttered with unnecessary detail. Additions include a new chapter on Glaciations around the Globe, demonstrating the range of glacial environments present on Earth today and a new chapter on Palaeoglaciology, explaining how glacial landforms and sediments are used in ice-sheet reconstructions. Like the original book, text boxes are used throughout to explain key concepts and to introduce students to case study material from the glacial literature. Newly updated sections on Further Reading are also included at the end of each chapter to point the reader towards key references. The book is illustrated throughout with colour photographs and illustrations.

List of contents

Preface
 
Acknowledgements
 
Illustrations
 

Chapter 1: Introduction
 
1.1 What is Glacial Geology and Why is it Important?
 
1.2 The Aim and Structure of this Book
 

Chapter 2: Glaciations Around The Globe
 
2.1 The Antarctic Ice Sheet
 
2.2 Greenland in the Greenhouse
 
2.3 Southern Hemisphere Temperate Glaciers: Patagonia and New Zealand
 
2.4 Northern Hemisphere Temperate Glaciers: Alaska and Iceland
 
2.5 High-Altitude Glaciers: The Himalaya
 
2.6 Tropical Glaciers: The Cordillera Blanca, Peru
 
2.7 Arctic Polythermal Glaciers
 
2.8 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

Chapter 3: Mass Balance and the Mechanisms of Ice Flow
 
3.1 Annual Mass Balance
 
3.2 The Mass Balance Gradient: The Glacial Driving Mechanism
 
3.3 Mechanisms of Ice Flow
 
3.4 The Principles of Basal Thermal Regime
 
3.5 Patterns and Rates of Ice Flow
 
3.6 Glacier Response to Climate Change
 
3.7 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

Chapter 4: Glacier Hydrology
 
4.1 Glacier Hydrology
 
4.2 Sources of Glacial Meltwater
 
4.3 Storage of Water in Glaciers
 
4.4 Methods of Studying Glacier Hydrology
 
4.5 Glacier Hydrological Systems
 
4.6 Subglacial Water Pressure
 
4.7 Discharge Fluctuations
 
4.8 Glacial Meltwater Erosion
 
4.9 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

Chapter 5: The Processes of Glacial Erosion
 
5.1 Glacial Abrasion
 
5.2 Glacial Quarrying
 
5.3 Estimating Rates of Glacial Erosion
 
5.4 Patterns of Glacial Erosion
 
5.5 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

Chapter 6: Landforms of Glacial Erosion
 
6.1 Microscale Features of Glacial Erosion
 
6.2 Mesoscale Features of Glacial Erosion
 
6.3 Macroscale Features of Glacial Erosion
 
6.4 Landscapes of Glacial Erosion
 
6.5 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

Chapter 7: Glacial Debris Entrainment and Transport
 
7.1 High-Level Debris Transport
 
7.2 Debris Entrainment
 
7.3 Low-Level Debris Transport
 
7.4 Debris Transfer Between Low and High Levels
 
7.5 Debris Transfer
 
7.6 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

Chapter 8: Glacial Sedimentation on Land
 
8.1 Direct Glacial Sedimentation
 
8.2 Fluvial Sedimentation
 
8.3 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

 
Chapter 9: Landforms of Glacial Deposition on Land
 
9.1 Ice-Marginal Moraines
 
9.2 Subglacial Landforms Formed by Ice or Sediment Flow
 
9.3 Glaciofluvial Ice-Marginal Landforms
 
9.4 Glaciofluvial Subglacial Landforms
 
9.5 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

Chapter 10: Glacial Sedimentation in Water
 
10.1 Sedimentation in Lacustrine Environments
 
10.2 Sedimentation in Marine Environments
 
10.3 Distinguishing Glaciolacustrine and Glaciomarine Diamicts from Glacial Tills
 
10.4 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

Chapter 11: Landforms of Glacial Deposition in Water
 
11.1 Glaciolacustrine Landforms
 
11.2 Glaciomarine Landforms
 
11.3 Summary
 
Suggested Reading
 

Chapter 12: Palaeoglaciology
 
12.1 The Methods Used in Palaeoglaciology
 

12.2 The Key Landforms Used in Palaeoglaciology
 
12.3 Former Subglacial Thermal Regimes
 
12.4 Palaeoglaciological Reconstructions
 
12.5 Summary
 
Suggested Re

About the author

MATTHEW R. BENNETT, School of Conservation Sciences, Bournemouth University, UK
NEIL F. GLASSER, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, UK

Summary

The new Second Edition of Glacial Geology provides a modern, comprehensive summary of glacial geology and geomorphology. It is has been thoroughly revised and updated from the original First Edition. This book will appeal to all students interested in the landforms and sediments that make up glacial landscapes.

The aim of the book is to outline glacial landforms and sediments and to provide the reader with the tools required to interpret glacial landscapes. It describes how glaciers work and how the processes of glacial erosion and deposition which operate within them are recorded in the glacial landscape.

The Second Edition is presented in the same clear and concise format as the First Edition, providing detailed explanations that are not cluttered with unnecessary detail. Additions include a new chapter on Glaciations around the Globe, demonstrating the range of glacial environments present on Earth today and a new chapter on Palaeoglaciology, explaining how glacial landforms and sediments are used in ice-sheet reconstructions. Like the original book, text boxes are used throughout to explain key concepts and to introduce students to case study material from the glacial literature. Newly updated sections on Further Reading are also included at the end of each chapter to point the reader towards key references. The book is illustrated throughout with colour photographs and illustrations.

Report

"The book is written in an accessible manner and well-illustrated;undergraduate students will thus embrace it as a first resource."(Experimental Agriculture, 2010)"Indeed, the revised and updatedtext, the provision of colour and case study strategy of deliveryhave ensured that it will be a firm favourite with students andwill be one of the first references entered on to my recommendedreading lists well into the future." ( The Holocene , August2010)

"The book is written in an accessible manner andwell-illustrated; undergraduate students will thus embrace it as afirst resource." ( Geological Magazine, 2010)

Product details

• Authors: M Bennett, Matthew M. Bennett, Matthew M. (University of Bournemouth Bennett, Matthew M. Glasser Bennett, Matthew R. Bennett, Neil F. Glasser
• Assisted by: Matthew M. Bennett (Editor), Bennett Matthew M. (Editor), F Glasser (Editor), F Glasser (Editor), Neil F. Glasser (Editor), Glasser Neil F. (Editor), Matthe M Bennett (Editor), Matthew M Bennett (Editor)
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 09.09.2009
• EAN: 9780470516904
• ISBN: 978-0-470-51690-4
• No. of pages: 400
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geology; Geologie, Geowissenschaften, Earth Sciences, Quaternary Science & Glaciology, Quartärforschung, Glaziologie, Geology & Geophysics, Geologie u. Geophysik