Glaciers & Glaciation

About this book

Most of us only encounter ice in the winter or as small blocks in drinks, and in this form it appears rigid and brittle. In glaciers, ice behaves in a variety of surprising and fascinating ways - flowing plastically, like toothpaste, carving out huge troughs and altering entire landscapes; changing the Earth's climate, and preserving valuable geological records. Either directly ot indirectly, glaciers and glaciation affect a large proportion of this planet's population. This major new text provides a synthesis of the nature, origin and behaviour of glacier systems and the geological and geomorphlological evidence for their former existence. The first part of the book investigates the processes involved in forming glacier ice, the nature of glacier/climate relationships, the mechanisms of glacier flow, and the interactions of glaciers with other systems such as slopes, rivers, lakes and oceans. In the second part, emphasis is placed on landform/sediment associations, the interpretation of the earth's glacial legacy, and the reconstruction of glacial depositional environments and palaeoglaciology. Glaciers and Glaciation features a superb collection of colour and black and white photographs, over 300 in all, together with over 450 line diagrams. Using case studies drawn from around the world, it is referenced throughout and concludes with a fully comprehensive bibliography. This stimulating and accessible text is an essential tool for all students of this fascinating field of study throughout their university career.

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