Ice-Marginal and Periglacial Processes and Sediments ppt

Understanding the sediments deposited by glaciers or other cold-climate processes assumes enhanced
significance in the context of current global warming and the predicted melt and retreat of glaciers and
ice sheets.
This volume analyses glacial, proglacial and periglacial settings focusing, among others, on sedimen-
tation at termini of tidewater glaciers, on hitherto not-well-understood high-mountain features, and on sedi-
ments such as slope and aeolian deposits whose clasts were sourced in glacial and periglacial regions, but
have been transported and deposited by azonal processes. Difficulties are thus often encountered in inferring
Pleistocene and pre-Pleistocene cold-climate conditions when the sedimentary record lacks many of the
specific diagnostic indicators. The main objective of this volume is to establish the validity and limitations
of the evidence that can be obtained from widely distributed clastic deposits, in order to achieve reliable
palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic reconstructions. At a more general level and on the much longer geo-
logical timescale, an understanding of ice-marginal and periglacial environments may better prepare us for
the unavoidable reversal towards cooler and perhaps even glacial times in the future.
Ice-Marginal and Periglacial Processes and Sediments
The Geological Society of London
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It is recommended that reference to all or part of this book should be made in one of the following ways:
Martini, I. P., French,H.M.&Pe
´
rez Alberti, A. (eds) 2011. Ice-Marginal and Periglacial Processes
and Sediments. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 354.
Levy J. S., Head,J.W.&Marchant, D. R. 2011. Gullies, polygons and mantles in Martian permafrost
environments: cold desert landforms and sedimentary processes during recent Martian geological history.
In:Martini, I. P., French,H.M.&Pe

´
rez Alberti, A. (eds) Ice-Marginal and Periglacial Processes and
Sediments. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 354, 167–182.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 354
Ice-Marginal and Periglacial Processes and Sediments
EDITED BY
I. P. MARTINI
University of Guelph, Canada
H. M. FRENCH
University of Guelph, Canada
and
A. PE
´
REZ ALBERTI
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
2011
Published by
The Geological Society
London
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Contents
Preface vii

M
ARTINI, I. P., FRENCH,H.M.&ALBERTI, A. P. Ice-marginal and periglacial processes and sediments:
an introduction
1
I
NGO
´
LFSSON,O
´
. Fingerprints of Quaternary glaciations on Svalbard 15
L
ØNNE,I.&NEMEC, W. Modes of sediment delivery to the grounding line of a fast-flowing tidewater
glacier: implications for ice-margin conditions and glacier dynamics
33
L
ØNNE,I.&NEMEC, W. The kinematics of ancient tidewater ice margins: criteria for recognition from
grounding-line moraines
57
L
UKAS,S.&SASS, O. The formation of Alpine lateral moraines inferred from sedimentology and radar
reflection patterns: a case study from Gornergletscher, Switzerland
77
P
E
´
REZ ALBERTI, A., DI
´
AZ, M. V., MARTINI, I. P., PASCUCCI,V.&ANDREUCCI, S. Upper Pleistocene
glacial valley-junction sediments at Pias, Trevinca Mountains, NW Spain
93

C
ARLING, P. A., KNAAPEN, M., BORODAVKO, P., HERGET, J., KOPTEV, I., HUGGENBERGER,P.&PARNACHEV,
S. Palaeoshorelines of glacial Lake Kuray–Chuja, south-central Siberia: form, sediments and process
111
K
ELLER, M., HINDERER, M., AL-AJMI,H.&RAUSCH, R. Palaeozoic glacial depositional environments of
SW Saudi Arabia: process and product
129
F
RENCH, H. Frozen sediments and previously-frozen sediments 153
L
EVY, J. S., HEAD,J.W.&MARCHANT, D. R. Gullies, polygons and mantles in Martian permafrost
environments: cold desert landforms and sedimentary processes during recent Martian
geological history
167
T
HORN, C. E., DARMODY,R.G.&DIXON, J. C. Rethinking weathering and pedogenesis in alpine
periglacial regions: some Scandinavian evidence
183
G
UGLIELMIN, M., FAVERO-LONGO, S. E., CANNONE, N., PIERVITTORI,R.&STRINI, A. Role of lichens in
granite weathering in cold and arid environments of continental Antarctic
195
V
ANDENBERGHE, J. Periglacial sediments: do they exist? 205
V
AN STEIJN, H. Stratified slope deposits: periglacial and other processes involved 213
O
LIVA,M.&ORTIZ, A. G. Holocene slope dynamics in Sierra Nevada (south Spain). Sedimentological
analysis of solifluction landforms and lake deposits

227
B
ROOKFIELD, M. E. Aeolian processes and features in cool climates 241
N
EWELL,W.L.&DEJONG, B. D. Cold-climate slope deposits and landscape modifications of the
Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, Eastern USA
259
Index 277

Ice-marginal and periglacial processes and sediments:
an introduction
I. PETER MARTINI
1
*, HUGH M. FRENCH
2
& AUGUSTO PE
´
REZ ALBERTI
3
1
School of Environmental Sciences, University of Gu elph, Guelph,
Ontario N1 G 2W, Canada
2
Departments of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa,
Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
3
Departamento de Xeografı
´
a, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela,
Santjago de Compostela, Spain

*Corresponding author (e-mail: )
Abstract: The volume focuses on the analysis of glacial clastic sedimentary deposits, both ancient
and recent. The papers range from reviews of glacial systems and cold-climate weathering products
and processes to conceptual and field studies of specific ice-marginal and cold-climate sediments.
Papers are included that deal with tidewater glaciers, mountain settings on Earth, permafrost
areas on both Earth and Mars and detailed regional analyses of cold-climate sediments of Late
Pleistocene and Holocene age. The identification of sedimentary facies allows an accurate
reconstruction of many of the developmental processes that are involved in ice-marginal and
periglacial environments. Lithostratigraphic characteristics of clastic deposits also constitute
circumstantial evidence for the previous existence of ancient, and certainly pre-Quaternary,
cold-climate systems. This is demonstrated by a study on putative Palaeozoic glacial deposits
in Saudi Arabia.
This volume presents a number of papers that relate
to both current and ancient ice-marginal and cold-
climate environments. Studies of their sediments,
weathering and transportation processes contribute
to an understanding of the cryosphere. The cryo-
sphere includes Earth’s surface areas that experi-
ence one or more of the following: snow cover, sea
ice, glaciers, perennial and seasonal frost (Fig. 1).
Here, we are concerned with the sediments and
weathering processes that occur in the environments
that are immediately adjacent to glaciers as well as
the frost-dominated environments that characterize
cold-climate settings in general. We include contri-
butions that involve not only present-day cases but
also those that occurred in the Pleistocene and, in
minor measure, the more ancient geological past.
In addition, and in anticipation of the future, we
include a paper that summarizes recent progress in

planetary (Martian) observations.
Glacial and periglacial environments
Vast continental areas of Earth have been
sculpted by glaciers and many regions are now
covered by glaciogenic sediments. Remnants of
these Pleistocene-age ice sheets still exist today,
the largest being in Antarctica and Greenland.
These ice bodies and the many other smaller gla-
ciers, together with their immediate pro-glacial or
ice-marginal surroundings, constitute the glacial
environments of today. Equally extensive, both
now and in the past, are vast ice-free areas that
have either experienced or currently experience
cold-climate conditions. These may have lasted for
thousands, and in some cases millions, of years.
These areas constitute the so-called periglacial
environments. Collectively, these two environments
extend over approximately one-third of the Earth’s
land surface; they undoubtedly occupied much
more during the cold periods of the Pleistocene
and even earlier during the cold events in ancient
geological time.
The extraordinarily high erosive and transpor-
tational power of glaciers has been well known for
over 150 years. Prior to that, during the first half
of the 1800s, the full potential of glaciers was not
recognized although icebergs and the biblical
flood were considered suitable agents for moving
large erratic boulders and heterogeneous sedi-
ments over considerable distances. The early devel-

opment of the glacial hypothesis encountered
From:Martini, I. P., French,H.M.&Pe
´
rez Alberti, A. (eds) Ice-Marginal and Periglacial Processes and Sediments.
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 354, 1–13.
DOI: 10.1144/SP354.1 0305-8719/11/$15.00 # The Geological Society of London 2011.
opposition but the ever-increasing evidence gradu-
ally converted the leading earth scientists of the
time such as William Buckland and Charles Lyell
(Chorley et al. 1964). A somewhat refined glacial
hypothesis was developed by Louis Agassiz in
1840 but the first real scientific glacial study was
published by Archibald Geikie in 1863 for Scotland
(followed by several other publications that in-
cluded the first edition of The Great Ice Age;
Geikie 1874). By the turn of the century, the
theory of Pleistocene ice ages was well established
both in Europe and North America (Wright 1890;
Geikie 1897; Daly 1934; North 1943).
The periglacial concept is more recent in origin.
The term was first used by a Polish geologist,
Walery von Łozinski, in the context of the mechan-
ical disintegration of sandstones in the Gorgany
Range of the southern Carpathian Mountains (a
region now part of central Romania). He described
the angular rock-rubble surfaces that charac-
terize the mountain summits as ‘periglacial facies’
formed by the previous action of intense frost
(Łozinski 1909). Subsequently, the concept of a
‘periglacial zone’ was introduced (Łozinski 1912)

to refer to the climatic and geomorphic conditions
of areas peripheral to Pleistocene ice sheets and
glaciers. Theoretically, this was a tundra zone that
extended as far south as the treeline. In the moun-
tains, it was a zone between the timberline and
snowline.
Today, Łozinski’s definition is regarded as
unnecessarily restricting; few, if any, modern
analogues exist (French 2000). There are two main
reasons. First, frost action phenomena are known
to occur at great distances from both present-day
and Pleistocene ice margins. In fact, frost-action
phenomena can be completely unrelated to ice-
marginal conditions. Second, the term has been
increasingly understood to refer to a complex of
cold-dominated geomorphic processes. These
include not only unique frost-action and perma-
frost-related processes but also a range of azonal
processes, such as those associated with snow,
running water and wind, which demand neither a
peripheral ice-marginal location nor excessive
cold. Instead, these processes assume distinctive
or extreme characteristics under cold, non-glacial
conditions.
Studies of the ice-marginal and periglacial
environments do not differ tactically from those of
other Earth surface systems except for one impor-
tant fact: one is dealing with environments in
which an unusual mineral (ice, H
2

O) is very close
to its melting point. It also experiences sublimation.
As a result, the presence of snow and ice generates
conditions and landscapes that are unusual and
highly variable over both short and long time
spans (night and day, seasonal and multi-annual,
century, millennia). A number of texts cover the
broad fields of ice, glaciology and glacial
Fig. 1. (a, b) A schematic diagram that illustrates how geography and geomorphology interact with the related physical
science disciplines and (c) the major constituents of the cryosphere. Studies of the sediments associated with either
ice-marginal or periglacial environments lie within either the shaded or cross-hatched areas in (c) (from French 2007).
I. P. MARTINI ET AL.2
geomorphology (Souchez & Lorrain 1991; Paterson
1994; Benn & Evans 1998; Liestol 2000; Martini
et al. 2001).
Ancient environments and geological
contexts
In the study of Earth systems, we are trained to learn
from the present in order to interpret the past.
However, we must be mindful of the very different
settings that are involved and that some events are so
rare they may not be observed directly during a life-
time and need to be inferred from the sediment/rock
record they leave. Moreover, the geo(morpho)logic
system is complex; a full understanding requires
contributions from a myriad of sciences that have
become increasingly complex in the last two to
three decades. For example, the basic sciences such
as physics, chemistry and biology must be applied
to understand the main component of both the ter-

restrial glacial and periglacial systems and Martian
geology, namely ice. The rheological behaviour of
glaciers and the landscape, both erosive and deposi-
tional, that glaciers leave behind are also central
concerns while an understanding of the freezing
process, be it seasonal or perennial, is an essential
but not defining aspect of periglacial geomorphol-
ogy. There is also overlap with other subdisciplines;
for example, in both glacial and periglacial environ-
ments, azonal processes such as running water, wind
and gravity-induced displacements often assume
critical importance. The same combination of pro-
cesses must also be considered when inferring the
nature of wind-related processes on the Martian
surface.
Since early times, Earth’s climate has experien-
ced variations from cool long-lasting (‘Ice-house’)
periods to warm (‘Greenhouse’) periods (Fig. 2).
Humans have evolved and still live in the last Ice-
house period, the Quaternary, a period punctuated
by relatively short warmer stages when glaciers
retreated (interglacial) and longer colder stages
(glacial) during which glaciers advanced and snow
and ice covered large expanses of the Earth’s
surface. Within each glacial stage, smaller tem-
perature variations determined colder periods
when glaciers expanded and warmer periods when
melting prevailed. Currently, Earth is in an inter-
stadial stage and experiencing a global temperature
increase.

Planetary environments
The recent growth in the study of planetary environ-
ments presents special problems for the two dis-
ciplines of glacial and periglacial geomorphology.
On Mars for example, temperatures fall to as low
as 2250 K and the planet is correctly viewed as
possessing not only a cryotic (temperature less
than 0 8C) environment but also several Ice Ages
(Head et al. 2003). It is highly probable that the
Martian near-surface contains H
2
O in the form of
buried icy bodies (Mellon & Jakowsky 1995) and
there is morphological evidence that suggests the
ephemeral occurrence of surface water in the geo-
logical past (Baker 2001). The weathering and
Fig. 2. A graph showing estimated changes in global
Earth temperature during geological time and alternating
cold and warm periods (modified from Scotese 2008).
INTRODUCTION 3
landscape models associated with traditional (Earth-
based) ice-marginal and periglacial processes and
sediments are therefore uniquely challenged when
totally cryotic environments are considered.
The glacier system
By definition, glaciers form on land but may extend
into large lakes and the ocean where they form ice
shelves. They respond to accumulations of snow
and ice in the upper part of their system by
flowing under gravity across the surrounding land

as a sort of gigantic debris flow. When armoured
with rock and sediment acquired from surround-
ing exposed terrain or from the glacier substrate
through various processes, they abrade and pluck
sediment along the way and transport and release
it elsewhere. The latter is achieved directly either
by plastering on the substrate or in situ melt-out,
or indirectly by providing water for gravitational
mass movements such as debris flows or for over-
land, rill and channel fluid flows. Erosional features,
from large-scale features such as glaciated valleys
and tunnel valleys to smaller features such as stria-
tions on bedrock, may survive repeated glaciations.
By contrast, the sedimentary records of older events
may be partially or totally removed by younger
glaciations.
Different features form in different parts of
the glacier and at the ice margin at different times.
Glacial sediment sequences, often partially rewor-
ked and modified by proglacial processes, typically
become visible upon retreat of a glacier. These
sequences vary depending on the morphology and
lithology of the substrate and the type of glacier
that formed them: valley glaciers or large ice
sheets. They may be either temperate or polar and
either prevalently warm- or cold-based.
The features of glaciers and glacial sediments
have been well studied and do not need to be repea-
ted. One exception is to mention the debate on
whether features were formed by direct action of

glacier ice or by other processes such as sediment
gravity flows (mainly debris flows and turbidity
currents) and canalized fluid flows. An example of
this debate involves the origin of unsorted, usually
polymictic, massive or poorly structured deposits.
These are generally called ‘tills’ when released
directly from the glacier ice or ‘diamicton’ when
their origin is uncertain even if their material may
have a glaciogenic source. Another example is the
origin of drumlins. These may have various internal
compositions ranging from massive diamicton to
mostly stratified sand and gravel (Shaw & Kvill
1984; Menzies 1995, 1996). The uncertainty regard-
ing depositional process becomes critical when the
existence of pre-Quaternary glaciations and their
spatial extension needs to be established (Hambrey
& Harland 1981; Deynoux 1985; Eyles 1993;
Crowell 1999).
It is obvious that no single feature representing
a clearly defined process can determine a palaeo-
enviroment; rather, reliable interpretation must
rely upon an assemblage of features, representing
a reoccurrence of processes in repeating vertical
and/or lateral successions and occurring in a well-
established stratigraphic framework.
To place the various contributions on ice-
marginal sediments and environments within an
appropriate context, the following briefly summar-
izes several of the characteristic features associated
with this environment.

First, physical weathering by either armoured
glacier ice or by meltwater flows under or in the
proximal parts of a glacier leads to a progressive
comminution of terrigenous material. Fracturing
of particles under the weight of moving glacier ice
generates characteristic microscopic and submicro-
scopic surface textures (Mahaney 1996; Whalley
1996). Pebbles and large clasts, transported at the
base of the glacier and subject to vertical movement
due to repeated pressure variations and phase
change of the ice/water, are moulded into charac-
teristic polished, striated, facetted iron-shaped
(flatiron) forms (Fig. 3). The high occurrence of
such clasts within a sedimentary deposit is a good
indication of glacial origin. Furthermore, striations
generated on bedrock surfaces may be a good indi-
cation of direct glacial activity and provide palaeo-
flow directions.
Second, a variety of meso- to mega-scale ero-
sional features are created by armoured ice or by
subglacial meltwater flows. For example, swarms
of partially to totally infilled large channels and tun-
nel valleys have been interpreted as indicators of
ice-marginal proximity in many places in Europe
Fig. 3. Typical striated, facetted flatiron cobble
transported at the base of a temperate Pleistocene glacier,
S. Ontario, Canada (modified from Martini et al. 2001).
I. P. MARTINI ET AL.4
(Piotrowski 1994; Jørgensen & Sandersen 2006),
North America (Barnett et al. 1998; Russell et al.

2003; Hooke & Jennings 2006), South Africa
(Visser 1988; Eyles & de Broekert 2001) North
Africa (Ghienne & Deynoux 1998; Hirst et al.
2002) and the Middle East (Aoudeh & Al-Hajri
1995; Le Heron et al. 2009) (Fig. 4).
Third, materials transported by a glacier usually
retain the characteristics imparted by cold-climate
weathering such as angular clasts and unsorted
matrix, even when being moved in either supragla-
cial or englacial positions. Some of this material,
frequently polymictic and with large erratic clasts,
may be transported from distant and geologically
different areas. Material transported at the base
may be subject to polishing, rounding and sculpting
but the sediment retains a generally poorly sorted,
massive and compacted nature. Glacier movements
during normal advances, surges or related repeated
retreats and re-advances of the terminus can deform
these deposits in a characteristic fashion. These
deformations therefore provide useful information
for interpreting Pleistocene and older putatively
glacial deposits (Fig. 5) (Le Heron et al. 2005;
Evans et al. 2006).
Fourth, the presence of till or till-like deposits
is one of the principal lines of circumstantial evi-
dence for past glacier activity in Pleistocene and
older successions (Crowell 1999). However, many
processes contribute to the release, reworking and
sedimentation of glaciogenic material at its termi-
nus, particularly of temperate glaciers. These

mainly include debris flows that generate diamicton
(similar to tills in terrestrial settings), turbidity flows
that move glaciogenic material into the deeper parts
of lake and marine basins and water flows that
generate a variety of fluvial sedimentary sequences
generally of the braided river type in proglacial
settings (Fig. 6). These processes may obscure and
sometime obliterate most of the direct evidence of
glacial activity (Eyles 1987). However, some tell-
tale features of glaciations may persist in sediments
that allow a glaciogenic interpretation. When placed
in the appropriate stratigraphic, palaeoclimatolo-
gical and regional palaeoenvironmental contexts,
they hint to past proglacial activity. Such types
of evidence include the polymictic composition
of clasts, the occurrence of erratics, the presence
of deformations in sandy gravelly deposits (prob-
ably due to the melting of stranded or partially
buried ice blocs; Price 1973; Fay 2002; Russell &
Knudsen 2002) and lonestones that pierce or other-
wise deform laminations in fine-grained marine
and lacustrine deposits which can be interpreted as
ice-rafted dropstones (Fig. 7).
The periglacial system
Lozinski’s original concept of the periglacial zone
was that of a northern mid-latitude mountain
zone lying between timberline and snowline. The
‘zone’ reflected climatic zonation. When considered
subsequently in the Pleistocene context, it was a
proglacial zone peripheral to the mid-latitude ice

sheets and glaciers. A complication is that so-called
periglacial conditions often extend south of the
latitudinal treeline and below the altitudinal timber-
line. This is because many areas of the northern
boreal forest or taiga are underlain by relict per-
mafrost and glaciers may extend below the timber-
line and into the forest zone in alpine areas. These
various concepts are illustrated schematically in
Figure 8.
Today, the periglacial concept is slightly broader
in definition and usually refers to a range of cold
non-glacial processes (French 2007). Snow, ice and
permafrost are central, but not defining, elements.
Fig. 4. Map illustrating the distribution of buried uppermost Ordovician valleys around the Arabian Shield interpreted
as tunnel valleys (modified from Aoudeh & Al-Hairi 1995; Le Heron et al. 2009).
INTRODUCTION 5
It canbe argued that typical periglacial regions do not
exist and, if they do, lack well-defined boundaries.
It is more realistic to envisage periglacial areas as
being cold-climate ‘zones’ in which seasonal and
perennial frost, snow and normal azonal processes
are present to a greater or lesser degree. The
reality is that most periglacial landscapes inherit
the imprint, in varying degrees, of either glacial or
non-glacial climatic conditions.
The essence of both the current periglacial
system and the proglacial or Lozinski’s Pleistocene
‘periglacial zone’ can best be illustrated with
reference to an area of northwest Banks Island in
the western Canadian Arctic. Located at latitude

748N (Fig. 9), not only is the area an obviously
active periglacial environment but it also illustrates
the nature of the ice-marginal proglacial environ-
ment (French 1972). Part of the region is shown in
an aerial photograph (Fig. 10).
During the Late Pleistocene, an ice lobe associ-
ated with the late Wisconsinan ice sheet impinged
on the north coast of Banks Island. A well-
developed lateral moraine system was formed and,
in the proglacial zone to the immediate south, a
series of broad meandering ice-marginal chan-
nels were eroded. These are very clearly shown in
Figure 10. Some channels appear to have been sub-
sequently abandoned when they became plugged
with material that either slumped or soliflucted off
the moraine. The ice lobe also blocked northwards
drainage and a number of ice-dammed lakes formed
in the lower reaches of valleys. One such proglacial
lake overflowed westwards, forming a striking
spillway channel visible on the aerial photograph.
A radiocarbon date of 8380 + 150 a BP provides
a minimal age for the ice-dammed lake and hence
a terminal date for when ice impinged upon the
land in that area.
In summary, northwest Banks Island was a clas-
sic Late Pleistocene–early Holocene proglacial
environment. At the same time, NW Banks Island
is today a classic active periglacial environment
Fig. 5. Idealized scheme of possible soft-sediment deformation generated by glaciers (modified from Le Heron et al.
2005).

I. P. MARTINI ET AL.6
characterized by intense frost action and the pres-
ence of permafrost. It is the first of these two sorts
of environments and its associated sediments that
is the central focus of Part One of the volume. The
second environment relates to Part Two of the
volume.
Prior to reading the various contributions in
Part Two, it is instructive to describe the processes
currently operating on northwest Banks Island.
Temperatures rise to between þ5 and þ7 8C for
approximately 3 months in the summer and fall to
below 225 8C during the polar night; permafrost
is estimated to be over 400 m thick. The landscape
is being eroded by a combination of wind-induced
and snow-related mass-wasting processes together
with fluvial activity over frozen ground during
the short summer months (French 1970, 1971).
The surface is being dissected by west- and
northwest-flowing streams in shallow valleys with
dendritically arranged tributary valleys (Fig. 11).
Preferential mass wasting (gelifluction) on
northeast- and east-facing slopes reflects the
dominant southwest winds in winter that deposit
snow on lee (northeast-facing) slopes and keep
exposed (southwest-facing) slopes and upland
surfaces largely snow-free. This produces a striking
Fig. 6. Schematic model of principal terrestrial and marine environments and sedimentary sequences formed during a
single advance and retreat of a temperate glacier (from Eyles & Eyles 1992).
Fig. 7. Lonestone (dropstone) in laminated marine

deposits, ‘Palaeozoic Itarare’ Formation, Brazil
(modified from Martini et al. 2001).
INTRODUCTION 7
asymmetry of slopes and drainage patterns in which
south- and southwest-facing slopes are steeper
than north- and northeast-facing slopes. The sur-
face of the plain is characterized by large thermal-
contraction crack polygons.
In summary, this Arctic island and other areas
of the circumpolar region are classic examples of
periglacial landscapes currently being fashioned
by frost action and mass wasting (gelifluction) pro-
cesses in conjunction with the operation of the
azonal processes of wind, snow and fluvial activity.
It is this sort of environment and the associated
processes and sediments that are central to Part
Two of the volume.
Contributions in this volume
Much is now known about glaciers and cold-climate
environments. The transition from the ice-marginal
setting to that of the cold but essentially non-glacial
setting is however of particular interest during
a period of active glacier retreat when the great
variety of ice-marginal conditions can be observed.
Fig. 8. Schematic diagram illustrating the limits of the periglacial zone: (a) high latitudes and (b) alpine areas (from
French 2007).
I. P. MARTINI ET AL.8
What we can learn from modern and Pleistocene
settings can be used to interpret more ancient
occurrences of cold-climate conditions. Whereas

the occurrence of cold conditions and glaciers
is readily recognized (at least for the Pleistocene),
it is still difficult to establish with confidence
the glacier margin; the occurrence and actual dis-
tribution of more ancient pre-Pleistocene glacial
and periglacial systems is therefore especially
ambiguous. Many of the contributions (a number
derive from presentations made at a session devo-
ted to glacial and periglacial deposits at the 27th
Meeting of the International Association of Sedi-
mentologists held in Alghero, Italy in September
2008; others are invited) published in this volume
address some of these concerns. The volume is
subdivided into two parts.
The first part deals with ice-marginal environ-
ment and sediments. The first paper by Igo
´
lfsson
presents a brief review of the glaciations of Sval-
bard. This provides a good, confined model for
Fig. 9. Location map of northwest Banks Island in the
western Canadian Arctic.
Fig. 10. Aerial photograph of part of northwest Banks Island, providing a field example of the spatial overlap of a
Late Pleistocene ice-marginal environment and a current periglacial environment (part of A17381-137, National Air
Photo Library, Ottawa; produced under license from Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, with permission from
Natural Resources Canada).
INTRODUCTION 9
both terrestrial and marine glacial processes, land-
forms and sediments. It is followed by two papers
by Lønne & Nemec that examine the deposits of

the end moraines associated with tidewater glaciers.
These settings are impossible to deal with directly
during their formation, but the products can be
examined in emerged systems. The first paper
examines the sedimentological/stratigraphic char-
acteristics of one of these moraines and reconstructs
the processes responsible for its formation. The
second paper develops a sedimentological/
stratigraphic model that can be used to study and
better understand the processes active at the
termini of tidewater and other glaciers.
The following three papers deal with glaciated
mountain settings. The paper by Lucas & Sass ana-
lyses the development of high-mountain lateral
moraines. It utilizes field observations and geo-
physical methods (ground-penetrating radar) to
establish their evolution and develops a model of
formation different from that of larger lateral mor-
aines located further downvalley. The paper by
Pe
´
rez Alberti et al. examines the Pleistocene
deposits formed at the junction of two valley gla-
ciers where one temporarily dams the valley of the
other, faster-retreating glacier. This is a common
occurrence in modern mountains where recurring
breaks of the ice dam lead to local highly dissected
sedimentary sequences. The paper presented in
this volume examines sedimentologically the suc-
cessions and, aided by OSL (optically stimulated

luminescence) dates, establishes the relationships
between the remnant parts of the dissected record
and reconstructs a glaciation model of the area
during MIS 3–4 (marine isotope stages). The last
mountain paper by Carling et al. examines a very
large Upper Pleistocene lake dammed by a glacier
in the Altai Mountains of Siberia. The lake devel-
oped in an unglaciated valley surrounded by a
crown of glaciated mountains. The ice dams broke
several times leading to megafloods. The study
reported here examines the sequences of beaches
and shoreline notches left by the lake along the
flanks of the valley, and reconstructs and models
the palaeohydrology and palaeowinds of the area.
Part 1 ends with a paper by Keller et al.
that shows how the previous existence of ancient
pre-Pleistocene glaciers can be inferred with
some confidence from detailed sedimentological/
stratigraphic analysis. The study deals with Palaeo-
zoic petroleum-bearing horizons of SW Saudi
Arabia. Although the normal diagnostic character-
istics used to recognize the direct action of glaciers
cannot be used with great confidence in this case,
certain macrofeatures such as tunnel-valley patterns
and their sedimentary fills constitute circumstantial
evidence.
The second part of the volume deals with peri-
glacial settings, which fall into four groups. First,
two papers discuss the typical permafrost-related
features that develop in perennially frozen surficial

materials: one in the relatively humid and warm
humid Earth setting (French) and the other in the
intense cold (cryotic) conditions that exist on Mars
(Levy et al.). Although strong differences exist
between the two systems because of these very
Fig. 11. An oblique aerial view of northwest Banks Island showing: the current fluvial dissection; the asymmetrical
nature of the valleys; large-scale thermal-contraction crack polygons on the upland surface; and snow remaining on lee
slopes and in valley bottoms and small gullies. The photograph was taken in early July.
I. P. MARTINI ET AL.10
different environments, there are sufficient simi-
larities to warrant the application of remote sensing
concepts and terrestrial knowledge (particularly in
Antarctica) to interpretation of Martian surface and
near-surface sediments.
A second group examines weathering processes
in cold-climate settings. Thorn et al. conclude
that strong, active chemical weathering occurs in
mountainous sub-arctic environments, further dis-
pelling the traditional idea of the overwhelming
efficacy of physical weathering in such settings.
To place the physical v. chemical weathering dis-
cussion in an even better perspective, the paper by
Guglielmin et al. is a case study of the role of
biological weathering in the extreme cold-climate
environments of Northern Victoria Land, Antarc-
tica. They report on the role of lichens in hardening
the exterior of the cupola of tafoni in Antarctica. The
fact that these unusual weathering structures also
develop in hot environments, and that saline con-
ditions appear to be intimately involved, also high-

lights the lack of understanding of some aspects of
the nature of cold-climate weathering.
A third group focuses upon the stratified slope
deposits that occur widely in Pleistocene periglacial
environments and in today’s alpine environments
of the middle and low latitudes. The initial paper
by Vandenberghe discusses the apparently seman-
tic but essentially fundamental problems associated
with the recognition of so-called ‘periglacial sedi-
ments’. It is clear that there are cold-climate envi-
ronments where particular types of weathering
such as frost shattering are highly efficient and
typical deposits, such as blockfields (the so-called
‘periglacial facies’ of Lozinski), are generated.
However, in many cold-climate environments, the
typical modes of transport and sedimentation do
not produce clastic sediments that are fundamen-
tally different from those produced in other climatic
zones. It follows that the use of sedimentary facies
alone are insufficient to infer ancient periglacial
environments from ancient sediments. Instead,
the existence of ancient periglacial (permafrost)
environments must be inferred from the presence
of post-depositional features such as frost-fissure
casts and pseudomorphs. In the following paper,
Van Steijn reviews stratified slope deposits. He
concludes that although the component particles
may have been generated in periglacial settings
and may preserve their shape (for instance,
forming breccias), other characteristics reflect

azonal modes of transport such as rock falls,
debris slides and mostly wet and dry debris flows
and fluid flows. The third paper by Oliva &
Go
´
mez Ortiz examines sediment movement on
slopes in the current periglacial zone of Sierra
Nevada (Spain). They ascribe the coarse-grained
clastics alternating with organic-rich finer-grained
sediments as well as the coeval alternation of
coarser and finer grained sediments in an adjacent
small mountain lake to variations in climatic (temp-
erature and precipitation) conditions from the
mid-Holocene onwards.
The fourth and final group contains two papers
dealing with cold-climate sediments on a broader
scale. The first, by Brookfield, reviews aeolian
deposits including the putative cold-climate depos-
its. Loess is included in the discussion. Again, except
for certain particular features such as the freshness
of the component particles indicating limited chemi-
cal weathering, the sedimentological character of
wind-blown sediment does not specifically identify
a cold-climate origin or specific periglacial pro-
cesses. Indeed, large quantities of fines generated
by glacial abrasion glacier are stored temporarily
in proglacial/periglacial settings and are partly
eroded and redistributed continent-wide by wind,
both in periglacial and non-periglacial settings (Der-
byshire & Owen 1996). The existence of periglacial

settings is indicated primarily by post-depositional
features that indicate frozen ground, such as the
relatively well-known frost cracks and cryostruc-
tures but also by the less well-known secondary pre-
cipitates, neoformed clay minerals and fragipan
layers, as described by French. The final paper by
Newell et al. brings together many of the various
concepts and preoccupations examined in the
Special Publication and reports upon the nature
and distribution of Late Pleistocene sediments on
the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain of the eastern US.
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INTRODUCTION 13

Fingerprints of Quaternary glaciations on Svalbard
O
´
. INGO
´
LFSSON
Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 7, Is-101 Reykjavı
´
k,
Iceland and The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) (e-mail: )
Abstract: Marine and terrestrial archives can be used to reconstruct the development of glacially
influenced depositional environments on Svalbard in time and space during the late Cenozoic.
The marine archives document sedimentary environments, deposits and landforms associated
with the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) when Svalbard and the Barents Sea were covered by
continental-scale marine-based ice sheet, the last deglaciation and the work of tidewater glaciers
in interglacial setting as today. The terrestrial archives record large-scale Quaternary glacial
sculpturing and repeated build-up and decay of the Svalbard–Barents Sea ice sheet. The finger-
printing of Quaternary glaciations on Svalbard reflects the transition from a full-glacial mode,
with very extensive coverage by the Svalbard–Barents Sea ice sheet and subsequent deglaciation,
to an interglacial mode with valley, cirque and tidewater glaciers as active agents of erosion and
deposition. Conceptual models for Svalbard glacial environments are useful for understanding
developments of glacial landforms and sediments in formerly glaciated areas. Svalbard glacial
environments, past and present, may serve as analogues for interpreting geological records of
marine-terminating and marine-based ice sheets in the past.
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean that
comprises all islands between 748N–818N and

108E–358E (Fig. 1). The principal islands are Spits-
bergen, Nordaustlandet, Barentsøya, Edgeøya,
Kong Karls Land, Prins Karls Forland and Bjørnøya
(Bear Island). The total area of Svalbard is
62 160 km
2
. The West Spitsbergen Current, which
is a branch of the North Atlantic Current, reaches
the west coast of Svalbard, keeping water open
most of the year. The present climate of Svalbard
is Arctic, with mean annual air temperature of
c. 26 8C at sea level and as low as 215 8Cin
the high mountains. Most of Svalbard is situated
within the zone of continuous permafrost (Humlum
et al. 2003). Precipitation at sea level is low, only
c. 200 mm water equivalent (w.e.) in central Spits-
bergen and c. 400–600 mm w.e. along the western
and eastern coasts of the island. The Svalbard
landscape, in particularly the island of Spitsbergen,
is generally mountainous with the highest eleva-
tion of c. 1700 m a.s.l. on north-eastern Spitsbergen.
Large glacially eroded fjords are numerous, parti-
cularly at the northern and western coasts of Spits-
bergen where the Wijdefjorden, Isfjorden and Van
Mijenfjorden fjords have lengths of 108, 107 and
83 km, respectively. Some coastal areas are charac-
terized by strandflat topography: low-lying bedrock
plains often blanketed by raised beaches.
About 60% of Svalbard is covered by glaciers
(Hagen et al. 1993, 2003), with many outlet glaciers

terminating in the sea. Svalbard ice caps and gla-
ciers cover about 36 600 km
2
, with an estimated
total volume of c. 7000 km
3
(Hagen et al. 1993).
Most of the ice volume is contained in the high-
land ice fields and ice caps on Spitsbergen and
Nordaustlandet, but large valley glaciers and
cirque glaciers are frequent along both the west
and east coasts of Spitsbergen. Small ice caps also
exist on the eastern islands, Edgeøya and Barentsøya
(Fig. 1). On Spitsbergen, glaciation is most extensive
in areas near the eastern and western coasts, where
many glaciers terminate in the sea. In contrast, gla-
ciers in the central part of the island are smaller,
mainly because of low precipitation (Humlum
2002). A significant number of glaciers in Svalbard
are of the surging type. The surges are relatively
short intervals (,1to.10 a) of extraordinary fast
flow which transfer mass rapidly down-glacier,
punctuating much longer quiescent periods (,10
to .200 a) characterized by stagnation when ice
builds up in an upper accumulation area forming a
reservoir of mass for the next surge (Dowdeswell
et al. 1991, 1999; Lønne 2004; Sund 2006). Lefau-
connier & Hagen (1991) suggested that the majority
of Svalbard glaciers surged. The mass balance of
many glaciers in Svalbard is partly controlled by

snowdrift during the winter (Humlum et al. 2005).
The equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) rises on a trans-
ect from west to east across Spitsbergen (Fig. 1),
reflecting the distribution of precipitation very well.
On Prins Karls Forland and along the central west
coast it lies at 300 m a.s.l., but reaches .700 m in
the highlands of north-eastern Spitsbergen.
There are two end-member modes of glacieri-
zation on Svalbard: a full-glacial mode, when
Svalbard and the Barents Sea were covered by a
large marine-based ice sheet, and an interglacial
mode (like today) when the Svalbard glacial
system is dominated by highland ice fields, ice
caps and numerous valley and cirque glaciers. The
From:Martini, I. P., French,H.M.&Pe
´
rez Alberti, A. (eds) Ice-Marginal and Periglacial Processes and Sediments.
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 354, 15– 31.
DOI: 10.1144/SP354.2 0305-8719/11/$15.00 # The Geological Society of London 2011.
full-glacial mode leaves pronounced fingerprints on
the continental shelf margins and slopes, and during
deglaciation sediments and landforms are deposi-
ted on the continental shelf and in fjords around
Svalbard. Most sedimentation occurs subglacially
in fjords and on the shelf, and ice-marginally on
the continental break and slope. There is prevailing
erosion inside the present coast, but a strong sig-
nal of glacial isostasy in response to deglaciation
where sets of raised beaches mark deglaciation
and marine transgression. The interglacial mode is

characterized by fjord and valley sedimentation
below and in front of polythermal and surging
glaciers. The interglacial mode of glacierization
produces landform-sediment assemblages that can
be related to the tidewater glacier landsystem
(Ottesen & Dowdeswell 2006), the glaciated valley
landsystem (Eyles 1983) and the surging glacier
landsystem (Evans & Rea 1999). The glacial finger-
printing on Svalbard is primarily reflecting the
transition from a full-glacial mode to an intergla-
cial mode.
Full-glacial-mode sediments and
landforms
The timing of the onset of Cenozoic Northern Hemi-
sphere high-latitude glaciations is not well known.
Ice rafted debris (IRD) and foraminiferal data from
Arctic basin deep-sea sediment cores suggests that
episodical perennial sea ice might have occurred
as early as the middle Eocene 47.5 million years
ago (Ma) (Stickley et al. 2009). It is recognized
that sea-ice cover existed in the central Arctic basin
by the middle Miocene (Darby 2008; Krylov et al.
2008), but ice-sheet build-up over the Svalbard –
Barents Sea region probably did not initiate
until the Pliocene–Pleistocene, 3.6– 2.4 Ma (Knies
et al. 2009). Sejrup et al. (2005) suggested that
extensive shelf glaciations started around Svalbard
at 1.6–1.3 Ma. The number of full-scale ice-sheet
glaciations over Svalbard–Barents Sea is not
known, but Solheim et al. (1996) suggest at least

16 major glacial expansion events occurred over
the past 1 Ma. Laberg et al. (2010) reconstructed the
Fig. 1. The Svalbard archipelago with distribution pattern of the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) given as 100 m
contour intervals (modified from Hagen et al. 2003). The islands of Hopen (SE from the Svalbard archipelago) and
Bjørnøya (midway between Norwegian mainland and Spitsbergen) are not on the map.
O
´
. INGO
´
LFSSON16
late Pliocene–Pleistocene history of the Barents Sea
ice sheet, based on three-dimensional seismic data
from the south-western Barents Sea continental
margin. They inferred that a temperate Barents
Sea ice sheet with channelized meltwater flow
developed during the late Pliocene–Early Pleisto-
cene. More polar ice conditions and a Barents
Sea ice sheet that included large ice streams, with
little or no channelized meltwater flow, occurred
in the Middle and Late Pleistocene. There are both
marine and terrestrial geological archives that high-
light full-glacial-mode conditions and subsequent
deglaciation.
Marine archives
The dimensions and dynamics of the Last Glacial
Maximum (LGM) Svalbard–Barents Sea ice sheet
are reflected in the submarine sediments and land-
forms preserved on the seafloor of the deglaciated
shelves and fjords (Ottesen et al. 2005). Marine
archives that contain information on former

ice-extent and ice dynamics include the following.
Shelf bathymetry. Landforms include glacial
troughs, submarine transverse ridges, mega-scale
glaciallineations,elongated drumlinsandrhombohe-
dral ridge systems. These delineate the drainage of
glaciers and show that the shelf areas have
been shaped by erosion and deposition below and in
front of moving outlet glaciers and ice streams.
High-resolution seismic records. These show
glacial unconformities and give information on
thickness, extensions and architecture of sediments
above basement rocks. These records signify the
extent of glacial erosion and subsequent deposition
on the shelf.
Sediment cores. These include sedimentological and
petrographic analyses for identifying tills and gla-
ciomarine sediments. Sediment cores are used to
verify seismic records. The tills are first-order
evidence on former ice extent, and
14
C dates from
glaciomarine sediments provide constraining mini-
mum dates for deglaciation of the shelf areas.
The seafloor morphology of the Svalbard margin
west and north of the archipelago is characterized
by a series of deep fjord-trough systems separated
from one another by intervening shallow banks.
This is caused by the actions of ice sheets and ice
streams during the Pleistocene, where the extent of
the Svalbard–Barents ice sheet during peak gla-

ciations was repeatedly limited by the shelf edge
(Solheim et al. 1996; Vorren et al. 1998). Sejrup
et al. (2005) concluded that the morphology
strongly reflected that fast-moving ice streams
had repeatedly entered the continental shelf areas,
creating numerous glacial troughs/channels that
are separated by shallow bank areas. Less dynamic
ice probably existed on shallower banks (Landvik
et al. 2005; Sejrup et al. 2005; Ottesen et al. 2007).
Studies of large-scale margin morphology and
seismic profiles have identified large submarine
trough-mouth fans (TMF) at the mouths of several
major cross-shelf troughs (Fig. 2) (Vorren et al.
1989; Sejrup et al. 2005). These are stacked units
of glaciogenic debris flows interbedded with hemi-
pelagic sediments displaying thickness maxima
along the shelf edge, and reflect direct sediment
delivery from an ice stream reaching the shelf
edge (Vorren et al. 1989; Vorren & Laberg 1997).
Andersen et al. (1996) defined five lithofacies
groups from cores retrieved from the western
Svalbard continental slope. Laminated-to-layered
mud and turbidites reflect post-depositional rework-
ing of the shelf banks, caused by eustatic sea-level
fall during ice growth. Hemipelagic mud represents
the background sediments and is evenly dispersed
over the entire continental margin. Homogeneous
and heterogeneous diamictons were deposited
during glacial melt events (hemipelagic mud with
ice-rafted debris) and during peak glaciation on the

submarine fans (debris-flow deposits). Large-scale
slope failures have affected the glaciogenic deposits
along the western Barents Sea margin (Kuvaas &
Kristoffersen 1996; Laberg & Vorren 1996). The
largest TMFs occur in front of the Storfjorden
and Bear Island trough mouths (Fig. 2), probably
reflecting where the largest Svalbard–Barents
Sea palaeo-ice streams entered the western shelf
break (Faleide et al. 1996; Vorren & Laberg 1997;
Andreassen et al. 2008). The oldest Storfjorden
and Bear Island TMF sediments have been esti-
mated to be c. 1.6 Ma (Forsberg et al. 1999; Butt
et al. 2000).
Whereas TMFs can be regarded as archives
of numerous glaciations, most sediments and land-
forms on the shelf and in the fjords relate to the
LGM and subsequent deglaciation. End-moraines
have been identified at several locations on the shelf
(Ottesen et al. 2005, 2007; Ottesen & Dowdeswell
2009), suggesting outlet glaciers and ice streams
draining the Svalbard fjords and a shelf-edge glacia-
tion along the major part of the margin during the
LGM. Ottesen et al. (2005, 2007) and Ottesen &
Dowdeswell (2009) recognized an assemblage of
sediments and landforms that can be used to infer
the flow and dynamics of the last ice sheet on
Svalbard (Fig. 3). They distinguished between
inter-ice-stream and ice-stream glacial landform
assemblages, which reflect different glacial
dynamics associated with ice streams in fjords and

troughs and slower moving ice between the
troughs and ice streams. They identified five
subsets of landforms that make up the inter-ice-
stream glacial landform assemblage, and labelled
FINGERPRINTS OF GLACIATIONS ON SVALBARD 17