Premium
Topographic and drainage control on Weichselian ice‐wedge and sand‐wedge formation, Vennebrügge, German–Dutch border
Author(s) -
Kasse C.,
Vandenberghe J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
permafrost and periglacial processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-1530
pISSN - 1045-6740
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1530(199804/06)9:2<95::aid-ppp282>3.0.co;2-d
Subject(s) - outwash plain , ice wedge , geology , permafrost , geomorphology , solifluction , frost weathering , moraine , physical geography , glacier , glacial period , geography , oceanography , soil water , soil science
The climatic conditions under which ice‐ and sand wedges are formed have been debated for many years. The temperature and humidity conditions controlling their formation have been studied in the present‐day Arctic. The results have been used to derive the palaeo‐environmental and climatic conditions associated with the occurrence of ice‐wedge casts and relict sand wedges in sedimentary sequences. In this paper a well‐developed polygonal pattern of ice‐wedge casts and relict sand wedges dating from the Weichselian Last Glacial Maximum is described. It has been found at the surface of a late Saalian sandur deposit close to the border of western Germany and the eastern Netherlands. The ice‐wedge casts are present at the lower end of the sandur and probably formed in relatively humid conditions, while the relict sand wedges are exclusively present in the higher part of the sandur with drier conditions. Since both wedge types may have formed simultaneously, it is concluded that climatic differences are not the only factor controlling their formation. Local differences in soil humidity, land surface instability and related aeolian sand transport have determined their infilling with either sand or ice. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.