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Limited modification of mid‐latitude landscapes by ice sheets: The case of northeast Scotland
Author(s) -
Hall Adrian M.,
Sugden David E.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.3290120510
Subject(s) - glacial period , geology , glacial landform , weathering , erosion , ice sheet , quaternary , glacier , landform , physical geography , geomorphology , seabed gouging by ice , moraine , ice stream , paleontology , oceanography , sea ice , cryosphere , geography
The paper uses a case study in Scotland to examine the amount and processes of landscape modification by Quaternary ice sheets. There is an inverse correlation between the distribution of landforms of glacial erosion and pre‐glacial landscape remnants in northeast Scotland. The implication is that in places ice sheets can preserve a pre‐glacial landscape unscathed, while elsewhere they remove the pre‐glacial weathered rock. The location of glacial protection or erosion is strongly influenced by the topography and its influence on former ice sheet flow and basal thermal regime. The classic glacially eroded landscape of areal scouring can be produced by the removal of only 10–50 m of weathered rock. Furthermore rock basins, often regarded as the hallmark of glacial erosion, may be directly inherited from the pre‐glacial pattern of deep weathering.