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. Papers include topics such as sedimentation at termini of tidewater glaciers, poorly understood high-mountain features, and slope and aeolian deposits that have been sourced in glacial and periglacial regions and subsequently transported and deposited by azonal processes. Difficulties encountered in inferring Pleistocene and pre-Pleistocene cold-climate conditions when the sedimentary record lacks specific diagnostic indicators are discussed. The main objective of this volume is to establish the validity and limitations of the evidence that is used to achieve reliable palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic reconstructions. On the much longer geological 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.

Past Glacial Environments, Second Edition, presents a revised and updated version of the very successful first edition of Menzies' book, covering a breadth of topics with a focus on the recognition and analysis of former glacial environments, including the pre-Quaternary glaciations. The book is made up of chapters written by various geological experts from across the world, with the editor's expertise and experience bringing the chapters together. This new and updated volume includes at least 45% new material, along with five new chapters that include a section on techniques and methods. Additionally, this new edition is presented in full color and features a large collection of photographs, line diagrams, and tables with examples of glacial environments and landscapes that are drawn from a worldwide perspective. Informative knowledge boxes and case studies are included, helping users better understand critical issues and ideas. - Provides the most complete reference concerning the study of glacial processes and their geological, sedimentological, and geomorphological products - Comprised of chapters written by various geological experts from across the world - Includes specific case studies to alert readers to important ideas and issues - Uses text boxes throughout to explain key concepts from glacial literature - Presents full color photographs, line diagrams, and tables throughout

Inland sand dunes are widespread in North America and are found from the North Slope of Alaska to the Sonoran Desert in northern Mexico and from the Delmarva Peninsula in the east to Southern California in the west. In this edited book, we highlight recent research on areas of inland dunes that span a range from those that are actively accumulating in current conditions of climate and sediment supply to those that were formed in past conditions and are now degraded relict systems. This book will be of interest to researchers and scholars of physical geography, geomorphology, environmental sciences, and earth sciences. Contributions include detailed analyses of individual active dune systems at White Sands, New Mexico; Great Sand Dunes, Colorado; and the Laurentian Great Lakes; as well as the vegetation-stabilized dunes of the Nebraska Sand Hills and the Colorado Plateau. Additional chapters discuss the widespread partially vegetated dune systems of the central and southern Great Plains; the relict dunes of the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the eastern USA; and active and stabilized dunes of the Colorado Plateau and the southwestern deserts of the USA and northern Mexico.

"Glaciogenic reservoirs and hydrocarbon systems occur intermittently throughout the stratigraphic record, with particular prominence in Neoproterozoic, Late Ordovician, Permo-Carboniferous and Late Cenozoic strata. Recent interest in glaciogenic successions has been fuelled by hydrocarbon discoveries in ancient glaciogenic reservoirs in North Africa, the Middle East, Australia and South America. Glaciogenic deposits of Pleistocene age are noteworthy for their content of groundwater onshore and potentially prospective and/or hazardous gas accumulations offshore. The abundant imprints of Pleistocene glaciations in both hemispheres can be used to reconstruct complex histories of repeated ice cover and retreat, and glacier-bed interactions, thus informing our view on the dynamics of older ice caps and predictions of future glaciations. This volume aims to provide a better understanding of glaciogenic processes, their stratigraphic record and reservoir characteristics of glaciogenic deposits. The book comprises 3 overview papers and 16 original case studies of Neoproterozoic to Pleistocene successions on 6 continents and will be of interest to sedimentologists, glaciologists, geophysicists, hydrologists and petroleum geologists alike."-- P. 4 of cover.

Dynamic Mars: Recent and Current Landscape Evolution of the Red Planet presents the latest observations, interpretations, and explanations of geological change at the surface or near-surface of this terrestrial body. These changes raise questions about a decades-old paradigm, formed largely in the aftermath of very coarse Mariner-mission imagery in the 1960s, suggesting that much of the interesting geological activity on Mars occurred deep in its past, eons ago. The book includes discussions of (1) Mars' ever-changing atmosphere and the impact of this on the planet's surface and near-surface; (2) the possible involvement of water in relatively new, if not contemporary, gully-like flows and slope streaks (i.e. recurring slope lineae); and (3) the identification of a broad suite of agents and processes (i.e. glacial, periglacial, aeolian, meteorological, volcanic, and meteoric) that are actively revising surface and near-surface landscapes, landforms, and features on a local, regional, and hemispheric scale.Highly illustrated and punctuated by data from the most recent Mars missions, Dynamic Mars is a valuable resource for all levels of research in the geological history of Mars, as well as of the three other terrestrial planets. - Utilizes observational and model-based data as well as geological context to frame the understanding of the dynamic surface and near-surface of Mars - Presents a broad spectrum of highly regarded experts and themes to discuss and evaluate the geological history of late and current Mars - Includes extensive and detailed imagery to clearly illustrate these themes, discussions, and evaluations

This book discusses the recession of alpine glaciers since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA), which has been accelerating in the past decades. It provides an overview of the research in the field, presenting definitions and information about the different proglacial areas and systems. A number of case studies are from the PROSA project group which encompasses the expertise of geomorphologists, geologists, glaciologists and geodesists. The PROSA joint project (High-resolution measurements of morphodynamics in rapidly changing PROglacial Systems of the Alps) is determined to tackle the problems of geomorphic activity on sediment export through a quantification of sediment fluxes effected by the aforementioned geomorphic processes within the forefield of the Gepatschferner glacier (Central Alps, Austria).

Accessibly written by a team of international authors, the Encyclopedia of Environmental Change provides a gateway to the complex facts, concepts, techniques, methodology and philosophy of environmental change. This three-volume set illustrates and examines topics within this dynamic and rapidly changing interdisciplinary field. The encyclopedia includes all of the following aspects of environmental change: Diverse evidence of environmental change, including climate change and changes on land and in the oceans Underlying natural and anthropogenic causes and mechanisms Wide-ranging local, regional and global impacts from the polar regions to the tropics Responses of geo-ecosystems and human-environmental systems in the face of past, present and future environmental change Approaches, methodologies and techniques used for reconstructing, dating, monitoring, modelling, projecting and predicting change Social, economic and political dimensions of environmental issues, environmental conservation and management and environmental policy Over 4,000 entries explore the following key themes and more: Conservation Demographic change Environmental management Environmental policy Environmental security Food security Glaciation Green Revolution Human impact on environment Industrialization Landuse change Military impacts on environment Mining and mining impacts Nuclear energy Pollution Renewable resources Solar energy Sustainability Tourism Trade Water resources Water security Wildlife conservation The comprehensive coverage of terminology includes layers of entries ranging from one-line definitions to short essays, making this an invaluable companion for any student of physical geography, environmental geography or environmental sciences.

Coastal Wetlands, Second Edition: An Integrated and Ecosystem Approach provides an understanding of the functioning of coastal ecosystems and the ecological services that they provide. As coastal wetlands are under a great deal of pressure from the dual forces of rising sea levels and the intervention of human populations, both along the estuary and in the river catchment, this book covers important issues, such as the destruction or degradation of wetlands from land reclamation and infrastructures, impacts from the discharge of pollutants, changes in river flows and sediment supplies, land clearing, and dam operations. - Covers climate change and its influence on coastal wetland form and function - Provides a fully updated and expanded resource, including new chapters on modeling, management and the impact of climate change - Contains full-color figures of wetlands and estuaries in different parts of the world

Periglacial and paraglacial environments, located outside ice sheet margins but responding to similar climate forcings, are key to identifying climate change effects upon the Earth system. These environments are relicts of cold Earth processes and so are most sensitive to global warming. Changes in the distribution and thickness of permafrost in continental interiors have implications for ecosystem and landscape stability. Periglacial Alpine environments are experiencing increased rockfall and mass movement, leading to rock glacier instability and sediment release to downstream rivers. In turn, these landscape effects impact on natural hazards and human activities in these sensitive and geologically transient environments.

This book comprehensively presents the geography of landforms linked to periglacial processes across Europe. The landscape of the European cold climate regions, both at high latitudes and in mountainous environments, represent the lingering, minimal expression of the glaciers. In addition, periglacial elements can be found in temperate regions, where temperatures no longer favor periglacial processes, so landforms are therefore inherited from previous cold phases. The book is divided into five parts: an introductory section on climate variability responsible for periglacial dynamics across Europe; a second part including 3 blocks on periglacial landforms in southern, central and northern Europe; and a final chapter providing a more general perspective on the impact of periglacial processes on the landscape of Europe. The book offers a valuable reference guide for scientists from all disciplines interested in cold climate processes, as well as readers outside academia (territorial managers, environmentalists, mountaineers, politicians, engineers, etc.).