Periglacial And Paraglacial Processes And Environments

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, originally published in 1980, provides a comprehensive overview of frost-action and mass-wasting processes and their effects, present and past. As warming of permafrost is becoming an increasingly important component of global climate change research, this text is also of increasing relevance. Geocryology is included in the title to emphasize the pervasive influence of ice and its phase changes in these processes. This book is neither a formal text nor a reference manual but something of both and a guide to the enormous literature. The text is illustrated with over 200 photographs and diagrams. The following topics are covered: Environmental factors, frozen ground, general frost-action processes, some periglacial forms, mass-wasting processes and forms, nivation, slopewash, fluvial action, lacrustine and marine action, wind action, thermokarst, environmental overview and environmental reconstructions. L. Washburn was the first executive director of the Arctic Institute of North America. He dedicated his life to fieldwork and the intensive study of the Arctic and Polar Regions in general, focusing on glacial and periglacial environments and Quaternary history of the earth. Dr. Washburn was Professor Emeritus in the department of Geological Sciences and the Quaternary Research Center at the University of Washington, and former Director of its Quaternary Research Center. He was deeply involved in the establishment of the journal Arctic and was founder and former Editor of Quaternary Research.

The Periglacial Environment, Fourth Edition, is an authoritative overview of the world’s cold, non-glacial environments. First published in 1976 and subsequently revised in 1996 and 2007, the text has been the international standard for nearly 40 years. The Fourth Edition continues to be a personal interpretation of the frost-induced conditions, geomorphic processes and landforms that characterize periglacial environments. Part One discusses the periglacial concept and describes the typical climates and ecosystems that are involved. Part Two describes the geocryology (permafrost science) associated with frozen ground. Part Three outlines the weathering and geomorphic processes associated with cold-climate conditions. Part Four provides insight into the periglacial environments of the Quaternary, especially the Late Pleistocene. Part Five describes some of the problems associated with human occupancy in regions that experience frozen ground and cold-climate conditions. Extensively revised and updated Written by an expert with over 50 years of field research Draws upon the author’s personal experience from Northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia, Tibet, Antarctica, Svalbard, Scandinavia, southern South America, Western Europe and eastern North America This book is an invaluable reference for advanced undergraduates in geography, geology, earth sciences and environmental sciences programs, and to resource managers and geotechnical engineers interested in cold regions.

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.