The late‐glacial climate of North‐West England

Abstract

SUMMARYThe combination of geological and botanical evidence with meteorological reasoning leads to the conclusion that i n the ninth millenium B.C. s m a l l glaciers became re-established in corries and in the heads of the wetter Lake District valIeys, and also in a number of Pennine comes n o d of Bowland Forest. The meteorological factors giving rise to their distribution and comparative extent are discussed. It is inferred that the amount and distribution of precipitation during this episode resembled that of today. Quantitative estimates are given of the characteristics of the dimate during this post-Allerad recession, which from the meteorological standpoint appears to be similar to the minor recessions during the post-Glaaal period.

Equilibrium-Line Altitudes and Paleoenvironment in the Merchants Bay Area, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada

“…Furthermore, the technique fails to take into account variations in valley morphology, which would affect the area~levation distribution of a glacier. To this end, Manley (1959) suggested that, for glaciers whose valleys narrow markedly in their lower reaches, the ELA is three-fifths of the vertical distance up the glacier from the terminal moraine. Finally, the term "backwall elevation", which can have a variety of meanings from the outset, becomes difficult to define for valley glaciers that head in compound cirques.…”

“…Since the late nineteenth century in Europe, the median elevations of former glaciers have been used to estimate ELAs (Manley, 1959;0strem, 1966). The same technique has been employed by Richmond (1965) and Meierding (1982) in the United States.…”

“…Elevations of terminal moraines and cirque back walls that lie between contours were estimated by linear interpolation. Backwall elevations were taken as the base of the wall or, in the case of glacierized cirques, the elevation of the bergschrund (Manley, 1959;Andrews, 1965).…”

Cirques as Glacier Locations

“…As shown in Table 7, the 535 cirques mea sured in the Rocky Mountains demonstrate a high degree of systematic variability in the length/height ratio, but the mean values (which vary from 1.7 to 5.07 with most values from 2.5 to 3.3) for each range fall within the limits suggested 'by Manley (1959) . These values show that cirques develop toward an optimum vertical shape, despite wide variation in climatic, geomorphic, and geologic environments.…”

“…Manley (1959) claimed that a well-developed cirque exhibits a length/height ratio of 2.8 to 3.2, and Embleton and King (1968) demonstrated this for cirques of widely varying sizes. Andrews (1965) found ratios of 2.1 to be common in Labrador, but Embleton and King (1968) suggested that the cirques there are not fully developed.…”