Periglacial patterned ground, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Canada and U.S.A.
Butler DR and Malanson GP. 1989. Periglacial patterned ground, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Canada and U.S.A.. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie NF. 33(1):43-57
This paper describes periglacial patterned ground in Glacier National Park, Montana, and Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta and examines its utility as a surrogate indicator of Holocene climatic change. Three populations of patterned ground exist: 1) miniature sorted polygons, probably currently active and forming on gently sloping uplands where both coarse and fine clasts are available; 2) currently inactive alpine turf-banked terraces, active during the most recent stade of the Neoglacial; and 3) larger turf-banked terraces in several locations near or slightly below present-day treeline, in well-sheltered Pleistocene cirques. We attribute the first group to currently active frost shattering above treeline. The second and third groups are attributed to varying severities of gelifluction and frost creep during the post-glacial. Soil analyses from pits dug into the younger turf-banked terraces revealed 02/A/B/C profile sequences similar to other alpine soils in Montana.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Butler, David; Malanson, George
- Units
- CRCO , GLAC , WALA
- Keywords
- alpine, climatic, frost, Holocene, periglacial, Pleistocene, soil, treeline, turf-banked