Early Discoverers XXXVI: W.J. McGee On Glacial Erosion Laws and the Development of Glacial Valleys
Abstract In work presented in 1883 and published in full in 1894, W.J. McGee made one of the first clear attempts to outline the main morphologic differences between glaciated valleys and valleys developed by processes dominant in more temperate areas. Moreover, with an unprecedented analysis of gla...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1989
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009357 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000009357 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000009357 2024-03-03T08:46:04+00:00 Early Discoverers XXXVI: W.J. McGee On Glacial Erosion Laws and the Development of Glacial Valleys Harbor, Jonathan M. 1989 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009357 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000009357 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 35, issue 121, page 419-425 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 1989 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009357 2024-02-08T08:37:11Z Abstract In work presented in 1883 and published in full in 1894, W.J. McGee made one of the first clear attempts to outline the main morphologic differences between glaciated valleys and valleys developed by processes dominant in more temperate areas. Moreover, with an unprecedented analysis of glacial erosion, he attempted for the first time to explain the evolution of glacial land forms in terms of theoretical predictions of patterns of erosion under valley glaciers. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, there was fierce debate over whether glaciers were even capable of significant erosion, so it is perhaps not surprising that McGee’s analysis of glacial erosion processes and land-form development received little attention in his own time. Despite this, McGee’s work provided some of the first really convincing glacial explanations for the development of land forms such as hanging valleys and U-shaped valleys, and these were developed more fully in later work by Davis (1900) and Gilbert (1903). In modern research, the use of theoretical erosion laws and a knowledge of ice dynamics to develop models of land-form development is emerging as a major theme in glacial geomorphology, marking a return to the methodology pioneered by W.J. McGee. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press McGee ENVELOPE(164.550,164.550,-74.050,-74.050) Journal of Glaciology 35 121 419 425 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Harbor, Jonathan M. Early Discoverers XXXVI: W.J. McGee On Glacial Erosion Laws and the Development of Glacial Valleys |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract In work presented in 1883 and published in full in 1894, W.J. McGee made one of the first clear attempts to outline the main morphologic differences between glaciated valleys and valleys developed by processes dominant in more temperate areas. Moreover, with an unprecedented analysis of glacial erosion, he attempted for the first time to explain the evolution of glacial land forms in terms of theoretical predictions of patterns of erosion under valley glaciers. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, there was fierce debate over whether glaciers were even capable of significant erosion, so it is perhaps not surprising that McGee’s analysis of glacial erosion processes and land-form development received little attention in his own time. Despite this, McGee’s work provided some of the first really convincing glacial explanations for the development of land forms such as hanging valleys and U-shaped valleys, and these were developed more fully in later work by Davis (1900) and Gilbert (1903). In modern research, the use of theoretical erosion laws and a knowledge of ice dynamics to develop models of land-form development is emerging as a major theme in glacial geomorphology, marking a return to the methodology pioneered by W.J. McGee. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Harbor, Jonathan M. |
author_facet |
Harbor, Jonathan M. |
author_sort |
Harbor, Jonathan M. |
title |
Early Discoverers XXXVI: W.J. McGee On Glacial Erosion Laws and the Development of Glacial Valleys |
title_short |
Early Discoverers XXXVI: W.J. McGee On Glacial Erosion Laws and the Development of Glacial Valleys |
title_full |
Early Discoverers XXXVI: W.J. McGee On Glacial Erosion Laws and the Development of Glacial Valleys |
title_fullStr |
Early Discoverers XXXVI: W.J. McGee On Glacial Erosion Laws and the Development of Glacial Valleys |
title_full_unstemmed |
Early Discoverers XXXVI: W.J. McGee On Glacial Erosion Laws and the Development of Glacial Valleys |
title_sort |
early discoverers xxxvi: w.j. mcgee on glacial erosion laws and the development of glacial valleys |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1989 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009357 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000009357 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(164.550,164.550,-74.050,-74.050) |
geographic |
McGee |
geographic_facet |
McGee |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 35, issue 121, page 419-425 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000009357 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
121 |
container_start_page |
419 |
op_container_end_page |
425 |
_version_ |
1792501933472219136 |