22.—The Terraces of Glen Feshie, Inverness-shire

Synopsis Detailed mapping and accurate heighting reveal the extent of a well-preserved terrace system whose highest fragments lie c. 40 m above contemporary stream level. Kame terraces, pitted outwash terraces, terraces dissected by braided rivers and fan terraces are identified. The terrace fragmen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Main Author: Young, J. A. T.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1976
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0080456800015532
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0080456800015532
Description
Summary:Synopsis Detailed mapping and accurate heighting reveal the extent of a well-preserved terrace system whose highest fragments lie c. 40 m above contemporary stream level. Kame terraces, pitted outwash terraces, terraces dissected by braided rivers and fan terraces are identified. The terrace fragments form a valley train whose uppermost levels were produced when glacier ice was still present in the glen. As successive streams readjusted to postglacial hydrological conditions, they excavated the valley fill of glacial deposits and carved out the terraces. It is inferred that subsequent stream discharges were generally smaller than those associated with deglaciation at the end of the period of ice sheet wastage. Areally extensive, heavily dissected, low level terraces are suggested to have been produced by meltwaters from a later deglaciation at the end of Zone III.