Limited modification of mid‐latitude landscapes by ice sheets: The case of northeast Scotland

• Published in: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
• Main Authors: Hall, Adrian M., Sugden, David E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1987
• Subjects: Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290120510; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fesp.3290120510; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/esp.3290120510

Abstract The paper uses a case study in Scotland to examine the amount and processes of landscape modification by Quaternary ice sheets. There is an inverse correlation between the distribution of landforms of glacial erosion and pre‐glacial landscape remnants in northeast Scotland. The implication is that in places ice sheets can preserve a pre‐glacial landscape unscathed, while elsewhere they remove the pre‐glacial weathered rock. The location of glacial protection or erosion is strongly influenced by the topography and its influence on former ice sheet flow and basal thermal regime. The classic glacially eroded landscape of areal scouring can be produced by the removal of only 10–50 m of weathered rock. Furthermore rock basins, often regarded as the hallmark of glacial erosion, may be directly inherited from the pre‐glacial pattern of deep weathering.