Periglacial structures within fluvio‐aeolian successions of the end of the Last Glaciation – examples from SE Poland and NW Ukraine

• Published in: Boreas
• Main Authors: Zieliński, Paweł, Sokołowski, Robert J., Fedorowicz, Stanisław, Zaleski, Iwan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2013
• Subjects: Ice; permafrost; wedge*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bor.12052; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fbor.12052; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/bor.12052

The nature of permafrost and related environmental conditions in the W eichselian L ate P leniglacial and L ateglacial are reconstructed based on the assessment of frost structures that are best documented in the L oess B elt and in plateau areas composed of glacial till. Investigations were conducted in the central‐eastern part of the E uropean S and B elt ( SE P oland and NW U kraine) on a fluvio‐aeolian sedimentary succession and took into account its chronological context given by luminescence dating. Various generations of periglacial structures found in these deposits indicate not only the development of permafrost (ice‐wedge pseudomorphs) and decreased humidity (composite wedge casts) but also the degradation of permafrost (large‐scale involutions) and, finally, the establishment of deep seasonal frost (frost cracks). The diversity of structures in the study region appears to result from local conditions rather than increasing continentality of climate towards the east.