European Glacial Landscapes - by David Palacios & Philip D Hughes & Jose M Garcia-Ruiz & Nuria de Andrés (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

European Glacial Landscapes: Maximum Extent of Glaciations brings together relevant experts on the history of glaciers and their impact on the landscape of the main regions of Europe. In some regions the largest recorded glaciations occurred before the Last Glacial Cycle, in one of the major glacial cycles of the Middle Pleistocene. However, the best-preserved evidence of glaciation in the landscape is from the Last Glacial Cycle (Late Pleistocene). The book also analyses these older glacial landforms that can sometimes still be seen in the landscape today. This analysis provides a better understanding of the succession of Pleistocene glaciations and the intervening interglacial periods, examining their possible continental synchrony or asynchrony of past glacier behaviour. The result of this analysis gives important new insights and information on the origin and effects of climatic and geomorphological variability across Europe.

European Glacial Landscapes: Maximum Extent of Glaciations examines the landscapes produced by glaciers throughout Europe, the geomorphological effects of glaciations, as well as the chronology and evolution of the past glaciers, with the aim of understanding the interrelationship between glacial expansion and climate changes on this continent. This book is a valuable tool for geographers, geologist, environmental scientists, researchers in physics and earth sciences.

Review Quotes

"Where to start? How to begin? This is the eternal problem that every person interested in learning a new subject must face, from young students to senior researchers. In a subject such as European glaciation, where a vast amount of knowledge has been produced over two centuries, this question is particularly relevant. In "European Glacial Landscapes: Maximum extent of glaciations", editors D. Palacios, P.D. Hugues, J.M. García-Ruiz and N. Andrés, put together a continental scale synthesis of the state of the art knowledge on the distribution, chronology and significance of landforms created during past glaciations across Europe. Through a series of concise and well-written articles, more than 60 contributing authors summarize the climatic context, scientific questions, and advances of the current understanding of the glacial landscapes of Europe.

The book is divided into six parts or sections. Part I provides a great introduction to the various topics (both practical and theorical) discussed in the book. Part II presents the geographical characteristics and the relevance of the different regions discussed in the book. Part III is devoted to describing the current state of knowledge on the evolution of climate and ocean dynamics during the Last Glacial Cycle. Parts IV and V focus on describing and analyzing the glacial landforms/landscapes developed before and during the Last Glacial Maximum (29 - 19 ka), respectively. Finally, in Part VI, the authors synthesize the previous parts, by highlighting the importance of the European glacial landscapes in the context of great climatic variability.

This compilation represents a monumental effort to provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution of the ice masses that once covered Europe and set the basis to dive into more detailed literature regarding the glacial history of particular regions within the continent. To this end, each chapter suggests a list of key references that the reader should consult to address specific questions related to the subject. This volume is extensively illustrated with detailed figures and standardized maps (with common symbols and colour ramps for the topographic bases), which facilitate our understanding of the glacier histories across the continent. Finally, the ages presented in this book were recalibrated (radiocarbon ages) and recalculated (cosmogenic surface exposure dating) using the most up to date procedures, which permit a direct comparison between key European sites and other formerly glaciated regions around the globe, under a unified chronological framework.

We are delighted to learn that this volume is only the first part of a larger effort. The editors have promised to compile a second volume with a synthesis of the glacial landforms formed during the last deglaciation ( 19 - 12 ka). We look forward to seeing the results of this new enterprise, and thus to continuing to expand our knowledge on middle latitude glaciations and exploring profound questions as to the interhemispheric teleconnections between boreal and austral glaciers and climates" --Esteban A. Sagredo, Ph.D, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Rodrigo L. Soteres, Universidad de Magallanes