Recognition of former frost mounds in Pleistocene deposits and their use as indicators for past environments
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26485/BP/1999/38/11Keywords:
pingo and palsa mounds, periglacial deposits, palaeoenvironmental reconstructionsAbstract
Formerly active frost mounds (pingos, palsas) can sometimes be recognized as relicts in sediments from, areas that formed part of the periglacial zone during cold periods in the past. This is because the mounds can leave deformation structures indicative of the former growth and decay. Today active forms develop and decay under specific conditions within periglacial areas. Different form groups have different characteristics and associated local and regional environmental requirements. This means that if parallels can be made between a past and a corresponding present form with a fair degree of certainty, and further that the requirements for growth and decay of the present forms are well known, it might be possible to make reconstructions of past environments from Pleistocene remnants. Uncertainties with comparisons and assessments stem from the limited number of published open profiles representing frost mounds in present periglacial areas and Pleistocene formerly cold regions, as well as from insufficient knowledge of present environmental requirements of specific form groups, and, not least, discontinuous Pleistocene sedimentary records. Yet, once reconstructions can be made they may provide information for terrestrial areas otherwise poorly represented in relation to palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Based upon literature this paper attempts to present a general outline of sedimentological and structural identifications of some presently active forms as well as some remnants.
References
BALLANTYNE, C. K., HARRIS, C., 1994 - The Periglaciation of Great Britain. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge; 330 pp.
BESKOW G., 1935 - Tjälbildningen och tjällyftningen med särskild hänsyn till vägar och Järnvägar. Sveriges Geologiska Undersökning, Ser. C, no. 375. Årsbok 26 (1932) no. 3; 342 pp.
BROWN, R. J. E., PÉWÉ, T. L., 1973 - Distribution of permafrost in North America and its relationship to the environment: A review, 1963-1973. In: Permafrost, North American contribution to the second international conference on permafrost held in Yakutsk, Siberia. Technical paper no 411, Division of Building Research, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa; p. 71-100.
FRENCH, H. M., 1996 - The Periglacial Environment. 2nd Edition. Addison Wesley Longman Limited. Harlow; 341 pp.
GANS, W. DE., 1976 - Dobben op het Drents plateau. K.N.A.G. Geografisch Tijdschrift, 10, 5; p. 354-364.
GANS, W. DE., 1981 - The Drentsche Aa Valley System. Thesis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Rodopi, Amsterdam; 132 pp.
GANS, W. DE., 1988 - Pingo scars and their identification. In: M. J. Clark (ed.) Advances in Periglacial Geomorphology. Wiley and Sons, Chichester; p. 299-322.
GURNEY, S. D., 1995 - A reassessment of the relict Pleistocene "pingos" of west Wales: hydraulic pingos or mineral palsas? Quaternary Newsletter, 77; p. 6-16.
HARRIS, S. A., 1993 - Palsa-like mounds developed in a mineral substrate, Fox Lake, Yukon Territory. Sixth International Conference on Permafrost, Proceedings. Beijing, 1; p. 238-243.
HARRIS, S. A., 1998 - A genetic classification of the palsa-like mounds in western Canada. Biuletyn Peryglacjalny, 37; p. 115-130.
KOLSTRUP, E., 1985 - A fossil frost mound of Late Dryas age in middle Jutland (Denmark). Boreas, 14; p. 217-223.
LUNDQVIST, J., 1969 - Earth and Ice Mounds: a Terminological Discussion. In: T. L., Péwé (ed.) The Periglacial Environment, Past and Present. Montreal. McGill-Queens's University Press; p. 205-215.
MAARLEVEELD, G. C., VAN DEN TOORN, J. C., 1955 - Pseudo-sölle in Noord-Nederland. Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap., 2 reeks, 72, 4; p. 344-360.
MACKAY, J. R., 1978 - Contemporary pingos: A discussion. Biuletyn Peryglacjalny, 27; p. 133-154.
MACKAY, J. R., 1979 - Pingos of the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula Area, Northwest Territories. Géographie Physique et Quaternaire, 23, 1; p. 3-61.
MACKAY, J. R., 1985 - Pingo ice of the western Arctic coast, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 22, 10; p. 1452-1464.
MACKAY, J. R., 1988 - Pingo collapse and palaeoclimatic reconstruction. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 25; p. 495-511.
MEIER, K. -D., 1991 - Beiträge zur kaltklimatischen periglaziären Landschaftsformung in der norwegischen Arktis und Subarktis. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg. 143; 173 pp.
MEIER, K. -D., 1996 - Studien zur Periglaziärmorphologie der Varanger-Halbinsel, Nordnorwegen. Norden 11, Scriftenreihe des Arbeitskreises für geographische Nordeuropaforschung in der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geographie. Bremen, 405 pp.
MÜLLER, F., 1959 - Beobachtungen über Pingos. Meddelelser om Grönland, 153, 3; 127 pp.; C. A. Reitzels Forlag.
OUTCALT, S.I. & NELSON, F., 1984 - Growth mechanisms in aggradation palsas. Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie, 20; p. 65-78.
PISSART, A. 1983a - Remnants of periglacial mounds in the Hautes Fagnes (Belgium): structure and age of the ramparts. Geologie en Mijnbouw, 62; p. 551-555.
PISSART, A., 1983b - Pingos et Palses: Un Essai de Synthèse des Connaissances Actuelles. In: H. Poser and E. Schunke (eds) Mesoformen des reliefs im heutigen Periglazialraum. Abh. Akad. Wissensch. Göttingen. Math.-Phys. Kl. Dritte Folge 35; p. 48-69.
PISSART, A., 1987 - Géomorphologie périglaciaire. Rijksuniversiteit Gent, Faculteit van de Wetenschappen. Laboratoire de Géomorphologie et de Géologie du Quaternaire, Université de Liège. Ryksuniversiteit Gent; 135 pp.
PISSART, A., 1999 - The remnants of lithalsas of the Hautes Fagnes (Belgium) and the Younger Dryas climate. In: Periglacial environments: past, present and future. Lódz Periglacial Symposium. Abstract volume, 18.
PISSART, A. FRENCH, H. M., 1976 - Pingo investigations, north-central Banks Island, Canadian Arctic. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 13, 7; p. 937-946.
PISSART, A., GANGLOFF, P., 1984 - Les palses minérales et organiques de la vallée de l'Aveneau, près de Kuujjuaq, Québec subarctique. Géographie physique et Quaternaire, 38, 3; p. 217-228.
PISSART, A., BASTIN, B., JUVIGNÉ, E., 1975 - L'origine des viviers des Hautes Fagnes: traces de pingos ou de palses? Extrait de "Hautes Fagnes" 1; p. 9-38.
PISSART, A., HARRIS, S., PRICK, A., VAN VLIET-LANOE, B., 1998 - La signification paleoclimatique des lithalses (palses minerales). Biuletyn Peryglacjalny, 37; p. 141-154.
RUTKOWSKI, J., KRÓL, K., LEMBERGER, M., 1998 - The pingo remnant in the Suwałki lake Region (NE Poland). Quaternary Studies in Poland, 15; p. 55-60.
SALMI, M., 1970 - Development of Palsas in Finnish Lapland. Proceedings of the Third International Peat Congress, Quebec, Canada, 1968; p. 182-189.
SEPPÄLÄ, M., 1982 - An experimental study of the formation of palsas. In: The Roger J. E. Brown memorial volume. Ottawa. Proceedings 4th Canadian Permafrost Conference; p. 36-42.
SPARKS, B. W., WILLIAMS, R. B. G., BELL, F. G., 1972 - Presumed ground-ice depressions in East Anglia. Proceedings Royal Society London, A 327; p. 329-343.
SVENSSON, H., 1962 - Några iakttagelser från palsområden. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift, 18; p. 212-227.
WASHBURN, A. L., 1979 - Geocryology. A survey of periglacial processes and environments. Edward Arnold, London, 406 pp.
WASHBURN, A. L., 1983 - Palsas and continuous permafrost. In: Permafrost, Fourth International Conference, Proceedings. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 13721377.
WATSON, E., 1976 - Field excursion in the Aberystwyth region 1-10 July 1975. Biuletyn Peryglacjalny, 26; p. 79-112.
WRAMNER, P., 1965 - Fynd av palsar med mineraljordkärna i Sverige. Geologiska Föreningen i Stockholms Förhandlingar, 86; p. 498-499.
WRAMNER, P., 1967 - Studier av palsmyrar i Laivadalen, Lappland. Meddelanden från Göteborgs Universits Geografiska Institutionen, 86; p. 435-449.
WRAMNER, P., 1972 - Palslika bildningar i mineraljord. Några iakttagelser från Taavavuoma, Lappland. Göteborgs Naturgeografiska Institutionen, GUNI rapport 1; 60 pp.
WORSLEY, P., GURNEY, S. D., COLLINS, P. E., 1995 - Late Holocene "mineral palsas" and associated vegetation patterns: a case study from Lac Hendry, northern Québec, Canada and significance for European Pleistocene thermokarst. Quaternary Science Reviews, 14; p. 179-192.
ÅHMAN, R., 1977 - Palsar i Nordnorge. Meddelanden från Lunds Universitets Geografiska Institution 1978. Lund, 165 pp. 6), Pissart (1983a) and Kolstrup (1985).
