Periglacial or cryonival?

Abstract

Article in French.

ORIGINAL TITLE: Périglaciaire ou cryonival?

Phenomena caused by freezing and thawing are most commonly described using three terms: “cryo-pedological phenomena”, “cryonival phenomena” and “periglacial phenomena”. The term "periglacial" is considered the most common. Although very common, some authors consider it imprecise; it initially referred to a specific topographic zone or region, later being attributed to climate and its dependent processes. Some researchers have proposed replacing the word "periglacial" with "cryonival". The author suggests using the general term "cryonival phenomena" or simply "cryonival" to refer to morphological phenomena. On the other hand, he believes that the use of the term "periglacial" can be limited to describing topography.