Glaciation: A Very Short Introduction

Abstract

Vast, majestic, and often stunningly beautiful, glaciers lock up some 10 per cent of the world’s fresh water. These great bodies of ice play an important part in the Earth system, carving landscapes and influencing climate on regional and hemispheric scales, as well as having a significant impact on global sea level. Glaciation: A Very Short Introduction offers an overview of glaciers and ice sheets as systems, considering the role of geomorphology and sedimentology in studying them, and their impacts on our planet in terms of erosional and depositional processes. Looking at our glaciers today, and their ongoing processes, it considers the extent to which we can use this knowledge in reconstructing and interpreting ancient glacial landscapes.