Pronival ramparts

Author:

Hedding David W.1

Affiliation:

1. University of South Africa, South Africa

Abstract

Pronival ramparts are debris ridges formed at the downslope margins of perennial or semi-permanent snowbeds beneath bedrock cliffs. These landforms, also previously known as protalus ramparts, are located in periglacial environments, but the apparent simplicity of rampart formation made these landforms far less interesting than other modified forms of talus in cold environments. As a result, limited research, use of supposed relict examples and assumed formative mechanisms led to the misidentification of ramparts, circular arguments regarding genesis and inappropriate palaeo-environmental inferences. Several advances have, however, been made in the past few decades, particularly where actively-forming ramparts have been studied. Thus, this paper provides a review of research on pronival ramparts. In particular, focus is placed on the advances made in our understanding of rampart genesis, identification (diagnostic criteria) and palaeo-environmental significance. Notable advances include the development of a retrogressive model of rampart genesis to supplement the conventional downslope model of development, revised diagnostic criteria for field identification and the use of calibration equations during Schmidt-hammer exposure dating of pronival rampart. The use of pronival ramparts as palaeo-environmental indicators is also examined to determine what relict examples of these landforms may reveal about past climates.

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

General Earth and Planetary Sciences,Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous),Geography, Planning and Development

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3