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We present a glacial geomorphological map covering 1.04 × 105 km2 of the Shaluli Shan (Shan = Mountain), southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Using a 90 m digital elevation model from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and 15/30 m Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus satellite imagery, we have mapped glacial valleys, marginal moraines, hummocky terrain, glacial lineations and ice-scoured terrain. Lineations and scoured areas largely overlap on the low relief granite plateau of the Shaluli Shan and relate to former ice cap glaciation. These landscape features indicate that past ice cap glaciation included basal sliding conditions, and thus warm-based ice. Glacial valleys and marginal moraines are dominant landforms in the high mountain ranges of Shaluli Shan and occur on and fringing the plateau. This glacial geomorphological map forms the basis for paleoglaciological reconstructions of this southeastern Tibetan Plateau region and indicates the former presence of multiple glaciations involving valley glaciers and ice caps. The map is presented at a scale of 1:630,000. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please clickhereto download the map associated with this article. The glacial geomorphology of the central Tibetan Plateau was mapped over 285,000 km2.Here we present a map covering 135,000 km at a scale of 1:660,000. The glacial geomorphology was mapped using 15 and 30 m resolution Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imagery, a 90 m resolution SRTM digital elevation model, and satellite and aerial images displayed in Google Earth. Four landform categories were discernible and mapped; glacial valleys, marginal moraines, glacial lineations, and hummocky terrain. The mapped landforms indicate multiple glacial advances of valley and piedmont glaciers. The mapped landform record lends no support to individual ice centres having coalesced to form a plateau-wide ice sheet. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Relict marginal moraines are commonly used landforms in palaeoglaciological reconstructions. In the Swedish mountains, a large number of relict marginal moraines of variable morphology and origin occur. In this study, we have mapped 234 relict marginal moraines distributed all along the Swedish mountains and classified them into four morphological classes: cirque-and-valley moraines, valley-side moraines, complex moraines and cross-valley moraines. Of these, 46 moraines have been reclassified or are here mapped for the first time. A vast majority of the relict moraines are shown to have formed during deglaciation of an ice-sheet, rather than by local mountain glaciers as suggested in earlier studies. The relict marginal moraines generally indicate that deglaciation throughout the mountains was characterised by a retreating ice-sheet, successively damming glacial lakes, and downwasting around mountains. The general lack of moraines indicating valley and cirque glaciers during deglaciation suggests that climatic conditions were unfavourable for local glaciation during the last phase of the Weichselian. This interpretation contrasts with some earlier studies that have reconstructed the formation of local glaciers in the higher parts of the Swedish mountains during deglaciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To provide a new reconstruction of the deglaciation of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, in the form of calendar-year time-slices, which are particularly useful for ice sheet modelling, we have compiled and synthesized published geomorphological data for eskers, ice-marginal formations, lineations, marginal meltwater channels, striae, ice-dammed lakes, and geochronological data from radiocarbon, varve, optically-stimulated luminescence, and cosmogenic nuclide dating. This is summarized as a deglaciation map of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet with isochrons marking every 1000 years between 22 and 13 cal kyr BP and every hundred years between 11.6 and final ice decay after 9.7 cal kyr BP. Deglaciation patterns vary across the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet domain, reflecting differences in climatic and geomorphic settings as well as ice sheet basal thermal conditions and terrestrial versus marine margins. For example, the ice sheet margin in the high-precipitation coastal setting of the western sector responded sensitively to climatic variations leaving a detailed record of prominent moraines and other ice-marginal deposits in many fjords and coastal valleys. Retreat rates across the southern sector differed between slow retreat of the terrestrial margin in western and southern Sweden and rapid retreat of the calving ice margin in the Baltic Basin. Our reconstruction is consistent with much of the published research. However, the synthesis of a large amount of existing and new data support refined reconstructions in some areas. For example, the LGM extent of the ice sheet in northwestern Russia was located far east and it occurred at a later time than the rest of the ice sheet, at around 17–15 cal kyr BP. We also propose a slightly different chronology of moraine formation over southern Sweden based on improved correlations of moraine segments using new LiDAR data and tying the timing of moraine formation to Greenland ice core cold stages. Retreat rates vary by as much as an order of magnitude in different sectors of the ice sheet, with the lowest rates on the high-elevation and maritime Norwegian margin. Retreat rates compared to the climatic information provided by the Greenland ice core record show a general correspondence between retreat rate and climatic forcing, although a close match between retreat rate and climate is unlikely because of other controls, such as topography and marine versus terrestrial margins. Overall, the time slice reconstructions of Fennoscandian Ice Sheet deglaciation from 22 to 9.7 cal kyr BP provide an important dataset for understanding the contexts that underpin spatial and temporal patterns in retreat of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, and are an important resource for testing and refining ice sheet models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Glacial geomorphological mapping from satellite imagery and field investigations provide the basis for a reconstruction of the extent and style of glaciation of the Shaluli Shan, a mountainous area on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Our studies provide evidence for multiple glaciations, including the formation of regional ice caps and valley glaciers. The low-relief topography within the Shaluli Shan, the Haizishan Plateau, and Xinlong Plateau display zonal distributions of glacial landforms that is similar to those imprinted by Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during the last glacial cycle, indicating the presence of regional, polythermal ice caps. Abundant alpine glacial landforms occur on high mountain ranges. The pattern of glaciated valleys centered on high mountain ranges and ice-scoured low relief granite plateaus with distinctive patterns of glacial lineations indicate a strong topographic control on erosional and depositional patterns by glaciers and ice caps. In contrast to the Shaluli Shan, areas farther north and west on the Tibetan Plateau have not yielded similar landform evidence for regional ice caps with complex thermal basal conditions. Such spatial differences across the Tibetan Plateau are the result of variations in climate and topography that control the extent and style of glaciations and that reinforce the importance of detailed geomorphological mapping for understanding paleoclimate variations and characteristics of former glaciations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]