As long as ice can be preserved, year-on-year, to form a glacier then you can produce a large glacier at a relatively low altitude (Gellatlyet al. Although it is not easy to see, the ice comes from an area of about 40km2 with the highest point of the glacier on the plateau at about 1200m above sea level (asl), a km away from the plateau edge. Journal of Quaternary Science, 16(6), 531-543. The more gently rolling topography associated with the plateau icefield landsystem contrasts with the more dramatic relief where evidence of the alpine icefield landsystem is often found. 1; the plateau area is large despite its relatively low altitude and thus it can support a glacier over nearly all the area. Figure 2: The lower plateau in the image is called Bredalsfjell at about 1300m asl (Lyngen peninsula Troms, Norway, some 100km south of Fig 1). Bickerdike, H. L., Ó Cofaigh, C., Evans, D. J. (b) What evidence suggest this feature was cut by a glacier that was larger than the present one? Maritime-continental gradients are important in some Scandinavian glaciers (Whalley, 2004), but the larger glaciers are near the sea. These icefields may have been polythermal, with areas of both warm and cold-based ice. A massive glacier on the northwestern Tibetan Plateau in China has been the home to never-before-seen viruses, trapped for 15,000 years. The Tibetan plateau is known as the world’s Third Pole for the amount of ice long locked in the high-altitude wilderness. 12 glacier, in the Qilian mountains, Gansu province, China, July 5, 2020. (2003). Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift, 41, 211-218. Glaciers exist in both the United States and Canada. If the glacier melted completely away then, unless you knew it had been there, it might be difficult to infer the glacier's past presence if you were just looking for moraines. Polar Geography, 28(2), 93-119. Unknown ancient viruses up to 15,000 years old have been discovered lurking in prehistoric ice atop the Tibetan plateau. The answer appears to be that the glacier ice was frozen at the bed (cold-based glaciers), so sliding of the ice did not remove the blockfield. Turn the basemap to satellite imagery and investigate the geomorphological evidence for yourself. Scientists extracted two lumps of ice from a glacier and found … The wastage of plateau icefields is characterised by up-valley retreat of outlet glaciers towards the plateau (Whalley et al., 1995). Can you see the features in the satellite imagery? Antarctic supraglacial lakes and ice-shelf collapse, Dealing with uncertainty: predicting future sea level rise, Degree day models: Modelling glacier melt, A introduction to the hierarchy of ice-sheet models, The role of debris cover on glacier ablation, Introduction to glaciated valley landsystems, Subpolar landsystems of James Ross Island, Quantifying ice sheet thinning using cosmogenic nuclide ages, Precision and accuracy in glacial geology, Ice stream initiation on the northern Antarctic Peninsula, Geophysical Surveys: The Gamburtsev Mountains, Glacial geomorphology of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, The westerly winds and the Patagonian Ice Sheet, Glaciolacustrine Landforms in Patagonia, Chile, Introduction to the Glaciation of Britain, The LGM British-Irish Ice Sheet: an introduction, Shelf-edge margins of the British-Irish Ice Sheet, Unlocking ice-flow pathways using glacial erratics, Teaching resources on the last British-Irish Ice Sheet, Post-16 education and A-Level content on AntarcticGlaciers, A-Level Geography Fieldwork Investigation. The two types of rock that characterize the present Appalachian ranges tell much of the story of the mountains’ long existence. Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie, 31, 115-124. McDougall, D. A. The former outlet glaciers which drain plateau icefields are often marked by sequences of recessional moraines (1) arranged in concentric ridges on the valley floors and lower slopes. Sci. The plateaus might have had glaciers on them, as in Fig. A., Ó Cofaigh, C. & Stokes, C. R. J. In what kind of glacial land form is this glacier found? Figure 5: The edge of a plateau in the Beartooth Mountains, Custer National Forest, Montana. However, the moraines might lead you to think that it was only ice in the cirque that had produced them if the plateau ice had melted away (Gordonet al. Bickerdike, H. L., Evans, D. J. In winter, temperatures reach as low as -20°C. Moraines might have formed but if the ice had not transported debris on its surface then even these moraines might have been small or insignificant. The viruses were uncovered during a recent study that involved the harvesting of two ice cores from the Tibetan glacier… Figure 4. The paper by Evans et al. An engraving done about 1850 by the Scottish scientist James D Forbes shows ice in very similar positions suggesting glacier ice was channelled between the rock ridges and did not over-ride them even 150 years ago. This has been termed 'erosion censoring' and illustrates that most landscapes are much older than appear at first sight. In Norwegian, Bre, Isbre, Blauisen and Jøkul are all terms for glacier; the suffix 'en' denotes the definite article. For the past 15,000 years, a glacier on the northwestern Tibetan Plateau of China has hosted a party for some unusual guests: an ensemble of frozen viruses, many of … They were found in a core sample from a glacier in China's Tibetan Plateau region. A key element of this work was compiling geomorphological evidence of these glaciers, mapped in previous research, into a GIS database of over 95,000 features, a version of which can be found on this site. She subsequently undertook a PhD at Durham University, studying the geomorphology of the Loch Lomond/Younger Dryas Stadial glaciers of Britain. The map shows some of the outlet glaciers which drained the south-eastern part of the icefield. Find out more about melting glaciers and climate change in central China. 1 with those seen in Fig. These rocks are then frozen into the glacier and also abrade the rock over which the glacier travels. These features are described as ice-marginal meltwater channels. (New York: Routledge). Evans, D. J. They sculpt mountains, carve valleys, and move vast quantities of rock and sediment. The glaciation of the upland areas of Britain during the Younger Dryas left behind a distinctive system of landforms across Scotland, the Lake District, Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons. (1987) Glaciers of the southern Lyngen Peninsula, Norway: a possible model for mountain deglaciation, in: V. Gardiner, (Ed. Whalley, W. B., Gordon, J. E., Gellatly, A. F., & Hansom, J. G. (1995) Plateau and valley glaciers in north Norway: responses to climate over the last 100 years. What is the global volume of land ice and how is it changing? Rea, B. R., & Evans, D. J. It is not imported glacier till. A large number of ice-marginal meltwater channels are present on the plateau surface and around its edges. The schematic in Fig. Mountain glaciers create U-shaped valleys by plucking and scouring. Ohio's land is largely the result of glaciers that pushed down and scoured the land from Canada during previous ice ages, with the last one ended about 10,000 years ago after covering 2/3s of Ohio for about 2 million years with a sheet of ice that was estimated to be about 1 mile thick. The landsystem contains: sequences of recessional moraines within the valleys which sometimes extend onto the plateau surface; erosional landforms at the valley heads; and networks of ice-marginal meltwater channels. And around the fringes of the main ice masses, cirque glaciers formed part of a cirque glacial landsystem. Comparisons with photographs taken by climbers in 1898 show that it was once more extensive, but still flat with virtually no outlet glaciers flowing from it off the plateau and towards the valley. Should it not have been removed by the ice on the plateau or even by the maximum ice extent over this area (which was probably a kilometre above the present ice level)? 4, but this is uncertain. (2002) brings together some of the findings about plateau glaciers in North Norway and fits this into a wider regional context. The plateau in the foreground is about 1300m asl but supports only a very thin (10–20m) glacier that is < 0.5km2. The presence of these features shows that glaciers were able to slide over the bedrock, accelerating as they flowed down into the valleys. Back in 1992, a team of researchers collected ice core samples from a glacier in the Tibetan Plateau—they calculated the ice to be approximately 15,000 years old. Plateau Glacier retreated out of the field of view and has all but melted away, after leaving a small remnant, Plateau Remnant, on the flanks of the Bruce Hills (northeast of the field of view). High Plateau. Cirque glaciers form around the edge. You can explore the glacial landforms of the Monadhlaith Mountains using the Younger Dryas Glacial Map. Home » Glacial Geology » Glacial landsystems » Plateau icefield landsystem of upland Britain. What also has to be considered is the area on which a summit can accumulate ice to form a glacier. While investigating two ice cores from this Tibetan glacier, scientists came across 28 never-before-seen virus groups. During the Last Glacial Maximum, the Monadhliath Mountains were completely submerged beneath the British-Irish Ice Sheet. Here, they may form extensive networks of channels. Recessional moraines, indicative of warm-based ice, are found mostly in the surrounding valleys and in some cases extend back onto the plateau. So why is it still there? , 1986). 2. Podcast on Antarctica, geopolitics and climate change, Podcast with the GA on Glaciers and Glaciation, Funding from the Antarctic Science International Bursary, Talk on teaching resources: recording available, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. The melting of glaciers, which stopped just north of the park, carved away the Blackhand sandstone into the landscape seen today. Now consider a plateau glacier sitting on top of the rock plateau. In this vignette I describe some work done on plateaus and their glaciers from northern Norway and show how they can be useful in telling us about the current behavior of 'outlet' glaciers, and where there might have been glaciers before deglacaition. Gellatly, A. F., Whalley, W. B., & Gordon, J. E. (1986) Topographic control over recent glacier changes in Southern Lyngen Peninsula, North Norway. Gordon, J. E., Whalley, W. B., Gellatly, A. F., & Ferguson, R. I. Scientists found that a glacier on the northwestern Tibetan Plateau of China had been housing a group of frozen viruses for the past 15,000 years of which most of them are new to modern science. Periglacial features such as blockfields and solifluction lobes are present on some of the plateau summits, including the high ground north of Gleann Fionndrigh. « Zonation of landforms indicates a complex thermal regime of the former Haizishan Ice Cap in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau       Rock glaciers: their ice and debris balances ». The numbers on the map match with the features described above. (London: Hodder), pp. During the Loch Lomond Stadial, the area supported a plateau icefield which fed 53 outlet glaciers. This is what appears to be the case in Fig. in Figs. [Author's note: Øksfjordjøkelen = Øksfjord glacier. The diagram below shows the types of landform usually found in the Loch Lomond Stadial plateau icefield landsystem in Britain. 2 is at about 1400m asl yet the plateau supporting the glacier seen in Fig 1 is only about 900m asl with the maximum height of the ice summit at about 1200m. Ohio's Land Today is Because of What Happened Yesterday. Different parts of Britain were characterised by a different style of glaciation. This is a list of glaciers existing in the United States, currently or in recent centuries.These glaciers are located in nine states, all in the Rocky Mountains or farther west. Both areas are in coastal locations so a precipitation gradient is unlikely. Even if ice tongues descend over the plateau they still might not actually produce any moraines below. ), International Geomorphology. So, why does the much lower plateau support a much larger glacier? Valley glacier systems below the plateau descend to near sea-level. Maps 12, 1178–1186 (2016). See more on our Introduction to glacial landsystems of the Younger Dryas page. Dordrecht, Kluwer, 121-143. Where multiple channels are found in concentric arcs, these show different positions the former glacier held as it retreated back to its source. In Icelandic, the word jøkull is used.] They are much older than the Quaternary glaciations and are sometimes called 'palimpsest' landscapes; some old features have been left, some have eroded away. Here the edge of the glacier has retreated away from the edge by some 200m. A. A. A satellite image shows the Laohugou No. UTM coordinates and datum: Climate Setting: Arctic, high altitude An example of a present-day plateau icefield could be James Ross Island on the northeast Antarctic Peninsula. Whalley, W. B. L. D. Cecil, J. R. Green and L. G. Thompson. asked Jan 5, 2019 in Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences by GymRat 743-758. As in Fig 1, outlet glaciers flow to the valley floors 800–1000m below. (a) A small glacier is located just north of the Dana Plateau (in the northwest section of the map). As the largest glacier in the 800-km (500-mile) mountain chain on the the Tibetan plateau, the Laohugou No. These channels suggest that some sections of the plateau ice were probably frozen to the bedrock underneath, meaning that meltwater had to flow along the margins of the glacier rather than beneath the ice. Here, in the background, the highest rock plateau is at about 1800m asl and supports an ice mass some 100m thick and about 2km2. 12 has retreated about 450 metres (1,476 feet) since the … More mountainous areas, with steep sided mountains and valleys, were part of an alpine icefield landsystem. They also can tell us about pre-Quaternary landscapes in parts of the world that once had extensive glaciers. • Three potential major transport routes of heavy-metals pollutants to the glaciers … Ice from the plateau drained into the surrounding valleys, where the flow and shape of the glaciers became controlled by the topography. The highest summit (Jiek’kevarri) is an ice dome at about 1800m asl and sits, as can be seen, on a bedrock plateau at about 1700m. (2001) The geomorphological impact of Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial plateau icefields in the central Lake District, northwest England. Introduction to the Glacial Landsystems of the Younger Dryas glaciation of Britain, Cirque glaciation landsystem of upland Britain, Alpine icefield landsystem of upland Britain, Plateau icefield landsystem of upland Britain, Delighted to serve on the APC - I’m learning so much about the history of exploration of, Introduction to glacial landsystems of the Younger Dryas, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bor.12259, Introduction to Younger Dryas glacial landsystems of Britain, Calculating glacier ice volumes and sea level equivalents. Free online lecture: The Glaciers are melting: What happens next? Glacier research in mainland Scandinavia. Most U.S. glaciers are in Alaska; others can be found in Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nevada (Wheeler Peak Glacier in Great Basin National Park). The Monadhliath plateau icefield is thought to have been a polythermal icefield as it shows evidence of features created by both warm and cold-based ice. It is no surprise that people welcome a warmer climate. Investigations are currently under-way in the Dartmoor area of southern England, well south of what is normally thought to have been the ice maximum extent. In summary, the Loch Lomond Stadial plateau icefield landsystem is found in upland areas of Britain where glaciers formed on gently undulating plateau surfaces and drained into surrounding valleys. The blockfields have been weathered from the country rock (a tough gabbro) that gives rise to the plateaus. Here the ice has retreated from the plateau edge and left an exposed blockfield. City/Town: Various Such plateau glacier and icefield traces have been found in areas in the British Isles (McDougall, 2001). (2002) Geomorphology and style of plateau icefield deglaciation in fjord terrains: the example of Troms-Finnmark, north Norway. , 1987). Plateaus exist in many mountainous parts of the world. Yanshiping is the last town on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway before entering Tibet. 2, about 120km to the southwest in the Lyngen Peninsula. Photograph: Chewang Norphel One reason for the rapid ice loss is that the Tibetan plateau… The former outlet glaciers which drain plateau icefields are often marked by sequences of recessional moraines (1) arranged in concentric ridges on the valley floors and lower slopes. The Monadhliath Mountains in the Central Grampian Highlands of Scotland show glacial geomorphology typical of the plateau icefield landsystem. A small glacier is located just north of the Dana Plateau (in the northwest section of the map). Zoom in and out and explore the landforms. Hannah Bickerdike completed her BSc in Geography at the University of St Andrews. The most recent maximum extent of the glaciers was about 1800-1850 CE (Common Era or AD), sometimes called 'The Little Ice Age' (Grove, 2004). Whalley, W. B., Rea, B. R., & Rainey, M. M. (2004) Weathering, blockfields, and fracture systems and the implications for long-term landscape formation: some evidence from Lyngen and Øksfjordjøkelen areas in North Norway. This has a bearing on the long-term evolution of the landscape (Whalleyet al. Ice‐moulded bedrock and roches moutonnées (3) may also be present at the valley heads, descending from the plateau surface into the valley. This section consists of high, broad, and flat uplands cut by sharp and shallow river valleys. Figure 1 shows the north-facing glaciers from Øksfjordjøkelen, north Norway. (2003) Plateau icefield landsystems, in: D. J. At an altitude of 4700 metres, its landscape in summer is marked by shaggy yaks grazing in the green alpine pastures. Early this year, a team of researchers discovered new viruses within ice cores that had been extracted from the Guliya ice cap in the northwestern part of the Tibetan Plateau, in the Kunlun Mountains of northwestern China. Journal of Quaternary Science, 17, 221-239. The glacier scours the landscape and leaves behind large gouges, small striations, or even a finely polished surface. This article was written by Dr Hannah Bickerdike. The plateaus were part of a very old (perhaps 30Ma) 'Paelic surface' originally dissected by rivers and hillslope erosion. (a) What is the name for … State/Province:Various Lateral and terminal moraines are found in the valley and the glaciers that formed them have been retreating during the last hundred years. , 2004). However, as far as I know, nobody has been to look for them. Bickerdike, H. L., Evans, D. J. The eastern Tibetan Plateau glaciers were affected by heavy-metals pollutants deposition to varying degrees. If you look carefully at the edge of the plateau you can see a trace of a ridge. A., Stokes, C. R. & Ó Cofaigh, C. J. Quat. As the warming climate causes glaciers to melt, the re-emergence of ancient bacteria and viruses threatens present day species that lack immunity to these pathogens. Now compare the size and altitude of the icefield in Fig. Their satellite-based assessment of 1,291 glacial lakes in the Tibetan Plateau and along the main Himalaya range found that 16 percent of them potentially threaten human settlements. Periglacial features, such as blockfields and solifluction lobes (5) may be present on the higher summits of the plateau. Jiek’kevarri has glaciers that spill well down to the valley but Bredalsfjell’s plateau ice has all but vanished. The southeastern part of the massif ends at Hammer Col, which joins it to the Craddock Massif, of which the highest point is Mount Rutford (4,477 metres (14,688 ft)). The Vinson Massif extends between Goodge Col and Branscomb Glacier to the northwest, Nimitz Glacier and Gildea Glacier to the southwest and south, and Dater Glacier and its tributary Hinkley Glacier to the east. Ice was already retreating before satellites were there to observe it. Much of this area was not covered by the Late Wisconsinan glacier, but there is evidence of pre-Wisconsinan glaciers in the area. A. Evans, (Ed. An overall view of plateau icefield landsystems is given by Rea et al. Evidence of the plateau icefield landsystem is found in various upland areas where the high ground takes the form of a gently undulating area of rounded summits. The photograph was taken from the edge of the plateau (at about 800m asl) that can be traced across the top of the image. It is uncertain whether the blockfields remained above the glacier surface during the Loch Lomond Stadial, or whether these features were covered and protected by cold-based ice. This vignette shows two examples of present-day plateaus and small glaciers from northern Norway. The southernmost named glacier among them is the Lilliput Glacier in Tulare County, east of the Central Valley of California. Geography. In the past, glaciers have covered more than one third of Earth's surface, and they continue to flow and to … The idea follows on from above--that moraine traces in the landscape are so subtle and indistinct that they are easy to miss unless you look for them very carefully. But these mountains also have substantial high plateaus (approx 3000m asl) that could have had glaciers on their summits. The areas of thickest ice, under the main icefield, were part of an ice cap landsystem. We found the answer in a paper by the British meteorologist Gordon Manley (Manley, 1955) who suggested that altitude was not everything, despite it tending to be colder the higher up you go (i.e., the lapse rate; 5.5°/km altitude). These moraines indicate that the general pattern of retreat of these outlet glaciers was interrupted by short phases of glacier advance and retreat. Appalachian Mountains - Appalachian Mountains - Geology: The Appalachians are among the oldest mountains on Earth, born of powerful upheavals within the terrestrial crust and sculpted by the ceaseless action of water upon the surface. 1 Introduction The term “rock glacier” was first proposed by the American scholar Capps (1910) when investigating Kennicott Glacier in Alaska. A glacier located in the Tibetan Plateau of China hosts a deadly cargo in the form of a selection of ancient viruses that puzzle modern researchers. Along with the Endless Mountains, it is one of the most remote places in the eastern United States. Ice-marginal meltwater channels (4) may run between the moraines in the valleys but can also extend on to the gently undulating plateau surface itself. In what kind of glacial landform is this glacier found? Glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates due to global … Use the map to zoom to the Monadhleith Mountains. 407-431. In these locations, the plateau surfaces were largely covered by ice, although some summits remained above the ice as nunataks. Across the mountains, located on the arid northeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau, glacier retreat was 50% faster in 1990-2010 than it was from 1956 to 1990, data from the China Academy of Sciences shows. Investigations are currently under-way in the Dartmoor area of southern England, well south of what is normally thought to have been the ice maximum extent. Glaciers are moving bodies of ice that can change entire landscapes. A team of U.S. researchers has found ancient viruses and bacteria in ice from two cores drilled on the summit and plateau of the Guliya ice cap in northwestern Tibetan Plateau, China. A., Rea, B. R., Hansom, J. D., & Whalley, W. B. Although not as spectacular as high, prominent peaks, they do often have (or have had in the past) glaciers associated with them. Glaciers can also pluck or lift large chunks of rock. Figure 1: Outlet glaciers flowing from the northern rim of the Øksfjordjøkelen plateau, Finnmark, North Norway. (We called this ‘Devil’s Leap’ because one needed to be a bit of a dare-devil to go to the moraine – it is a long way down to the fjord from there!). Future research on the possibility of former plateau glaciers in the area may be warranted, perhaps starting with a Google Earth examination at 45° 16' N; 110° 02' W. One final, rather intriguing, point about the Norwegian plateaus is the blockfield left after the ice has gone (e.g. The numbered features are discussed below. Continent: Europe + North America It may also highlight the characteristics typical of rock glaciers found in a maritime setting. The glaciers descend to the valley and form lateral moraines in their lower sections. Such plateau glacier and icefield traces have been found in areas in the British Isles (McDougall, 2001). Figure 5 shows the edge of the Beartooth Mountain plateau in Montana. 4 shows what this might be like. Where ice was a little thinner, and ice flow was more constrained by topography, there was a plateau icefield landsystem. 1. This is a small frontal moraine produced from the glacier that has pushed up some weathered blockfield subglacial debris. The Randolph Glacier Inventory Version 6.0 (RGI6.0) determined that glaciers covered 1 360.0 km 2 of our study region, with 525 glaciers and a mean glacier size of 2.6 km 2 (Consortium, 2017).The mean glacier surface slope in the study region is 22.8°, with most in the 12–32° range, accounting for 93.5% of total area. Type: glacial processes, Chronology. environments and the development of rock glaciers on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP). If it just sits on the plateau it will not produce any substantial moraines as these are normally formed from weathered rock debris that falls on the glacier's surface. It also shows how inferences can be made from these landforms and suggests that there may be areas in North America that might have had plateau glaciers at one time. There are some features (protalus ramparts) that are usually attributed to snowbanks rather than glaciers. Earth paleoenvironments: records preserved in mid- and low-latitude glaciers. Valleys usually radiate outward from, and sometimes incise through, the upland area. Journal of Glaciology, 2, 453-456. 1 but off the view). In some cases, moraines in the valleys can be traced back up onto the gently undulating plateau surface at the valley heads (2). These features are indicative of a cold-based glacier ice. This would give no, or very little, trace of the ice unless it has spilled over the plateau edge and formed a small glacier in a cirque below. We can conclude that the blockfield was probably produced by chemical weathering under pre-glacial conditions rather than periglacial (mechanical, frost action) rock weathering. (2004) Little Ice Ages, Ancient and Modern, 2 Vols. Figure 3 shows more plateau ice (in fact on the same plateau as for Fig. Hocking Hills, Ohio - This area of high topographic relief, featuring caves, gorges and waterfalls, can be found about an hour southeast of Columbus. (2004). ), Glacial landsystems. Grove, J.M. Figure 3: Part of the edge of the Øksfjordjøkelen plateau beyond that seen in Fig. A very small moraine has been left at the very edge of the plateau. 33, 1–54 (2018). Glaciers only came later, so we should not really think of these landscapes as being just 'glacial.' Despite the glacier recession in the area, the remnant plateau glacier in Fig. Clay minerals in the blockfield suggest chemical weathering in a much warmer climate than present now (mean annual air temperature, maat, about 1 ºC). Even if some ice did spill over the plateau edge, a small amount of ice might be left in a very small cirque on the face of the plateau and could produce moraines. The ridges holding snow might be protalus ramparts, usually indicative of perennial snow or even small glaciers. & Stokes, C. R. Boreas 47, 202–224 (2018). Manley, G. (1955) On the occurrence of ice-domes and permanently snow-covered summits. A schematic diagram (Whalley et al., 1995) showing the gradual disappearance of a glacier on a plateau. This is described and discussed in this article. At its maximum extent during the Little Ice Age, Grand Plateau Glacier reached all the way to the Pacific Ocean coastline.Since then, it has progressively retreated from a series of end moraines--debris shoveled into a heap at the front edge of the glacier when it was advancing. Country: Norway + USA Tectonic setting: Various, mostly cratonic « Zonation of landforms indicates a complex thermal regime of the former Haizishan Ice Cap in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, Rock glaciers: their ice and debris balances ». These moraines indicate that the general pattern of retreat of these outlet glaciers was interrupted by short phases of glacier advance and retreat. An artificial glacier in Ladakh, created by engineer and farmer Chewang Norphel. James Ross Island has a flat upper plateau, with a steep rim. The highest point of the plateau ice is off to the left at about 1200m asl. 2 and 3). Examples of areas where evidence of the Loch Lomond Stadial plateau icefield landsystem can be found include the Monadhliath mountains and Gaick plateau in the Central Highlands of Scotland, the Tweedsmuir Hills in the Southern Uplands, Scotland, and areas of the English Lake District. (Chichester: John Wiley,), pp. • Higher concentrations and enrichment factors were found at the Yulong and Lenglongling Glaciers. We conclude, that on plateaus, one has to be careful in presuming how big a former glacier mass was, or indeed if there was one there at all. These blockfields can be a metre or more deep over solid bedrock. We found that the distribution of rock glaciers is in close association with ice glaciers, as the upper boundaries for rock glaciers were ∼ 4600 m a.s.l., and at higher altitude there are often ice glaciers.