ABSTRACT
The term ‘periglacial’ was first used by Polish geomorphologist Walery von Lozinzki in 1909 to describe frost weathering conditions in the Carpathian Mountains of Central Europe. In 1910, the idea of a ‘periglacial zone’ was established at the Eleventh Geological Congress in Stockholm to describe climatic and geomorphic conditions in
areas peripheral to Pleistocene ice sheets and glaciers. This periglacial zone covered tundra regions, extending as far south as the latitudinal tree-line. In modern usage, periglacial refers to a wider range of cold but non-glacial conditions, regardless of their proximity to a glacier. It includes regions at high latitudes and below the altitudinal and latitudinal tree-lines: polar deserts and semideserts, the High Arctic and ice-free areas of
Frozen ground without an icy cover bears an assortment of odd landforms. This chapter covers:
ice in frosty landscapes frost, snows, water, and wind action pingos, palsas, and other periglacial landforms humans in periglacial environments
A window on the periglacial world
In 1928, the airship Graf Zeppelin flew over the Arctic to reveal:
Antarctica, tundra zones, boreal forest zones, and high alpine periglacial zones, which extend in midlatitudes and even low latitudes. The largest alpine periglacial zone is the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau of China.
