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 semi-deserts, the High Arctic and ice-free areas of Antarctica, tundra zones, boreal forest zones, and high alpine periglacial zones, which extend in mid-latitudes and even low latitudes. The largest alpine periglacial zone is the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau of China.
