Glaciers & Glaciation

by Douglas I. Benn, David J.A. Evans

Glaciers and Glaciation is the classic textbook for all students of glaciation. Stimulating and accessible, it has established a reputation as a comprehensive and essential resource.

In this new edition, the text, references and illustrations have been thoroughly updated to give today's reader an up-to-the minute overview of the nature, origin and behaviour of glaciers and the geological and geomorphological evidence for their past history on earth.

The first part of the book investigates the processes involved in forming glacier ice, the nature of glacier-climate relationships, the mechanisms of glacier flow and the interactions of glaciers with other natural systems such as rivers, lakes and oceans.

In the second part, the emphasis moves to landforms and sediment, the interpretation of the earth's glacial legacy and the reconstruction of glacial depositional environments and palaeoglaciology.

Genres: Science, Environment, Geology

816 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

Reviews

[Mike Renz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am no glaciologist - but its an area of both professional and personal interest. I bought this text as I wanted a textbook that I could read on my own as a form of independent study. I chose the right book. Its much like a good undergrad text that starts out assuming that the reader has a basic understanding of geology, physics, and chemistry and builds upon it. Its been a good investment in both the money I spent on it and the time I have put into reading it. I highly recommend it to anyone in the sciences who has an interest in the topic. Its also a timely topic as glaciers all over the planet are melting at a catastrophic rate.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dense, complex, but very thorough on the subject. Sometimes the authors' bias shows through in the text, as their viewpoint is expressed as though it were fact.

I noted one possible attempt at humour when discussing the naming of ice streams in Antarctica:

“ The decision to replace existing nomenclature with the names of living scientists was controversial, although if this is the start of a trend, the authors of this book look forward to being similarly honoured." (pg 210-11)

[Mike Parkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weighty overview of all aspects of the cold world – glaciers and landscapes formed by glaciation. For a textbook aimed at higher-level university students, this is engaging and well-written. Mountaineers, arctic travellers, and anyone who travels in post-glacial landscapes (which is many of us in the Northern Hemisphere!) will be able to dip into this book and find lots of interesting information, although the sheer volume of content might prevent you from reading it cover to cover. I read the original (1998) edition.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an overnight read. Nor would it be digestible on a flight from Miami to Vancouver. Secondary references are good in trying to grasp the depth of these phenomena and verbose authors. Waggish comments that are sprinkled about the pages to assist the reader in understanding that there are a large amount of uncertainties in the world of glaciers.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good, comprehensive textbook for glaciers. While each chapter is long, it is also very dense. It is hard to get through without the Internet as a dictionary, but an indispensable source of information all things glaciers and related to glacial processes.