European Glacial Landscapes: The Holocene

European Glacial Landscapes: The Holocene provides a review of the history of glaciers in Europe and neighbouring regions during the last 11,700 years and their impact on the landscape. The book presents the current state of knowledge and assesses the drivers and nature of glacier change over this period, including (1) the influence of atmospheric and oceanic circulation as well as insolation forcing and volcanic activity on Holocene palaeoclimates; (2) the existence of asynchronies in the timing of occurrence of glacier expansion and contraction during the Holocene; (3) the time lags between continental, oceanic, and atmospheric environmental and climatic changes and glacier fluctuations during the Holocene; (4) the role of Holocene glaciers in understanding the climate of Europe and on sea level variability; and, finally, (5) the identification of important glacial landscapes that require and deserve special protection to ensure adequate geodiversity and to safeguard these unique landscapes for their scientific importance. Students, academics, and researchers in geography, geology, environmental sciences, physics, and Earth science departments will find that this book provides novel new insights into all the major European regions (and key neighbouring regions such as Anatolia and NW Africa) in a single publication. The book provides updated information and new analysis and reviews of Holocene glacial geomorphology and palaeoclimatology and clear figures and maps that model and illustrate the nature of the glacial landscapes.