Glacial striae observations for Ireland compiled from historic records

Abstract

Glacial landform mapping is one of the primary inputs for the reconstruction of past glacial environments and processes, potentially inferring maximum ice sheet extent and dynamics. Depositional landforms (e.g. drumlins, end moraines, ribbed moraines, eskers) are often used to infer former ice sheet conditions, with erosional indicators receiving less attention. For nearly 200 years, striae (linear, subglacial erosional marks on bedrock up to several metres long) have been recorded as evidence for former ice ow direction. Cumulative data collection by many researchers in Ireland since ~1850 has led to a large published and unpublished archive of striae observations. This research has collated over 5000 individual observations from Geological Survey of Ireland maps and memoirs, the published (peer-reviewed) literature, and unpublished work (theses and fieldnotes). These records are now unified in a single database, georeferenced to the Irish National Grid, with the accuracy of individual observations qualitatively assessed.