Periglacial eolian sand transport and deposition in Europe and North America

Abstract

Eolian sand transport and deposition are characteristic of periglacial environments, and the resulting preserved stratigraphies have provided rich archives of past environmental conditions and processes. Sedimentary facies vary from purely windblown coversands and dune sands, to windblown sands that were re-deposited by fluvial and lacustrine processes or accumulated as mixtures of sand, snow and disturbed during snowmelt. Periglacial eolian facies occur over wide areas of North America and Europe encompassing formerly glaciated and proglacial terrains, and river floodplains. Each of these facies bears specific sedimentary properties and diagnostic landforms that formed under characteristic periglacial climates (temperature, precipitation) and permafrost conditions.