Periglacial geomorphology is an extensively rewritten section of the book Glacial and periglacial geomorphology published by Embleton and King in 1968. The original book length of 608 p. has been increased by 22% to 776 p. Glacial and periglacial geomorphology found a place on many students’ and researchers’ shelves when first published. It was the only book to cover (in the English language) the periglacial environment; whereas, the processes and landform side of glacial geomorphology served as a major supplement to and updating of Flint’s 1957 text. The book was thus timely and served a real need.
In the last nine years there has been a considerable increase in textbooks dealing with one or other of these environments: A. L. Washburn produced his Periglacial processes and environments in 1973, and there have been other less substantial publications. The question that has to be answered then is how extensive are the revisions and how do they compare with recent competitors? I do not claim to have thoroughly read all chapters, but I have skimmed through many that are of direct interest.
Periglacial geomarphology consists of seven chapters. It is not as exhaustive as Washburn’s Periglacial processes and environments but does cover most of the major topics. The chapter headings are: (1) “The periglacial environment: an introductory survey"; (2) “Frozen ground phenomena"; (3) “Patterned ground"; (4) “Periglacial mass movements and slope deposits"; (5) “The action of snow"; (6) “Cryoplanation, tors, blockfields and blockstreams"; and (7) “Periglacial wind action”. In reading and comparing chapters in the Embleton and King volume against those in Washburn’s book, I came to the conclusion that these books are not so much competing against each other in the textbook market as they serve as essential complementary reading. Thus the treatment of nivation and periglacial wind action is significantly more detailed in the Embleton and King chapters, but Washburn’s treatment of frost action and mass wasting is very exhaustive (and indeed occupies about two-thirds of his book).
Periglacial geomorphology stands the test of recent publications better than its companion Glacial geomorphology. The heyday of research and publication on periglacial geomorphology was in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and there now appears to be a lull in major research activities. Thus this volume by Embleton and King offers the reader a broad comprehensive survey of the literature that is up to date. It is certainly a book worth purchasing.
