The concept of cryo-conditioning in landscape evolution

• Published in: Quaternary research 2011-03, Vol.75 (2), p.378-384
• Main Authors: Berthling, Ivar, Etzelmüller, Bernd
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Control equipment; Cryo-conditioning; Cryo-geomorphology; Evolution; Fingerprints; Focusing; Geomorphology; Joining; Landforms; Landscape; Landscape evolution; Landscapes; Periglacial; Periglacial geomorphology; Scale
• ISSN: 0033-5894; 1096-0287
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yqres.2010.12.011

Recent accounts suggest that periglacial processes are unimportant for large-scale landscape evolution and that true large-scale periglacial landscapes are rare or non-existent. The lack of a large-scale topographical fingerprint due to periglacial processes may be considered of little relevance, as linear process–landscape development relationships rarely can be substantiated. Instead, periglacial landscapes may be classified in terms of specific landform associations. We propose “cryo-conditioning”, defined as the interaction of cryotic surface and subsurface thermal regimes and geomorphic processes, as an overarching concept linking landform and landscape evolution in cold regions. By focusing on the controls on processes, this concept circumvents scaling problems in interpreting long-term landscape evolution derived from short-term processes. It also contributes to an unambiguous conceptualization of periglacial geomorphology. We propose that the development of several key elements in the Norwegian geomorphic landscape can be explained in terms of cryo-conditioning.