RECONSTRUCTION OF PALAEO-ICE SHEETS - THE USE OF GEOMORPHOLOGICAL DATA

The article discusses the nature of the glacial inversion problem, whi ch is defined as the extraction of time-slice ice-sheet flow patterns from the patchy and partly overprinted landform record present in form er ice-sheet areas. A coherent inversion model for derivation of flow patterns and interior ice-sheet configuration from geomorphological da ta is presented. Glacial landscapes are classified according to the th ree criteria of internal age gradients, presence or absence of meltwat er traces aligned to how traces, and basal condition (frozen bed/thawe d bed) inferred from morphology. The inversion model uses landscapes c lassified accordingly, spatially delineated into fans, as input data. Relative chronologies at fan intersections are used to sort fans in a relative-age stack that can be linked to stratigraphic (dating) inform ation.