FORMER GLACIAL LAKES IN THE DEE VALLEY - ORIGIN, DRAINAGE AND SIGNIFICANCE

Detailed geomorphological and sedimentological evidence is presented f or a series of ice-marginal lakes in tributary valleys of lower Deesid e. They developed during ice-sheet deglaciation due to damming by glac ier ice which remained in the main valley. Drainage of these lakes occ urred by both marginal and subglacial routes; in the latter case, the sudden outburst may be responsible for anomalously coarse flood deposi ts found downstream. It is argued that glacial lakes were a much more common feature of the deglacial landscape than recent reviews have sug gested and their presence at the ice margin may have glaciological imp lications, as inferred by the often distinctive landform-sediment asse mblages involved.