Eugeniusz Drozdowski
Articles
Deglaciation of the Northern foothills in the East Kunlun Mts
Geographia Polonica (1992) vol. 60, pp. 33-42 | 
Full text
Abstract
Results of field investigations at the northern foot of East Kunlun Mts. as well as the known so far literature data allowed a reconstruction to be made of the history and type of glaciation and déglaciation of this area during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. The former glaciers had developed as piedmont glaciers debouching into the high-glacial Qaidam Lake. The largest glaciers at their maximum stage reached about 45 km in length and at least 20 km in width, producing great quantities of glacial and glaciofluvial material which have been fixed in thick sequences within the area of the former Qaidam Lake. At the decline of the Pleistocene, the piedmont glaciers underwent a large-scale stagnation probably brought about by a rapid decrease in moist air flux. In consequence, kame terraces abutting on the mountain ridges were formed. They are interstratified and covered with angular debris of supraglacial derivation, protecting them against post-depositional erosion and denudation. The latter feature contributed to the fact, that the kame terraces have remained in almost unshaped form up to the present. The thermoluminescence dating of kame sediments yielded a date which suggests that local déglaciation of the investigated foot of the East Kunlun Mts. took place early in the Holocene, around 8000 years BP.
, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Kopernika 19, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
On glacial origin of Grudziądz Basin, Lower Vistula River Valley
Geographia Polonica (1976) vol. 33 1, pp. 23-40 | Full text
Abstract
The characteristic features of the lower Vistula River valley are numerous widenings known from the literature as basins. Their geologic structure and relief differ considerably from the adjacent valley reaches as a result of differential action of both glacial and fluvial processes. This is particularly true for the largest widening of the lower Vistula River valley — the Grudziądz Basin.
The origin of this basin have been discussed for a long time. So far, two hypotheses have prevailed: the first, put forward by A. Jentzsch (1911), relates the formation of the Grudziądz Basin to a large proglacial lake at the mouth of the Mątawa River outwash, the second, advanced by R. Galon (1934), regards lateral erosion of the meandering Vistula River as the main process responsible for its origin.
The present paper is a new attempt at solving the problem based on geo-logic and geomorphologic research (E. Drozdowski 1974, 1975), including re-sults of pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating. It emphasizes the hitherto unrecognized glacial landforms and deposits associated with the melting of dead-ice blocks which — as it turned out during the field examination — occur in that area together with distinctive fluvial features. This fact justifies the conclusion that the fluvial processes operating in the valley in the Late Glacial period were intimately associated with glacial processes. Consequently, the former existence of the Scandinavian ice sheet and its geomorphologic activity are regarded here as a substantial factor which affected the formation of the discussed widening of the Vistula River valley.
, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Kopernika 19, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Geographia Polonica (1975) vol. 31, pp. 213-235 | Full text
Abstract
In the present paper an attempt has been made to reconstruct the processes of down-wasting of the penultimate ice sheet of the Last (Baltic, North Polish, Wiirm) Glaciation in the area of the Grudziądz Basin based on the analysis of the deposits and fossil landforms observed in three exposed profiles, including first radiocarbon dating. These profiles, selected from several ones which have been studied in the Lower Vistula Valley (E. Drozdowski, 1974), indicate quite well the type and succession of the deglaciation processes; in consequence they present a general picture of palaeogeographical conditions and make it possible to correlate them with definite evolutionary stages of the Last Glaciation observed in other areas.
, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Kopernika 19, 87-100 Toruń, Poland