Description
This collection of papers by internationally known scientists in the
field of geocryology was originally presented as a series of lectures
at the University of British Columbia in 1980-1 in honour of J. Ross
MacKay. Together they illustrate the central dilemma in a science where
fieldwork must be undertaken in the harsh periglacial environment and
where, consequently, it is difficult to test theory rigorously. The
papers provide a valuable overview of the current status of
international research in a wide area of the field -- permafrost,
patterned ground, and cold climate phenomena and processes. The
treatment varies from anecdotal, historical, and descriptive to
mathematical.
Reviews
Overall this is a most welcome addition to the geocryological literature and one which is likely to have given Ross MacKay particular pleasure.
- Peter Worsley
Geographers of all stripes would do well to read this clearly written, informed, and sensitive piece. MacKay's consistently scholarly approach to pure and applied aspects of this important and extremely complex aspect of the earth sciences is an example and inspiration to us all.
- W. Peter Adams