Central England's journey through time: the geological evolution of Warwickshire

The central English county of Warwickshire has been shaped by a 600 million‐year history of deposition, erosion, tectonism, continental drift, environmental change and biological evolution. The Neoproterozoic and Lower Palaeozoic rocks indicate island arc accretion, marine transgression and subduction‐related intrusive igneous activity. Upper Palaeozoic through to Triassic times witnessed mainly continental environments, as central England drifted north across the equator. Late Triassic marine transgression led to deposition of richly fossiliferous Jurassic sediments. The bedrock geology shows evidence for the influence of deep‐seated structural lineaments within the central English basement. Influenced by these structures, the modern landscape has been shaped largely by Palaeogene and Neogene uplift and erosion, further alteration by Quaternary erosion and weathering, and glacial and fluvial deposition.     

Grooves and striations on the Stanthorpe Adamellite: Evidence for a possible late Middle ‐ Late Triassic age glaciation

Evidence for glacial erosion of competent intrusive igneous rock is described for sites at Quart Pot Creek, Stanthorpe, Queensland. The bedrock, comprising the Stanthorpe Adamellite, was emplaced during the Early‐Middle Triassic. It is argued that the pluton was exposed during the late Middle ‐ Late Triassic and subjected to glacial erosion at that time. This was consequent to the rapid uplift and denudation of the landscape, which accompanied the Hunter‐Bowen Orogeny. Burial of the eroded surface occurred most probably during that ice age and a subsequent period of subsidence. The ancient surface has been exhumed during more recent denudation. It is suggested that during the late Middle ‐ Late Triassic, climatic conditions remained cold enough over this part of southeastern Australia at least for valley glaciers to form and influence landscape development.     

Strandflat development and Quaternary shorelines on Tiree and Coll,Scottish Hebrides

The islands of Tiree and Coll in the Scottish Inner Hebrides are dominated by staircases of glaciated rock-platform surfaces in Lewisian gneiss that are interpreted here as areas of strandflat. The rock platform surfaces exhibit differential glacio-isostatic uplift from east to west and are considered to indicate at least four separate periods of strandflat formation during prolonged intervals of Quaternary cold climate. It is suggested that many of the well-known areas of high rock platform located farther east in the Scottish Inner Hebrides represent eroded remnants of the strandflat surfaces described here. The existence of the Tiree and Coll strandflat surfaces in conjunction with their formation during periods of Quaternary glaciation implies that they were produced during periods when mainland Scotland was ice-covered yet when the western margin of the ice sheet was normally located east of these islands. A prominent Late-glacial raised shoreline also occurs on both islands and declines in altitude to the west, from 22 m in northeastern Coll to 9 m in western Tiree. It is believed that this shoreline, whose regional gradient is 0.39 m km^?1, may represent part of the Main Wester Ross Shoreline that was formed in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland during a period of glacial advance that interrupted the decay of the last (Late Devensian) ice sheet. The general similarity in altitude between the Late-glacial shoreline features and rock platform surfaces implies that during each period of Quaternary strandflat formation, relative sea-level returned to the same approximate position. This would appear to indicate that the glacio-isostatic and glacio-eustatic components affecting the positions of relative sea level in Scotland have remained in approximate equilibrium throughout the duration of the Quaternary.     

The last Welsh Ice Cap: Part 2 – Dynamics of a topographically controlled icecap

During the Last Glacial Maximum, the British–Irish Ice Sheet was dominated by a number of accumulation centres, including a terrestrially based, semi‐independent icecap centred on Wales. The dynamics of this Welsh Ice Cap (WIC) over the last glacial period are still relatively poorly understood, with few studies taking into consideration the dynamic evolution of the icecap as a whole. Here we contrast results from two modelled reconstructions of the WIC in conjunction with the wider glacial geomorphological record to elucidate understanding of its form, extent and dynamics. Model output was analysed to yield zones of high basal motion and the spatial distribution of potential glacial erosion. We conclude that coherent flowsets of streamlined bedforms are linked to fast‐flowing outlets dominated by basal sliding. Large‐scale changes in dynamics are discussed, with a number of possible major advances proposed over the glacial cycle. Maximum ice thicknesses of ～1200 m in Mid Wales indicate that all mountain summits were probably ice‐covered during the Last Glacial Maximum, even if it was with a thin protective mantle of cold‐based ice, leading to landscape preservation of these upland zones. The distribution, dynamism and landscape modification related to the WIC are further discussed at the regional scale. Model predictions of glacier distribution through the Younger Dryas stadial accord well with geologically reconstructed limits at this time.     

Late Cainozoic geology,soils, and landscape evolution of the Torrens Creek area,North Queensland

The major features of the geology and geomorphology of the semi‐arid, tropical Torrens Creek area of North Queensland are described. The evolution of the landscape through the late Cainozoic is discussed with reference to three phases of landscape instability and erosion, each separated by phases of stability during which weathering and soil formation proceeded. These erosional periods were probably initiated by episodic uplift of the Great Divide region. Tentative correlations with landscape events in the nearby Nulla Basalt Province suggest that soil profile development probably occurred during late Pliocene (2.3–2.0 m.y. ago), mid‐Pleistocene (1.3–1.1 m.y. ago), and in Quaternary (less than 0.1 m.y. ago) times.     

Multiple cosmogenic nuclides document complex Pleistocene exposure history of glacial drifts in Terra Nova Bay (northern Victoria Land, Antarctica)

Geomorphological and glacial geological surveys and multiple cosmogenic nuclide analyses (¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, and ²¹Ne) allowed us to reconstruct the chronology of variations prior to the last glacial maximum of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) and valley glaciers in the Terra Nova Bay region. Glacially scoured coastal piedmonts with round-topped mountains occur below the highest local erosional trimline. They represent relict landscape features eroded by extensive ice overriding the whole coastal area before at least 6 Ma (pre-dating the build-up of the Mt. Melbourne volcanic field). Since then, summit surfaces were continuously exposed and well preserved under polar condition with negligible erosion rates on the order of 17 cm/Ma. Complex older drifts rest on deglaciated areas above the younger late-Pleistocene glacial drift and below the previously overridden summits. The combination of stable and radionuclide isotopes documents complex exposure histories with substantial periods of burial combined with minimal erosion. The areas below rounded summits were repeatedly exposed and buried by ice from local and outlet glaciers. The exposure ages of the older drift(s) indicate multiple Pleistocene glacial cycles, which did not significantly modify the pre-existing landscape.     

High-resolution reconstruction of the last ice sheet in NW Scotland

Reconstructions of the last (late Devensian) British ice sheet have hitherto been based on assumptions regarding its extent and form. Here we employ observational evidence for the maximum altitude of glacial erosion (trimlines) on mountains that protruded through the ice (palaeonunataks) to reconstruct the form of the ice sheet over ≈ 10 000 km² of NW Scotland. Contrasts in the clay mineralogy of soils and exposure ages of rock surfaces above and below these trimlines confirm that they represent the upper limit of late Devensian glacial erosion. The reconstruction yields realistic values of basal shear stress and is consistent with independent evidence of ice movement directions. The ice sheet reached ≈ 950 m altitude over the present N–S watershed, descended northwards and north-westwards, was deflected around an ice dome on Skye and an independent Outer Hebrides ice cap, and probably extended across the adjacent shelf on a bed of deforming sediments.     

Configuration,history and impact of the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream

The Norwegian Channel between Skagerrak, in the southeast, and the continental margin of the northern North Sea, in the northwest, is the result of processes related to repeated ice stream activity through the last 1.1 m yr. In such periods the Skagerrak Trough (700 m deep) has acted as a confluence area for glacial ice from southeastern Norway, southern Sweden and parts of the Baltic. Possibly related to the threshold in the Norwegian Channel off Jæren (250 m deep), the ice stream, on a number of occasions over the last 400 ka, inundated the coastal lowlands and left an imprint of NW‐oriented ice directional features (drumlins, stone orientations in tills and striations). Marine interstadial sediments found up to 200 m a.s.l. on Jæren have been suggested to reflect glacial isostasy related to the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream (NCIS). In the channel itself, the ice stream activity is evidenced by mega‐scale glacial lineations on till surfaces. As a result of subsidence, the most complete sedimentary records of early phases of the NCIS are preserved close to the continental margin in the North Sea Fan region. The strongest evidence for ice stream erosion during the last glacial phase is found in the Skagerrak. On the continental slope the ice stream activity is evidenced by the large North Sea Fan, which is mainly a result of deposition of glacial‐fed debris flows. Northwards of the North Sea Fan, rapid deposition of meltwater plume deposits, possibly related to the NCIS, is detected as far north as the Vøring Plateau. The NCIS system offers a unique possibility to study ice stream related processes and the impact the ice stream development had on open ocean sedimentation and circulation.     

Glacimarine lithofacies,provenance and depositional processes on a West Greenland trough‐mouth fan

Along the West Greenland continental margin adjoining Baffin Bay, bathymetric data show a series of large submarine fans located at the mouths of cross‐shelf troughs. One of these fans, termed here ‘Uummannaq Fan’, is a trough‐mouth fan built largely by debris delivered from a fast‐flowing outlet of the Greenland Ice Sheet during past glacial maxima. Cores from this fan provide the first information on glacimarine sedimentary facies within a major West Greenland trough‐mouth fan and on the nature of Late Weichselian–Holocene glacigenic sediment delivery to this region of the Baffin Bay margin. Glacigenic debris flows deposited on the upper slope and extending to at least 1800 m water depth in front of the trough‐mouth are related to the remobilization of subglacial debris that was delivered onto the upper slope at times when an ice stream was positioned at the shelf edge. In contrast, sedimentary facies from the northern sector of the fan are characterized by hemipelagic and ice‐rafted sediments and turbidites; glacigenic debris flows are notably absent in cores from this region. Quantitative X‐ray diffraction studies of the <2‐mm sediment fraction indicate that the bulk of the sediment in the fan is derived from Uummannaq Trough but there are distinct intervals when sediment from northern Baffin Bay sources dominates, especially on the northern limit of the fan. These data demonstrate considerable variation in the nature of sediment delivery across the Uummannaq Fan when the Greenland Ice Sheet was at the shelf edge. They highlight the variability of glacimarine depositional processes operating on trough‐mouth fans on high‐latitude continental margins during the last glacial maximum and indicate that glacigenic debris flows are just one of a number of mechanisms by which such large depocentres form. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The glacially sculptured landscape in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, formed by wet-based mountain glaciation and not by the present ice sheet

The glacial landscape beneath the Maudheimvidda ice sheet in East Antarctica was most probably formed during a more temperate phase of Antarctic glaciation than the present. Overdeepened glacial cirques and U-shaped valleys are found in the Heimefrontfjella and Vestfjella mountain ranges. These glacial landforms, located beneath the ice sheet, have been mapped with radio-echo sounders. The present ice sheet covering these landforms is cold and frozen to its bed, and has a negligible erosive effect on the substrate. Ice sheet thickening during the Quaternary glacial periods is not believed to have caused any significant increase in erosion at the investigated sites. Instead, the glacial morphology was most likely formed by smaller, temperate glaciers when the Antarctic climate was warmer than at present. Datings of foraminifera and ash layers from the Transantarc-tic Mountains indicate that the present cold ice sheet was formed 2.5 Ma years ago. Other studies imply that a cold Antarctic ice sheet has lasted even longer. The glacial landforms in Maudheimvidda may thus be of a pre-Quaternary age.     

Palaeoglaciation of Bayan Har Shan,northeastern Tibetan Plateau: glacial geology indicates maximum extents limited to ice cap and ice field scales

Key locations within an extensive area of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, centred on Bayan Har Shan, have been mapped to distinguish glacial from non‐glacial deposits. Prior work suggests palaeo‐glaciers ranging from valley glaciers and local ice caps in the highest mountains to a regional or even plateau‐scale ice sheet. New field data show that glacial deposits are abundant in high mountain areas in association with large‐scale glacial landforms. In addition, glacial deposits are present in several locations outside areas with distinct glacial erosional landforms, indicating that the most extensive palaeo‐glaciers had little geomorphological impact on the landscape towards their margins. The glacial geological record does indicate extensive maximum glaciation, with local ice caps covering entire elevated mountain areas. However, absence of glacial traces in intervening lower‐lying plateau areas suggests that local ice caps did not merge to form a regional ice sheet on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau around Bayan Har Shan. No evidence exists for past ice sheet glaciation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Glacial and periglacial buzzsaws: fitting mechanisms to metaphors

The buzzsaw hypothesis refers to the potential for glacial and periglacial processes to rapidly denude mountains at and above glacier Equilibrium Line Altitudes (ELAs), irrespective of uplift rates, rock type or pre-existing topography. Here the appropriateness of the buzzsaw metaphor is examined alongside questions of the links between glacial erosion and ELAs, and whether the glacial system can produce low-relief surfaces or limit summit heights. Plateau fragments in mountains on both active orogens and passive margins that have been cited as products of glacial and periglacial buzzsaw erosion instead generally represent dissected remnants of largely inherited, pre-glacial relief. Summit heights may correlate with ELAs but no causal link need be implied as summit erosion rates are low, cirque headwalls may not directly abut summits and, on passive margins, cirques are cut into pre-existing mountain topography. Any simple links between ELAs and glacial erosion break down on passive margins due to topographic forcing of ice-sheet growth, and to the km-scale vertical swaths through which ELAs have shifted through the Quaternary. Glaciers destroy rather than create low-relief rock surfaces through the innate tendency for ice flow to be faster, thicker and warmer along valleys. The glacial buzzsaw cuts down.     

Late Quaternary landscape development along the Rancho Marino coastal range front (south‐central Pacific Coast Ranges,California, USA)

Late Quaternary landscape development along the Rancho Marino coastal range front in the central‐southern Pacific Coast Ranges of California has been documented using field mapping, surveying, sedimentary facies analysis and a luminescence age determination. Late Quaternary sediments along the base of the range front form a single composite marine terrace buried by alluvial fans. Marine terrace sediments overlie two palaeoshore platforms at 5 m and 0 m altitude. Correlation with the nearby Cayucos and San Simeon sites links platform and marine terrace development to the 125 ka and 105 ka sea‐level highstands. Uplift rate estimates based on the 125 ka shoreline angle are 0.01–0.09 m ka^?1 (mean 0.04 m ka^?1), and suggest an increase in regional uplift along the coast towards the NW where the San Simeon fault zone intersects the coastline. Furthermore, such low rates suggest that pre‐125 ka uplift was responsible for most of the relief generation at Rancho Marino. The coastal range front landscape development is, thus, primarily controlled by post 125 ka climatic and sea‐level changes. Post 125 ka sea‐level lowering expanded the range front piedmont area to a width of 7.5 km by the 18 ka Last Glacial Maximum lowstand. This sea‐level lowering created space for alluvial fan building along the range front. A 45 ± 3 ka optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age provides a basal age for alluvial fan building or marks the time by which distal alluvial fan sedimentation has reached 300 m from the range front slope. Fan sedimentation is related to climatic change, with increased sediment supply to the range front occurring during (1) glacial period cold stage maxima and/or (2) the Late Pleistocene–Holocene transition, when respective increases in precipitation and/or storminess resulted in hillslope erosion. Sea‐level rise after the 18 ka lowstand resulted in range front erosion, with elevated localised erosion linked to the higher relief and steeper slopes in the SE. This study demonstrates that late Quaternary coastal range front landscape development is driven by interplay of tectonics, climatic and sea‐level change. In areas of low tectonic activity, climatic and sea‐level changes dominate coastal landscape development. When the sea‐level controlled shoreline is in close proximity to the coastal range front, localised patterns of sedimentation and erosion are passively influenced by the pre‐125 ka topography. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cenozoic erosion and the preglacial uplift of the Svalbard–Barents Sea region

The creation of the huge fans observed in the western Barents Sea margin can only be explained by assuming extremely high glacial erosion rates in the Barents Sea area. Glacial processes capable of producing such high erosion rates have been proposed, but require the largest part of the preglacial Barents Sea to be subaerial. To investigate the validity of these proposals we have attempted to reconstruct the western preglacial Barents Sea. Our approach was to combine erosion maps based on prepublished data into a single mean valued erosion map covering the whole western Barents Sea and consequently use it together with a simple Airy isostatic model to obtain a first rough estimate of the preglacial topography and bathymetry of the western Barents Sea margin. The mean valued erosion map presented herein is in good volumetric agreement with the sediments deposited in the western Barents Sea margin areas, and as a direct consequence of the averaging procedures employed in its construction we can safely assume that it is the most reliable erosion map based on the available information. By comparing the preglacial sequences with the glacial sequences in the fans we have concluded that 1/2 to 2/3 of the total Cenozoic erosion was glacial in origin and therefore a rough reconstruction of the preglacial relief of the western Barents Sea could be obtained. The results show a subaerial preglacial Barents Sea. Thus, during interglacials and interstadials the area may have been partly glaciated and intensively eroded up to 1 mm/y, while during relatively brief periods of peak glaciation with grounded ice extending to the shelf edge, sediments have been evacuated and deposited at the margins at high rates. The interplay between erosion and uplift represents a typical chicken and egg problem; initial uplift is followed by intensive glacial erosion, compensated by isostatic uplift, which in turn leads to the maintenance of an elevated, and glaciated, terrain. The information we have on the initial tectonic uplift suggests that the most likely mechanism to cause an uplift of the dimensions and magnitude of the one observed in the Barents Sea is a thermal mechanism.     

A possible glacially-forced tectonic mechanism for late Neogene surface uplift and subsidence around the North Atlantic

Analysis of old erosion surfaces and estimates of exhumation from apatite fission track data can be used to infer late Neogene surface uplift of Britain, Greenland, Norway and Svalbard of 1–2 km. Subsidence and sedimentation in adjacent offshore basins can be found from interpretation of seismic and well log data. Various mechanisms for surface uplift have been proposed but the underlying cause remains unexplained. Since the multiple glaciations that took place during the late Neogene were a common factor, a possible glacially-forced tectonic mechanism to thicken the crust and produce surface uplift has been investigated. This could result from the relatively slow accumulation of ice that loads the crust as an ice sheet grows during a glacial period, followed by relatively rapid retreat and unloading around its periphery at the end. Unloading could create transient stresses that induce lateral flow in a ductile lower crust to thicken it onshore and produce surface uplift, with associated thinning beneath adjacent offshore basins, producing subsidence. Simple calculations show that the proposed mechanism is feasible and indicate that crustal thickening and surface uplift accumulated from a number of glacial cycles can account for the observed surface uplift, with an acceptable flow rate in the lower crust at the end of each cycle if the viscosity of ductile flow is sufficiently low.     

First cosmic ray exposure dating (in situ produced 10Be) of the late pleistocene and holocene glaciation in the Nanhutashan Mountains (Taiwan)

In Taiwan, efficient climate‐driven strong erosion processes are the leading cause for low preservation of geomorphic landforms. Despite the absence of present‐day glaciers, glacial relicts have been reported in high altitude areas. These scarce landforms provide opportunities for reconstructing the timing of the last deglaciation in a region where glacial history is poorly documented. We have collected boulders and striated bedrocks in the Nanhutashan area and calculated surface exposure ages based on in‐situ produced ¹⁰Be concentrations. The oldest glacial remains, dated at 11.1 ± 3.3 ka, correspond to the last glacial advance. The Holocene is characterized by a continuous retreat of the ice‐cap until at least 7.2 ± 1.0 ka. Our results are in agreement with a scenario where changes of monsoon regimes lead to a strong reduction of the winter monsoon during the early Holocene, causing a decrease of snow supply and disequilibrium of the hydrological budget.     

Dating of raised marine and lacustrine deposits in east Greenland using beryllium‐10 depth profiles and implications for estimates of subglacial erosion

Here we combine ¹⁰Be depth profile techniques applied to late glacial ice‐contact marine and lacustrine deltas, as well as boulder exposure dating of associated features in the Scoresby Sound region, east Greenland, to determine both the surface age and the magnitude of cosmogenic nuclide inheritance. Boulder ages from an ice‐contact delta in northern Scoresby Sund show scatter typical of polar regions and yield an average age of 12.8 ± 0.5 ka – about 2 ka older than both our average profile surface age of 10.9 ± 0.7 ka from three depth profiles and a radiocarbon‐based estimate. On the other hand, boulder exposure ages from a set of moraines in southern Scoresby Sund show excellent internal consistency for polar regions and yield an average age of 11.6 ± 0.2 ka. The profile surface age from a corresponding ice‐contact delta is 8.1 ± 0.9 ka, while a second delta yields an age of 10.0 ± 0.4 ka. Measured ¹⁰Be inheritance concentrations from all depth profiles are internally consistent and are between 10% and 20% of the surface concentrations, suggesting a regional cosmogenic inheritance signal for the Scoresby Sound landscape. Based on the profile inheritance concentrations, we explore the first‐order catchment‐averaged bedrock erosion under the Greenland ice sheet, yielding estimates of total erosion during the last glacial cycle of the order of 2–30 m. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rheological differences between Archaean and younger crust can determine rates of Quaternary vertical motions revealed by fluvial geomorphology

Surface uplift is widely observed in subaerial regions of continental crust that are distant from plate boundaries, often revealed by river terrace staircases with altitude ranges of several hundred metres, which typically span the Quaternary. This characteristic geomorphology has been explained by forcing of flow in the weak lower‐crustal layer by surface processes: non‐steady‐state erosion and cyclical loading by ice‐sheets and sea‐level fluctuations. This study tests this interpretation, by showing that analogous river‐terrace staircases are absent in Archaean crust, which lacks the weak lower‐crustal layer found elsewhere.     

Inherited clast dispersal patterns: Implications for palaeoglaciology of the SE Keewatin Sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet

The net effect of ice‐flow shifts resulting in the dilution or reworking of clasts on a single preserved till sheet is often unknown yet has major implications for palaeoglaciology and mineral exploration. Herein, we analyse variations in till clast lithologies from a single till sheet, within palimpsest‐type Glacial Terrain Zones in NE Manitoba, Canada, to better understand sediment–landform relationships in this area of high landform inheritance. This near‐ice‐divide area is known to consist of a highly fragmented subglacial landscape, resulting from spatio‐temporal variations in intensity of reworking and inheritance throughout multiple glacial events (subglacial bed mosaic). We show that a seemingly homogenous ‘Keewatin’ till sheet is composed of local (>15 km) and continental‐scale (～100‐km‐long carbonate train and 350–600 km long Dubawnt red erratic train) fan, irregular (amoeboid) or lobate palimpsest dispersal patterns. Local dispersal is more complex than the preserved local landform flowset(s) record, but appears consistent with the overall glacial history reconstructed from regional flowset and striation analyses. The resultant surface till is a spatial mosaic interpreted to reflect variable intensities in modification (overprinting) and preservation (inheritance) of a predominately pre‐existing till sheet. A multi‐faceted approach integrating till composition, regional landforms, ice‐flow indicators, and stratigraphic knowledge is used to map relative spatio‐temporal erosion/reworking intensity.     

Quaternary geology in Zanskar,NW Indian Himalaya: evidence for restricted glaciation and preglacial topography

Research into the Quaternary geology of the NW Himalaya has concentrated on the elucidation of the glacial sequence. However, whilst the main ranges of the Himalaya have been subjected to numerous glaciations and are now an obvious alpine glaciated terrain, much of the landscape in Zanskar and Ladakh is more equivocal and does not appear to have been glaciated during this time. These landscape facets may therefore have a much older origin and relate to preglacial events.In Zanskar, the main ice source in all glaciations was the strongly glaciated and still glacierized north slope of the main Himalaya. This ice then flowed generally northwards in the valleys of the Zanskar river and its tributaries leaving between them a landscape supporting only a few and scattered minor local glaciers. Evidence of early glaciation has been found on isolated valley-side remnants >200 m above the present rivers. Reconstruction of these preglacial valley cross profiles show them to be generally broad and shallow, with gentle slopes. This is in distinct contrast to the present major valley systems which can usually be divided into two parts—a lower unglaciated fluvially eroded section, such as the Lungnak (Tsarap Lingti Chu) Gorge and an upper broad glacial section, such as the Stod (Doda) valley.Down-valley extent of glaciation is defined by the upper ends of unglaciated fluvial gorges. Laterally, the glaciers were confined progressively to their valleys. Inevitably there is only evidence of successively smaller subsequent glaciations, but the tectonic uplift of the southern ranges may have been a factor in this forming an increasing barrier to the snow-bearing monsoon winds.