Meltwater phenomena in the area between bala and corwen,North Wales

Previously unrecorded glacio-fluvial phenomena are identified and mapped. These are shown to conform in part with the known southwest to northeast movement of meltwater from the wasting ‘Merioneth’ icecap in late Devensian time. A further series of meltwater channels and associated kames is also revealed, connecting southwards with the Dee Valley. Orientation of bedding within these latter kame deposits at Sarnau (971394) is also shown to accord with deposition by meltwater from an ice front to the southwest. Petrological analysis of igneous erratics within the Sarnau deposits suggests an origin entirely within the Arenig Mountains. It is thus postulated that the features relate to a late stage in the wasting of the 'Merioneth' ice cap, when a series of meltwater escape routes to the Dee Valley became progressively ice-free, and that the newly-discovered meltwater channel system is thus complementary to previously recorded phenomena.