Product Description

Explains the physical principles underlying the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets and concludes with a chapter on the information about past climate and atmospheric composition obtainable from ice cores. The past 40 years have seen major advances in most aspects of the subject; the book concentrates on these. It is an updated and expanded version of the second edition, and is now available in the long-awaited paperback format. Much of the book deals with developments since the second edition was published.

Dr Paterson's introduction to glacier studies was with the British North Greenland Expedition in 1953-4. He emigrated to Canada in 1957 and between 1959 and 1980 studied glaciers in the Canadian Arctic and the Rocky Mountains, mainly under the auspices of the Canadian Government's Polar Continental Shelf Project. Since 1980 he has done consulting work and has also been a visiting scientist with the Geophysics Department at the University of Copenhagen (three times) and with the Australian Antarctic Division. He has also given a comprehensive lecture course at the Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology in Lanzhou, China. He is now retired (more or less) and lives in British Columbia.


New paperback edition of a classic text
Well-known and respected author
Updated and expanded since the second edition, reflecting the advances in most aspects of the subject over the last 40 years.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #371654 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Review
Reviews of the Hardback 3rd edition:

"It is a monumental legacy. It easily surpasses the first two editions, both in scope and in details."
Global and Planetary Change II

"This book by Paterson remains a seminal text in the field of glaciology. Now in its third edition this text persists as a benchmark book."
Quarternary Science Reviews, vol. 15, no. 4

"Like its previous editions, this book is destined to become a classic. It is readable and is a well-written addition to any geophysicist's book collection."
EOS

"This is an excellent text both for research and teaching purposes"
S. Carr, Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University

Customer Reviews

Good over-all textbook on basic glaciology
An excellent textbook on glaciology with only the nescesarry emphasis on mathematical issues. The books goes through the most important processes in glacial dynamics, including the formation of ice from snow (firnification), flow of ice, internal thermal conditions and treats a series of special cases such as ice streams. Climatology from the point of view of a glaciologist ends the book.

The book has some material on temperate glaciers, maybe even to much if your mayor interest is Antarctica or the Inland Ice.

The revised edition is - even though Paterson himself is not quite young any more - pretty well updated.