Abstract This Special Publication presents 23 papers that examine comparable, predominantly siliciclastic coastal zones of low-lying passive trailing-continental margins (primarily east Americas) from polar areas to the equator. The objective is to establish similarities and major differences among them. This introductory paper outlines major contributions of the various papers, but will also highlight coastal differences and briefly add information not fully treated by others. This is done in three parts: (a) some basic concepts are stressed, such as the importance of ‘coastal zone’ (total landscape) in the north–south comparison and the variable climates; (b) a review is made of the component materials of the coasts, such as difference in sediments owing to source rocks, weathering and geological history (glaciations), and in flora and fauna such as burrowing organisms; and (c) a few classical examples are reported from warm zones, such as Galveston Island and the Sapelo Island marshes, but the focus is on less well-known environments of cold areas – those most impacted by climate change. Each component of the coastal zone can develop diagnostic characteristics, but the entire assemblage of sedimentary and biological features is what uniquely defines present environments and allows identification of ancient coastal zones.

Abstract Foxe Basin is a down-faulted arctic basin floored by Palaeozoic carbonates, surrounded by metamorphic Precambrian terrains. Quaternary deposits consist of Pleistocene–Holocene glacial drift, and frost-shattered bedrock-clasts mostly reworked by sea waves during post-glacial emergence during the last 5000–6000 yr. The shallow, primarily micro- to meso-tidal sea is covered by ice for c. 9–10 months each year. This ensures that the overall energy of the coasts is low, although strong storm waves develop during ice-free periods. Puccinellia phryganodes dominated salt marshes occur on muddy and sandy shores and grade into inland sedge-forb wetlands and Dryas -dominated tundra. Cold climate processes active on the emerged land have generated typical features such as frost heaving of bedrock blocks, solifluction lobes on slopes, frost boils in flatter areas, frost shattering and solution of surficial carbonate pebbles, thermokarst lakes, and shallow Cryosols.

Abstract The volume focuses on the analysis of glacial clastic sedimentary deposits, both ancient and recent. The papers range from reviews of glacial systems and cold-climate weathering products and processes to conceptual and field studies of specific ice-marginal and cold-climate sediments. Papers are included that deal with tidewater glaciers, mountain settings on Earth, permafrost areas on both Earth and Mars and detailed regional analyses of cold-climate sediments of Late Pleistocene and Holocene age. The identification of sedimentary facies allows an accurate reconstruction of many of the developmental processes that are involved in ice-marginal and periglacial environments. Lithostratigraphic characteristics of clastic deposits also constitute circumstantial evidence for the previous existence of ancient, and certainly pre-Quaternary, cold-climate systems. This is demonstrated by a study on putative Palaeozoic glacial deposits in Saudi Arabia.

Abstract Sediments at Pias (Galicia) provide evidence of Upper Pleistocene glacial activities at a valley junction in the north-western mountains of Spain. The sedimentary sequence consists of lower, predominately fine-grained lacustrine deposits with few lonestones, overlain by poorly sorted, sandy gravels interstratified with massive diamicton deposited during mid-Weichselian times (MIS 3) (marine isotope stage 3). The lacustrine sediments were deposited in a glacial valley temporarily dammed by a confluent glacier. The presence of active ice is suggested by massive diamicton layers best interpreted as till, rafted sediments in lacustrine deposits and deformation structures indicative of loading and kettle formation. Frozen ground conditions are suggested by a few involution-like structures. The Pias area contains one of the few western-Spain sedimentary records of Upper Pleistocene glaciation at relatively low latitude (about 42°N) and low altitude (less than 1000 m a.s.l.). A southern dip of the Polar front to 40–45°N latitudes, as occurred during Last Glacial Maximum, could have cut moisture to the northern Fennoscandinavian ice sheets. At the same time, however, sufficient precipitations would have persisted in north-western Spain to sustain extensive ice caps and their outlets to elevations as low as c. 900 m a.s.l.