Reconstructing Periglacial Geomorphology: The Contribution of J. Ross Mackay

Abstract

AbstractRoss Mackay's contributions to periglacial geomorphology are commonly regarded as the fruit of solo inspiration. In fact, his work is an exemplary product of its time. At the outset of his career, geomorphology was entering a radical transformation from interpretive study of landscape history towards quantitative study of landscape‐forming processes. Early periglacial geomorphology was concerned mainly with attempting to infer historical environmental conditions on the periphery of the great Pleistocene ice sheets and Mackay's earliest works are historically oriented accounts of regional geography. From 1960, however, his work, following the new perspective, was based on quantitative measurement of landforms and land‐forming processes, both in the field and on maps, and application of physical theory to interpret his observations. He focused attention on individual periglacial landforms that had hitherto been only superficially described. Outstanding aspects of Mackay's contributions are his genius for making critical field observations and his ability to use them to test geophysical theory. He was one of a very small number of pioneers who reconstructed periglacial geomorphology. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.