Glacial thrusting & moraine-mound formation in Svalbard & Britain: The example of Coire a 1 Cheud-chnoic (Valley of Hundred Hills), Torridon Scotland

Moraine-mound complexes ('hummocky moraine') are common at a variety of different types of glacier margin, particularly in mountain regions. They are well developed in front of high-arctic valley glaciers, where they form arcuate moraine belts close to the Neoglacial ice maximum. They have been recently interpreted as the product of thrusting in glacier ice, either at polythermal ice margins or during glacier surges. The morphology, sedimentology and mode of formation of these moraine-mound systems is described using data from several valley glaciers in Svalbard. This model of moraine-mound formation is used to re-interpret one of the most famous Younger Dryas 'hummocky moraine' sites in Britain, Coire a' Cheud-chnoic (Valley of Hundred Hills) in Torridon, Scotland. This model adds to the range of landform models which are applicable in the interpretation of Younger Dryas 'hummocky moraine' and may have implications for the dynamics and basal thermal regime of the Younger Dryas valley glaciers.