Most glaciated countries have for some time had some form of 'glacial map' recording landforms and evidence resulting from the activity of former ice sheets. For the first time we now have a compilation map for the last British Ice Sheet.

What is included?

Emphasis is on information that constrains the last ice sheet. The following are included:

Moraines | Eskers | Drumlins | Meltwater channels | Tunnel valleys | Trimlines

Limit of key glacigenic deposits | Glaciolacustrine deposits | Ice-dammed lakes

Erratic dispersal patterns | Shelf-edge fans

The Loch Lomond Readvance limit of the main ice cap

The GIS contains over 20,000 features split into thematic layers (as above). Individual features are attributed such that they can be traced back to their published sources. Given that the published sources of information that underpin this work were derived by a piecemeal effort over 150 years then our main caveat is of data consistency and reliability.

The methods of production, scope and caveats, and the printed 'Glacial Map' at a scale of 1:625 000 are reported in:

Clark, C.D., Evans, D.J.A., Khatwa, A., Bradwell, T., Jordan, C.J., Marsh, S.H., Mitchell, W.A. and Bateman, M.D. (2004). Map and GIS database of landforms and features related to the last British Ice Sheet. Boreas, 33(4), 359-375.

To learn more about the BRITICE Project click here

Map hosted by Esri UK in ArcGIS Online