Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1987 Geomorphic character, age and distribution of rock glaciers in the Olympic Mountains, Washington Steven Paul Welter Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Geology Commons, and the Geomorphology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Welter, Steven Paul, "Geomorphic character, age and distribution of rock glaciers in the Olympic Mountains, Washington" (1987). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3558. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5440 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Steven Paul Welter for the Master of Science in Geography presented August 7, 1987. Title: The Geomorphic Character, Age, and Distribution of Rock Glaciers in the Olympic Mountains, Washington APPROVED BY MEMBERS OF THE THESIS COMMITTEE: Rock glaciers are tongue-shaped or lobate masses of rock debris which occur below cliffs and talus in many alpine regions. They are best developed in continental alpine climates where it is cold enough to preserve a core or matrix of ice within the rock mass but insufficiently snowy to produce true glaciers. Previous reports have identified and briefly described several rock glaciers in the Olympic Mountains, Washington {Long 1975a, pp. 39-41; Nebert 1984), but no detailed integrative study has been made regarding the geomorphic character, age, 2 and distribution of these features.