| Abstract: | Three sites with alleged relict rock glaciers are described from southern Faeroe Islands, in the North Atlantic Ocean. The rock glaciers represent both talus-derived and glacier-derived types and were most likely initiated during the late Weichselian. One of the rock glaciers apparently became unstable at some point during degradation of permafrost and was subsequently transformed by a landslide. The age of the rock glaciers are not known precisely, but a Younger Dryas age is suggested, partly by considering contemporary local equilibrium line altitudes. The climatic background for rock glacier initiation on the Faeroe Islands during the Younger Dryas is investigated, using various types of palaeoclimatic information. The potential of using relict rock glaciers in palaeoclimatic reconstructions is discussed, and their implications for estimates on air temperature, precipitation, permafrost, rock weathering and the contemporary extent of the Weichselian Faeroe Ice Cap is outlined. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
