Mass Movement of Ablation Complexes and Their Relationship to Rock Glaciers

The wide range of forms which have been identified as rock glaciers are examined. It is proposed from field evidence in the southwest Yukon Territory and from a survey of the literature that the forms should be investigated according to their processes of movement rather than their morphological form. Various distinct processes are discussed which depend on the origin of the ice responsible for the movement and the nature of the surficial materials in which the movement has taken place. It is concluded that morphological expressions of flow are created by widely differing processes and that the use of traditional terminology tends to obscure these differences.