Record of glacial outburst floods in marginal zones and forelands of Scandinavian glaciations in Poland

In international literature, much attention has been paid to sedimentological and geomorphological evidence of extreme floods in the forelands of both contemporary and Pleistocene glaciers and ice sheets. Reports on this subject come from areas and periods of different glaciations. In Poland such events have been documented in more than ten works. This situation prompts us to establish whether or not the occurrence of such extreme events was more frequent and widespread in the area of Poland than it has been believed to date. The article reviews the existing research concerning within the extent of Pleistocene glaciations in Poland, which include the occurrence of high energy glacial outburst floods in the interpretation of sediments or landforms. Its objective is to determine the current state of knowledge and to indicate the direction of further research. The review also includes a study of palaeogeographic conditions of the previously documented jökulhlaup in Siedlątków, on the border of the Łask Heights. The analysis of works and the conducted comparisons lead to the conclusion that the state of knowledge about great glacial floods in the Polish Lowland is not satisfactory. It indicates the need to undertake intense studies on the record of such events and their reconstruction as their morphogenetic role e.g. in the formation of ice-marginal valleys and other elements of glacigenic landscape is underrated.