Advantages and disadvantages of petrographic analyses of glacial sediments

Abstract

Petrographic studies are a helpful tool for glacial geomorphology, because they may supplement lithofacial analysis. They introduced information about dynamics and thermic conditions in a glacial sole, about different alimentary zones, and routes of an ice sheet and individual glacial streams that deposited tills in central and western Wielkopolska, western Poland. Apart from advantages, the petrographic analyses have also disadvantages, e.g. ability to recognize 200 types of indicator erratics, which follows in pointing to respective source areas. A sample volume must be represented statistically, i.e. it should consist of not less than 1000 erratics from tills and not less than 300 pebbles from gravel.