QUATERNARY RESEARCH 30, 3.54-356 (1988)

BOOK REVIEWS Drumlin Symposium. Edited by John Menzies and J.

Rose. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1987, viii, 360pp., illus- trated.

The two editors of this book organized the Drumlin Symposium as part of the First International Confer- ence on Geomorphology held at Manchester, England, in 1985. They met for the fist time at the conference itself. It is abundantly clear that some contributing au- thors to this compendium of papers met at Manchester physically but not spiritually. What results is a book following two main themes and representing two schools of thought in drumlin research: the rheolo- gists, who explain drumlins in terms of subglacial de- formation processes, and the sedimentologists, who draw their conclusions from sedimentological analyses of drumlin materials.

Although the papers in this volume were prepared after the conference, there is little sign that it produced consensus on mechanisms of drumlin formation. No general agreement appears to have materialized on fu- ture research initiatives, and drumlins remain as enig- matic as ever. At this stage, although it is important to recognize differences, it is more important to realize that the theories of the rheologists and the observa- tions of the sedimentologists are quite incompatible. It is simply not possible for drumlins to form by perva- sive subglacial deformation and, at the same time, con- tain large thicknesses of undeformed, but highly de- formable, fine-grained laminated sediment near the landform surface.

The conveners of the Manchester Symposium orga- nized a second meeting at the 1987 INQUA Congress in Ottawa. The dichotomy of approach to the problem arose again and rumination over 2 yr appeared to have produced little real progress. Nevertheless, the book achieves much; in particular, it brings together a com- prehensive literature on drumlins. John Menzies be- gins with a brave attempt to develop a general hypoth- esis of drumlins. His review is evenhanded but, in the end, not totally successful, since he fails to recognize the impasse between the two schools and, in the in- terest of unitication, makes compromises that are probably unacceptable to both.

The work of the rheological school is well repre- sented with elegant theory being applied to the prob- lem of subglacial land formation by deformation of sediment-water mixtures of relatively low strength. However, the observations used in its support and the theory itself are not consistent. Boulton draws some

unlikely conclusions from the interpretation of air pho- tographs of Canadian drumlins and gives little regard to detailed field studies of these forms. He also mis- takenly suggests that ice streams in Antarctica are presently forming drumlins. Smalley and Piotrowski present a theory involving some major differences from Smalley’s dilatancy theory that has been so prominent in the literature. Strangely, a second paper by these two authors on the Woodstock drumlin field includes observations on drumlins that cannot be ex- plained by the subglacial deformation theory. This is demonstrated by Sharpe’s paper in the section on drumlin sedimentology. A stronger editorial hand might have drawn some interesting responses to these apparent contradictions between theory and observa- tion. As it is, the volume is somewhat back to front, with theory leading observation.

Aario and Rose base their theoretical conclusions more on detailed tield evidence and give plausible ex- planations for transverse and longitudinal forms. Rose considers that treating drumlins and flutings as bed- forms is a promising advance. However, they have long been considered bedforms even if not explicitly so termed. His analogy between drumlins produced by deformation or direct glacial erosion and bedforms produced by turbulent flows does not appear to be dynamically or kinematically sound, and there appears little theoretical or observational reason for assuming that minimum expenditure of energy can be attributed to drumlin forming flows. The idea that drumlin shape minimizes flow resistance results from a mistaken analogy between drumlins produced directly by gla- ciers and forms related to turbulent flows.

The section on drumlin morphology represents a statistically sophisticated approach to drumlin shape and pattern. My personal bias is that a purely numer- ical approach to these aspects misses many subtleties that are apparent to the eye in the field, on maps, and on air photographs. Perhaps a purley qualitative clas- sification such as is used in biology for the morpho- logical identification of plants and animals should be carried out before we proceed to quantification. Harry and Trenhaile do attempt to combine morphological and sedimentological observations in an explanation of drumlin formation. Mills and Evans mainly provide statistical form analysis which may one day be impor- tant to drumlin theory but, at present, does not appear to generate new insight into formative mechanisms, or to provide critical tests for existing theory. Dianne raises the thorny and very important question of ter-

354 0033-5894188 $3.00 Copyright ~3 1988 by the University of Wasbingon. AU rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

BOOK REVIEWS 355

minology: what is a drumlin? He describes “drumhn- like” features in bedrock. Some will say that, since drumlin is a morphological term, these are drumlins; others will disagree.

The section on drumlin sedimentology contains some general agreement, perhaps because it is domi- nated by the group originating from the University of Ulster. However, the observations presented on Pol- ish and Canadian drumlins by Karczewski and Sharpe, respectively, plus those of Harry and Trenhaile, show sedimentary facies similar to those in the Irish drum- lins. If these facies represent drumlin accretion, then the importance of meltwater in drumlin formation has been underestimated. Even if drumlins with stratified sediments are remnant erosional forms, the presence of well-preserved laminated silt and clay reported by all authors in this section speaks against drumlin for- mation by pervasive sediment deformation. With the exception of Sharpe, these authors do not give a clear picture of how the sedimentary processes giving rise to laminated sediment relate to the processes that give drumlins their distinctive form and pattern. Any the- ory of drumlins that fails to do this must be considered incomplete.

The final sections on regional studies are a mixed bag. The paper by Kruger contains detailed observa- tion and original interpretation of small drumlins in a proglacial area. His conclusions regarding the impor- tance of proglacial, glaciofluvial outwash forms as nu- clei for drumlin formation is well supported and raises a potential analog for some of the sediment reported in Pleistocene drumlins. Stephan uses drumlin form and internal structure to conclude that drumlins in north- ern Germany are mainly erosional. Rabassa gives some details on drumlins in Antarctica, possibly the llrst reported Antarctic drumlins. Unfortunately, the internal structure of these forms could not be ob- served, but the surface materials indicate deposition by lodgment. Gluckert, Haavisto-Hyvarinen, Pi- otrowski and Smalley, and Riley all present detailed maps illustrating the rich variety of drumlin form and raising the unanswered question, why the differences?

Printing is from camera-ready copy with consider- able variation in the quality of tigures but, with the exception of the photographs, it is good. As mentioned above, some more forceful editing might have caused authors to ponder their differences. The volume should do much to stimulate interest and research in one of the great unsolved problems in Quatemary ge- ology.

JOHN SHAW Department of Geography

Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario Canada K7L 3N6

Lubbock Lake: Late Quaternav Studies on the Southern High Plains. Edited by Eileen Johnson.

Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station, 1987, 179pp., tables, illustrations, $49.50.

Archaeological excavations in the rich cultural de- posits of the Lubbock Lake site, on the Yellowhouse Draw in west Texas, span more than half a century. Those decades of research have spawned a bounty of reports by archaeologists, geologists, palynologists, and other scientists investigating the past 11,500 yr of deposition there. Editor Eileen Johnson, Lubbock Lake Project Director since 1972, has synthesized this wealth of interdisciplinary study into one slim but comprehensive volume enhanced by 72 illustrations and 25 tables.

The archaeological potential of the site was recog- nized in the 1930s with the discovery of a Folsom point, dredged from what then was a city reservoir. Since that time, four major programs of excavation, described by Johnson and Holliday in their introduc- tory chapter, have been conducted at Lubbock Lake. Investigators report a virtually continuous cultural se- quence extending from Paleoindian through Historic times, a record of such significance that 120 ha now are designated as both a Texas State Archaeological Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. As Johnson and Holliday note, these deeply stratitled de- posits provide a rare opportunity to study cultural re- sponses to shifting environmental conditions on the Southern High Plains.

Accordingly, much of the research at Lubbock Lake has focused on tracking climatic change and securing valid, corresponding radiocarbon dates. Six of the vol- ume’s 11 chapters address these issues through the analysis of botanical, faunal, and geological evidence. Most of these papers include a review of earlier work as well as a presentation of the author’s most recent research and conclusions.

Geological and archaeological investigations have been integrated at Lubbock Lake since the earliest excavations there. In their chapter on site geology and soils, Holhday and Allen do not provide a detailed discussion of the extensive early literature on this topic, but rather emphasize Holliday’s more recent work. By providing a description, estimation of age, and depositional interpretation for each unit, they es- tablish a chronological sequence of environmental changes occurring there over the past 11,500 yr. Other lines of evidence, analyzed and reported in the accom- panying papers, generally follow the sequence re- ported by Holliday and Allen.

Some of these lines of evidence, however, are dis- appointingly weak, apparently because of poor pres- ervational conditions. Thompson, in his discussion of plant remains, and Bryant and Schoenwetter, in their study of the Lubbock pollen record, lament the pau- city of physical evidence upon which they must build tentative interpretations. Most of the plant macrofos- sils are seeds recovered in screens during matrix wash- ing; no mention is made of flotation, which apparently