In subarctic and alpine regions, an altitudinal and latitudinal zone exists between the treeline and glaciers in which a distinct set of periglacial landforms and processes dominated. Several prominent periglacial geomorphologists have recently questioned whether periglacial processes can give rise to a “characteristic periglacial landscape.” This thesis tests the hypothesis that such landscapes do indeed exist in upland, cold, nonglacial environments. The landscape was examined through a multiscale approach using large-scale mapping and geomorphometry. Study sites were chosen from the largely unglaciated eastern Beringia, together forming a transect across this region. An additional site was mapped that represented a high alpine site, in which periglacial geomorphic processes are currently active. At each site, large-scale geomorphological maps of cryoplanation terraces (CTs) were generated using traditional field techniques and computer-generated mapping based on digital elevation models (DEMs). Geomorphometric analysis was conducted at both the landform and landscape scales for sites in eastern Beringia. This analysis focused on the identification of CTs and the geomorphic “signature” of the landscape within the Yukon-Tanana Upland physiographic province. Results from these analyses indicate there is a distinct periglacial landscape, composed of an assemblage of interconnected forms. Cryoplanation landforms function as the foundation of this “periglacial landscape.”
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