Relative-age dating (RD) techniques rely on indices of post-depositional change; principally degree of rock surface weathering or soil development. In the chronosequence approach, where a measured parameter displays a trend in values that parallels a trend in surface age, the parameter is commonly assumed to be age-dependent. Such an assumption may be invalid. This is demonstrated with particular reference to glacier forelands, where environmental and sedimentological factors, that can influence commonly used RD parameters, may exhibit systematic variations in parallel with, but independent of, surface age. Where some independent dating control is available, regression analysis may be used to define chronofunctions, providing numerical ages based on RD parameters. However, the error limits of such 'ages' are often underestimated. The use of modal rather than mean values is particularly problematic. A more critical approach is suggested, involving deductive experiments to examine the influence of non-temporal controls and to test the assumptions and predictions implicit in a given interpretation. A procedure for standardizing error limits associated with chronofunctions is proposed. It is stressed that the influence of systematic errors can only be assessed by adopting a critical, deductive methodology and that attaching spurious accuracy to dates will only lead to confusion.
Andrews, J.T. and Miller, G.H.1972: Chemical weathering of tills and surficial deposits in east Baffin Island. In Adams, W.P. and Helleiner, F.M., editors, International Geography, University of Toronto Press, Paper 0102, geomorphology, 1, 5-7.
2.
Ballantyne, C.K.1986: Protalus rampart development and the limits of former glaciers in the vicinity of Baosbheinn, Wester Ross. Scottish Journal of Geology22, 13-25.
3.
— 1991: Late Holocene erosion on British mountains: climatic change or human influence? The Holocene1, 81-85.
4.
Ballantyne, C.K., Black, N.M. and Finlay, D.P.1989: Enhanced boulder weathering under late-lying snowpatches . Earth Surface processes and Landforms14, 745-50.
5.
Benedict, L.B.1973: Chronology of cirque glaciation, Colorado Front Range . Quaternary Research3, 584-99.
6.
Birkeland, P.W.1982: Subdivision of Holocene glacial deposits, Ben Ohau Range, New Zealand, using relative dating methods. Geological Society of America Bulletin93, 433-39.
Birkeland, P.W., Colman, S.M., Burke, R.M. and Mierding, T.C.1979: Nomenclature of alpine glacial deposits, or, what's in a name?Geology7, 532-36.
9.
Birman, J.H.1964: Glacial geology across the crest of the Sierra Nevada . Geological Society of America, Special Paper 75.
10.
Blackwelder, E.1931: Pleistocene glaciation of the Sierra Nevada and Basin Ranges. Geological Society of America Bulletin42, 865-922.
11.
Bockheim, J.G.1980: Solution and use of chronofunctions in studying soil development . Geoderma24, 865-922.
12.
Boulton, G.S.1978: Boulder shape and grain-size distributions as indicators of transport paths through a glacier and till genesis. Sedimentology25, 773-99.
13.
Boyer, S.J. and Pheasant, D.R.1974: Delimitation of weathering zones in the fjord area of eastern Baffin Island, Canada. Geological Society of America Bulletin85, 805-10.
14.
Broadbent, N. and Bergqvist, K.I.1986: Lichenometric chronology and archaeological features on raised beaches: preliminary results from the Swedish Bothnian Coastal Region . Arctic and Alpine Research18, 297-306.
15.
Brookes, I.A.1982: Dating methods of Pleistocene deposits and their problems. VIII, Weathering. Geoscience Canada9, 188-99.
16.
Burke, R.M. and Birkeland, P.W.1979: Re-evaluation of multiparameter relative dating techniques and their application to the glacial sequence along the eastern escarpment of the SierraNevada, California . Quaternary Research11, 21-51.
17.
Carrara, P. and Andrews, J.T.1972: Quaternary history of northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, North West Territories, Part 1. The Late and Neoglacial deposits of the Akudlermuit and Boas glaciers. Canadian Journal of Earth Science9, 403-14.
18.
Carroll, T.1974: Relative dating techniques and a Late Quaternary chronology, Arikaree cirque, Colorado. Geology2, 321-25.
19.
Cernohouz, J. and Solc, I.1966: Use of sandstone wanes and weathered basalt crust in absolute chronology. Nature212, 806-07.
20.
— 1967: Vyuziti piskovcovych oblin a zvetrale cedicove kury pro absolutni chronologii. Ceskoslovensky Casopis pro Fysiku17, 35-42.
21.
Cheng Shoa-ping and Chen Guo-guang1988: Use of sandstone weathering-rind thickness for Late Pleistocene dating in Guangdong Province. Seismology and Geology (China) , 10, 109-17.
22.
Chinn, T.J.H.1981: Use of rock weathering-rind thickness for Holocene absolute age dating in New Zealand. Arctic and Alpine Research13, 33-45.
23.
Colman, S.M.1981: Rock-weathering rates as functions of time. Quaternary Research15, 250-64.
24.
— 1982: Chemical weathering of basalts and andesites: evidence from weathering rinds. United States Geological Survey , Professional Paper 1246.
25.
— 1986: Levels of time information in weathering measurements, with examples from weathering rinds on volcanic clasts in the Western United States. In Colman, S.M. and Dethier, D.P., editors, Rates of chemical weathering of rocks and minerals, London: Academic Press, 379-94.
26.
Colman, S.M. and Pierce, K.L.1981: Weathering rinds on andesitic and basaltic stones as a Quaternary age indicator, Western United States. United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper 1210.
27.
— 1986: Glacial sequence near McCall, Idaho: weathering rinds, soil development, morphology, and other relative-age criteria. Quaternary Research25, 25-42.
28.
Cook-Talbot, J.D.1991: Sorted circles, relative-age dating and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in an alpine periglacial environment, eastern Jotunheimen, Norway: lichenomentric and weathering-based approaches. The Holocene1, 128-41.
29.
Crooke, R.1986: Relative dating of Quaternary deposits based on p-wave velocities in weathered granitic clasts. Quaternary Research25, 281-93.
30.
Crooke, R. and Gillespie, A.R.1986: Weathering rates in granitic boulders measured by p-wave speeds. In Colman, S.M. and Dethier, D.P., editors, Rates of chemical weathering of rocks and minerals, London: Academic Press, 395-417.
31.
Dowdeswell, J.A.1982: Relative dating of Late Quaternary deposits using cluster and discriminant analysis, Audubon Cirque, Mt Audubon, Colorado Front Range . Boreas11, 151-61.
32.
— 1984: Late Quaternary chronology for the Watts Bay area, Frobisher Bay, southern Baffin Island, North West Territories, Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research16, 311-20.
33.
Dugdale, R.E.1972: Quaternary history of the northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, North West Territories, Part III. The Lateglacial deposits of Sulung and Itidlirn Trough. Canadian Journal of Earth Science9, 366-74.
34.
Ellis, S.1980: An investigation of weathering in some arctic alpine soils on the northeast flank of Oksskolten, North Norway. Journal of Soil Science31, 371-85.
35.
Gellatly, A.F.1984: The use of rock weathering-rind thickness to redate moraines in Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand. Arctic and Alpine Research16, 225-32.
36.
Gellatly, A.F., Chinn, T.J.H. and Röthlisberger, F.1988: Holocene glacier variations in New Zealand: a review. Quaternary Science Reviews7, 227-42.
37.
Hall, R.D. and Michaud, Y.1988: The use of hornblende etching, clast weathering, and soils to date alpine glacial and periglacial deposits: a study from southwest Montana . Geological Society of America Bulletin100, 458-67.
38.
Harris, C. and Matthews, J.A.1984: Some observations on boulder-cored frost boils. Geographical Journal150, 63-73.
39.
Innes, J.L.1985: Lichenometry. Progress in Physical Geography9, 187-254.
40.
Jenkins, K.A. and Smith, B.J.1990: Daytime rock surface temperature variability and its implications for mechanical weathering: Tenerife, Canary Islands. Catena17, 449-59.
41.
Jones, D. and Wilson, M.J.1985: Chemical activity of lichens on mineral surfaces: a review . International Biodeterioration21, 99-104.
42.
Kaufman, D.S. and Calkin, P.E.1988: Morphometric analysis of Pleistocene glacial deposits in the Kigluaik Mountains, northwestern Alaska. USAArctic and Alpine Research20, 273-84.
43.
Kiernan, K.1983: Weathering evidence for an additional glacial stage in Tasmania. Australian Geographical Studies21, 197-220.
44.
Kneupfer, P.L.K.1988: Estimating ages of Late Quaternary stream terraces from analysis of weathering rinds and soils. Geological Society of America Bulletin100, 1224-36.
45.
Locke, W.W.1979: Etching of hornblende grains in arctic-soils: an indicator of relative age and palaeoclimate. Quaternary Research11, 197-212.
46.
— 1986: Rates of hornblende etching in soils on glacial deposits, Baffin Island. In Colman, S.M. and Dethier, D.P., editors, Rates of chemical weathering of rocks and minerals, London: Academic Press, 129-44.
47.
Mahaney, W.C., Halvorson, D.L., Piegat, J. and Sanmugadas, K.1984: Evaluation of dating methods used to assign ages in the Wind River and Teton Ranges, Western Wyoming. In Mahaney, W.C., editor, Quaternary dating methods. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 355-407.
48.
Maizels, J.K. and Petch, J.R.1985: Age determination of intermoraine areas, Austerdalen, southern Norway. Boreas14, 51-65.
49.
Matthes, F.1930: Geological history of the Yosemite valley. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 160.
50.
Matthews, J.A. and Shakesby, R.A.1984: The status of the 'Little Ice Age' in southern Norway: relative-age dating of Neoglacial moraines with Schmidt hammer and lichenometry . Boreas13, 333-46.
51.
Matthews, J.A. and Whittaker, R.J.1987: Vegetation succession on the Storbreen glacier foreland, Jotunheimen, Norway: a review. Arctic and Alpine Research19, 385-95.
52.
McCarroll, D.1989a: Potential and limitations of the Schmidt hammer for relative-age dating; field tests on Neoglacial moraines, Jotunheimen, Southern Norway. Arctic and Alpine Research21, 268-75.
53.
— 1989b: Schmidt hammer relative-age evaluation of a possible pre-'Little Ice Age' Neoglacial moraine, Leirbreen, southern Norway. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift69, 125-30.
54.
— 1990a: A comment on 'Enhanced boulder weathering under late-lying snowpatches' by Ballantyne, C.K., Black, N.M. and Finlay, D.P., Earth Surface Processes and Landforms15, 467-69.
55.
— 1990b: Differential weathering of feldspar and pyroxene in an arctic alpine environment. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms15, 641-51.
56.
— (in press): A new instrument and techniques for the field measurement of rock surface roughness. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie .
57.
McCarroll, D. and Ware, M.1989: The variability of soil development on Preboreal moraine ridge crests, Breiseterdalen, southern Norway. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift43, 31-36.
58.
McGreevy, J.P.1985: Thermal properties as controls on rock surface temperature maxima and possible implications for rock weathering. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms10, 125-36.
59.
Mellor, A.1985: Soil chronosequences on Neoglacial moraine ridges, Jostedalsbreen and Jotunheimen, southern Norway: a quantitative pedogenic approach. In Richards, K.S., Arnett, R.R. and Ellis, S., editors, Geomorphology and Soils, London: George Allen and Unwin, 289-308.
60.
Nelson, A.R.1980: Chronology of Quaternary landforms, Qivitu Peninsula, northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, North West Territories, Canada . Arctic and Alpine Research12, 265-86.
Peck, B.J., Kaufman, D.S. and Calkin, P.E.1990: Relative dating of moraines using moraine morphometric and boulder weathering criteria, Kigluaik Mountains, Alaska. Boreas19, 227-39.
63.
Pheasant, D.R. and Andrews, J.T.1972: The Quaternary history of the northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, North West Territories, Part VIII, chronology of Narpaing and Quajon Fiords during the last 120 000 years. 24th International Geological Congress, Montreal, section 12, 81-88.
64.
Porter, S.C.1975: Weathering rinds as a relative-age criterion: application to subdivisions of glacial deposits in the Cascade Range. Geology3, 101-104.
65.
Richmond, G.M. and Fullerton, D.S.1986: Summation of Quaternary glaciations in the United States of America. Quaternary Science Reviews5, 183-96.
66.
Ruhe, R.1950: Graphic analysis of drift topographies. American Journal of Science248, 435-43.
67.
Shakesby, R.A.1989: Variation in Neoglacial moraine morphology and composition, Jotunheimen, Norway: within-moraine patterns and their implications. Geografiska Annaler71, 17-29.
68.
Sharp, R.P.1969: Semiquantitative differentiation of glacial moraines near Convict Lake, SierraNevada, California . Journal of Geology77, 68-91.
69.
— 1972: Pleistocene glaciation, Bridgeport Basin, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin83, 2233-60.
70.
Sharp, R.P. and Birman, J.H.1963: Additions to the classical sequence of Pleistocene glaciations, SierraNevada, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin74, 1079-86.
71.
Sjöberg, R. and Broadbent, N.1991: Measurement and calibration of weathering, using the Schmidt hammer, on wave washed moraines on the upper Norrland coast, Sweden. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms16, 57-64.
72.
Thorn, C.E.1975: Influence of late-lying snow on rock-weathering rinds . Arctic and Alpine Research7, 373-78.
73.
Trustrum, N.A. and De Rose, R.C.1988: Soil depth-age relationship of landslides on deforested hillslopes, Taranaki, New Zealand. Geomorphology1, 143-60.
74.
Wayne, W.J.1984: The Quaternary succession in the Rio Blanco Basin, Del Plata, Mendoza Province, Argentina: An application of multiple relative-dating techniques. In Mahaney, W.C., editor, Quaternary dating methods, Amsterdam: Elsevier, 389-407.
75.
Whalley, W.B., McGreevy, J.P. and Ferguson, R.I.1984: Rock temperature observations and chemical weathering in the Hunza Region, Karakorum: preliminary data. In Miller, K.J., editor, International Karakorum Project, Volume 2, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 616-33.
76.
Williams, R.B.G. and Robinson, D.A.1983: The effects of surface texture on the determination of the surface hardness of rock using the Schmidt hammer. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms8, 289-92.
