Hamilton, Thomas D.

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REVIEWS • 79the book is to some degree a commemorative volume,dedicated to the author’s memory.REFERENCESCAPELOTTI, P.J., ed. 2004. The Franz Josef Land Archipelago.E.B. Baldwin’s journal of the Wellman Polar Expedition 1898 –1899. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland andCo.IVANYCHUK, M. 1934. 14 mesyatsev na Zemle Frantsa Iosifa.Kharkov: Ukrainskiy Robitnik.PAYER, J. 1876. New lands within the Arctic Circle. Narrative ofthe discoveries of the Austrian ship “Tegetthoff” in the years1872 –1874. London: Macmillan.William BarrThe Arctic Institute of North AmericaUniversity of Calgary2500 University Drive NWCalgary, Alberta, CanadaT2N 1N4WIND AS A GEOMORPHIC AGENT IN COLD CLI-MATES. By MATTI SEPPÄLÄ. Cambridge and New York:Cambridge University Press, 2004. (Studies in PolarResearch.) ISBN 0-521-56406-9. x + 358 p., maps,colour and b&w illus., bib., index. Hardbound.US$130.00.Wind is an important geomorphic agent in many high-latitude areas because of sparse plant cover, churning ofsoils by frost processes, generally low precipitation, andhigh frequency of strong winds.  Although a vast literatureis available on wind action in low-latitude settings such asdeserts and seacoasts, the distinctive geomorphic effectsof wind in cold climates have received less attention. Norecent comprehensive review of this subject has beenavailable, and in contrast to the voluminous literature onwind-moved sand and silt particles, the few works describ-ing how wind affects redistribution of snow cover inad-equately represent this topic in the geomorphic literature.In this well-organized and nicely illustrated volume, MattiSeppälä, Professor of Physical Geography at the Univer-sity of Helsinki, attempts to remedy these deficiencies.Most of the volume’s chapters can be grouped into threeprincipal sections. The first (Chapters 2 and 3) provides abroad introduction to the climates, vegetation assemblages,snow and ice features, and wind patterns of cold regions.The region-by-region geographic coverage of these topicsbecomes somewhat tedious in places, and the volumemight have been better served by an integrated synthesis ofthe general principles that are most important for under-standing the high-latitude processes and features pre-sented in the following chapters. The author’s citations ofearly explorers’ accounts add spice to these and subse-quent chapters, but in some cases the reader would benefitfrom more recent references that reflect current ideas andmodern data.The second and longest section (Chapters 4–10) dealswith interactions of wind with mineral grains, primarily sandand silt. The topics covered progress smoothly from wind-drift processes to abrasion by wind-driven grains, then todeflation processes and resultant features, and finally toaccumulation of sand dunes and loess. Oriented lakes(Chap. 7) and sand wedges (Chap. 10), distinctive Arcticfeatures that require wind activity for their formation, are alsocovered in this section. A very useful but brief chapter on fieldevidence for wind directions (Chap. 9) discusses erosionaland depositional features that can be used to reconstruct theoften highly complex wind patterns controlled by localtopography. However, it fails to mention grain mineralogyas an important indicator of source area.The final major section (Chapters 11 – 15) deals withwind effects on snow cover. After a review of snow and itsproperties, successive chapters cover drift of snow, snowaccumulation and its geomorphic effects, deflation ofsnow cover, and the effects of wind-packed or deflatedsnow on ground freezing and on resulting hummocks,palsas, and other frozen-ground features. Although snowavalanches are mentioned in passing, the role of wind inloading avalanche-prone slopes, forming wind-slab de-tachment surfaces, and building cornices that may col-lapse to trigger avalanches is largely ignored. A vastliterature deals with these destructive events, which gen-erally cause 50 or more deaths annually in the UnitedStates and Canada alone. Topics that could well have beencovered in this volume include (1) geomorphic and botanicindicators of avalanche tracks and runout zones, (2) mete-orologic conditions conducive to avalanches, (3) predic-tion of avalanche runout distances, and (4) determinationof avalanche recurrence intervals. Slush flows (p. 276 –278) receive more systematic coverage, but further infor-mation and illustrations could have been provided onrecognition criteria for these hazardous high-latitude andalpine events.The volume concludes with a very brief chapter onancient eolian landforms and their use in reconstructingQuaternary paleowind directions. More information couldhave been presented here on other paleoenvironmentaldeterminations provided by the fossil soils and plant andanimal remains that commonly are well preserved in Qua-ternary eolian deposits such as sand sheets and loessaccumulations. Correlations of dune- and loess-formingintervals with past climatic fluctuations also provide im-portant insights into environmental controls over the accu-mulation of these eolian sediments, a topic discussedearlier in the volume but without this historical perspec-tive. A review of optical luminescence and other methodsfor dating Quaternary eolian deposits would have been avaluable addition to this chapter.One of the greatest strengths of this volume is its strongemphasis on European literature, much of which may be80 • REVIEWSunfamiliar to North American scholars. However, theauthor’s relative unfamiliarity with North American geog-raphy and literature and the fact that English is his secondlanguage give rise to some interesting glitches, for exam-ple, “Aleutes” (for Aleutian Islands?) on page 44, “he”referring to Sylvia Edlund on pages 45 and 47, and “NorthWest Territories” (p. 40 and 42). Some awkward andoccasionally obscure sentences have resulted from trans-lation into English, and the volume could have receivedmore careful attention from its editors.Despite these minor caveats, Dr. Seppälä has compiled aunique and important review that displays an impressivebreadth of scholarship. For those who can afford its high cost,this volume should be an excellent resource for classroom useand a valued addition to their personal libraries.Thomas D. HamiltonU.S. Geological Survey (Emeritus)4200 University DriveAnchorage, Alaska, U.S.A.99508thamilto@usgs.govUPSIDE DOWN: SEASONS AMONG THE NUNAMIUT.By MARGARET B. BLACKMAN. Lincoln: University ofNebraska Press, 2004. 206 p., map, b&w illus., endnotes.Hardbound. US$27.95.This book is an important work for those interested inethnographic research and indigenous peoples living inthe Arctic. Blackman successfully follows the “journeysof some villagers down the likes of the InformationSuperhighway” while following “others back to a timewhen technology was a rifle, a distant plane in the sky anda battery-powered radio that tuned in news of World WarII in a foreign language—English” (p. 3). Blackman in-forms the reader of consistency and change in the commu-nity of Anaktuvuk Pass, a small Nunamuit settlement inthe Brooks Range of Alaska 35 miles beyond the tree line.She writes about the Nunamuit while reflecting on her ownexperiences as an anthropologist and her relationshipswith her husband and daughter.The tone of the book is set in the introduction, whereBlackman tells how she, with her husband Ed Hall, firstcame to Anaktuvuk Pass. She tells of her special relation-ship with the community that keeps her returning in spiteof her discomfort, verging on fear, of small plane airtravel—a necessity, given that there are no roads betweenFairbanks and Anaktuvuk Pass. She openly speaks of herdifficult marriage, made more difficult by her husband’sprogressing disease. Blackman notes—and exemplifies—how her way of living, both in the south and in the north,affects her research, her relationships, and her interpreta-tion of all that she experiences.Each of the 27 essays in the book tells an engaging storyof how the Nunamuit, who until 50 years ago werenomadic caribou hunters, deal with settled life in theircommunity. Her stories usually start by telling of an eventor a situation and often end with a question. Blackman isable to weave an anthropological picture whether discuss-ing the history of being settled and experiencing the newwater and sewage system in Anaktuvuk Pass, as she doesin the essay entitled “Fifty Years in one Place,” or in theessay “Town,” where she tells of seeing and visiting withher friends from Anaktuvuk Pass in a completely differentsetting during her sabbatical in Fairbanks.Blackman’s use of photographs is meaningful: they arewell placed at the beginning of each essay and enhance thetext. Both essays and photos encourage the reader’s inter-est in the members of the community and in Blackmanherself. At times the combination of text and photo isgentle, and at other times the combination hits hard andfast, not allowing the reader to avoid reality. Such is thecombination of Willie Hugo photographed on his father’slap in 1963 and the essay entitled “The ‘New’ Eskimo.”The essay talks of Willie Hugo as the “new Eskimo” whoseems to bridge the life of successful hunter and successfulwage earner as manager of the Anaktuvuk Pass powerplant. Blackman continues the story of this well-respectedindividual, who one day bought a number of items for hiswife and family and then shot himself.Both photos and text reflect change; both tell the story ofpast and present, as well as portraying individuals of all agesin a variety of situations. Take for example, the photos‘Returning from caribou hunting, 1959,’ in which a hunterand dogs are carrying packs, and the contemporary scene of‘Coming home from camping,’ in which individuals and dogsare standing around three six-wheel Argos.I particularly enjoyed how Blackman took me from theimportance of the CB radio to the community members’use of e-mail; from the introduction of a Christmas maskto an economic industry of making caribou-skin masksthat are sought after by museums and collectors; from herown field notes and journals to her excitement of havingaccess to the journals of two hunters—Homer Mekianaand Simon Paneak— whose writings span more than 20years; from her joy in doing field work with her daughterat her side, to the breakup of her marriage and her teenagedaughter’s wanting to stay home rather than return to asmall community, to a time when her grown daughterwished to return to Anaktuvuk Pass; her experience in thecommunity with Ethel and Justus Mekiana and RachelRiley and their experience with her in Brunswick, Maine.All of these experiences are associated with having realrelationships with real people who became friends whileshe worked as an anthropologist. She does not pretend todisengage from the individuals she knows and who knowher—she treats people as people and writes about people,including herself, as people. Her interactions span thefamiliarity of home and the strangeness of being awayfrom home and the merging of the two.Upside Down: Seasons among the Nunamuit is an ex-tremely important book. Not since Jean Briggs’ Never in

Wind as a Geomorphic Agent in Cold Climates, by Matti Seppälä

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Wind as a Geomorphic Agent in Cold Climates, by Matti Seppälä

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