During cold intervals of the Pleistocene, snow accumulation was responsible for extensive and repeated glaciation in western and central Tasmania and for a small glaciation on the highest part of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales. These glaciations had major effects on the landforms. In the succeeding Holocene, snow effects have been confined to modest nivation around long-lasting snow patches. Nivation affects landforms by encouraging freeze/thaw processes and mass movement of unconsolidated material saturated by melt water. In the alpine zone, effective snowfall must be multiplied several times by drifting for such effects to occur and effective nivation is confined to small areas in the lee of ridges. The extent and significance of these effects presumably varied somewhat with the occurrence of slightly altithermal intervals and cooler neoglacials. Modification of snow cover by climatic change or "snow farming" at ski resorts should have negligible effects on nivation and landforms.
