ABSTRACTBeach forms associated with the retreat of Cook Glacier, between 1975 and 1982 are compared with those found on polar beaches. The presence of certain characteristics but the absence of many others diagnostic of polar beaches distinguishes Cook beach as a sub-polar feature. Evidence from Neoglacial moraines and raised beach deposits indicates that former positions of Cook Glacier have controlled beach location but that the preservation of Neoglacial beaches depends on isostatic recovery outpacing beach reworking. At Cook beach the occurrence of glacial till overlying beach deposits adjacent to beach deposits overlying glacial till indicates the type of complex stratigraphy that may be present in Quaternary deposits from tidewater glacier environments.