The Greater Caucasus is Europe's highest mountain belt and results from the inversion of the Greater Caucasus back-arc-type basin due to the collision of Arabia and Eurasia. The orogenic processes that led to the present mountain chain started in the Early Cenozoic, accelerated during the Plio-Pleistocene, and are still active as shown from present GPS studies and earthquake distribution. The Greater Caucasus is a doubly verging fold-and-thrust belt, with a pro-and a retro wedge actively propagating into the foreland sedimentary basin of the Kura to the south and the Terek to the north, respectively. Based on tectonic geomorphology -active and abandoned thrust fronts -the mountain range can be subdivided into several zones with different uplift amounts and rates with very heterogeneous strain partitioning. The central part of the mountain range -defined by the Main Caucasus Thrust to the south and backthrusts to the north -forms a triangular-shape zone showing the highest uplift and fastest rates, and is due to thrusting over a steep tectonic ramp system at depth. The meridional orogenic in front of the Greater Caucasus in Azerbaijan lies at the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus, to the south of the Kura foreland basin.

Abstract. The Gouffre des Diablotins is a deep cave system located in the Swiss Prealps. In 1991, the entrance zone of the cave was almost free of ice. Nevertheless ice volume sharply increased in 1994, plugging almost totally the gallery from the lower entrance. The ice cave have also experience flooded period between 1996 and 2007, and very heterogeneous ice surface morphology and textures have formed. Continuous cave climate measurements initiated in 2009 showed the predominant role of winter atmospheric air conditions to drive both the efficiency of chimney-effect circulation and seasonal modifications of the ice mass. Main part of the ice loss is currently due to sublimation in wintertime.

Abstract. The Gouffre des Diablotins is a deep cave system located in the Swiss Prealps. In 1991, the lower entrance zone of the cave was almost free of ice. Nevertheless the ice volume sharply increased in 1994, plugging almost totally the gallery from the lower entrance. The ice cave has also experienced a flood period between 1996 and 2007 and very heterogeneous ice surface morphologies and textures have formed. Continuous cave climate measurements initiated in 2009 showed the predominant role of winter atmospheric air conditions to drive both the efficiency of chimney-effect air circulation and seasonal modifications of the ice mass. The main part of the ice loss is currently due to sublimation in wintertime.