A reconstruction of the last glacial maximum (LGM) ice-surface geometry in the western Swiss Alps and contiguous Alpine regions in Italy and France

Kelly, M. A.; Buoncristiani, Jean‐François; Schlüchter, Christian

doi:10.1007/s00015-004-1109-6

Cited by 156 publications

(184 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

176

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Repeated Pleistocene glaciations sculpted the wide U-shaped valley of the upper Rhone valley which was filled with at least 1500 m of ice during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (Jäckli, 1970;Florineth and Schlüchter, 1998;Kelly et al, 2004). The larger valley glaciers of the central three valleys were eroded more extensively than the glaciers in the adjacent valleys, generating exceptionally higher relief.…”

Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosmogenic nuclide‐derived rates of diffusive and episodic erosion in the glacially sculpted upper Rhone Valley, Swiss Alps

Norton

Blanckenburg

Kubik

2010

Earth Surf Processes Landf

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Denudation rates of small tributary valleys in the upper Rhone valley of the Swiss Central Alps vary by more than an order of magnitude within a very small distance (tens of kilometers). Morphometric data indicate two distinct erosion processes operate in these steep mountain valleys. We determined the rates of these processes using cosmogenic beryllium-10 ( 10 Be) in pooled soil and stream sediment samples. Denudation in deep, glacially scoured valleys is characterized by rapid, non-uniform processes, such as debris flows and rock falls. In these steep valleys denudation rates are 760-2100 mm kyr −1 . In those basins which show minimal previous glacial modification denudation rates are low with 60-560 mm kyr −1 . The denudation rate in each basin represents a binary mixture between the rapid, non-uniform processes, and soil creep. The soil production rate measured with cosmogenic 10 Be in soil samples averages at 60 mm kyr −1 . Mixing calculations suggest that the debris flows and rock falls are occurring at rates up to 3000-7000 mm kyr −1 . These very high rates occur in the absence of baselevel lowering, since the tributaries drain into the Rhone trunk stream up-stream of a knickzone. The fluxweighted spatial average of denudation rates for the upper Rhone valley is 1400 mm kyr −1 , which is similar to rock uplift rates determined in this area from leveling. The pace and location of erosion processes are determined by the oscillation between a glacial and a non-glacial state, preventing the landscape from reaching equilibrium.

show abstract

Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosmogenic nuclide‐derived rates of diffusive and episodic erosion in the glacially sculpted upper Rhone Valley, Swiss Alps

Norton

Blanckenburg

Kubik

2010

Earth Surf Processes Landf

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the upper parts of glaciated valley systems, where ice accumulation and erosion dominate over ablation and moraine deposition, the vertical extent of ice-surfaces can be assessed only on the basis of the interpretation of erosional landforms such as glacial trimlines (Ballantyne, 2013;Florineth & Schlüchter, 1998;Kelly et al, 2004). Well-developed glacial trimlines are preserved commonly in larger troughs in the High Tatra Mountains (Makos & Nitychoruk, 2011;Makos et al, 2013), whereas in the Western Tatras, glacial trimlines are less clearly developed, with some exceptions (Studený potok and Starorobociańska Valley).…”

Section: Ice Elevation Record -Trimlinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Florineth & Schlüchter, 1998;Kelly et al, 2004) which relates glacial trimline with the upper limit of glacier surface rather than with the thermal regime boundary in ice (thermal trimline) evidenced in lower-relief mountains covered in the past by ice-caps or ice-sheets (e.g., Fabel, Ballantyne, & Xu, 2012 and references therein). Major scale erosional landforms such as troughs and cirques have developed during succeeding Pleistocene glaciations.…”

Section: Ice Elevation Record -Trimlinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Well-designed maps to show the extent of former mountain glaciations have an especially long tradition in the European Alps (Bini et al, 2009;van Husen, 1987;Jäckli, 1962Jäckli, , 1970 where glacier limits and ice-surface geometry can be inferred from depositional ice-marginal landforms in the foreland as well from trimline evidence in the mountain interior (Florineth & Schlüchter, 1998;Kelly, Buoncristiani, & Schlüchter, 2004). The content of such maps is largely based on the compilation of many individual, local investigations and presents cumulative and comprehensive knowledge about Quaternary environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Tatra Mountains during the Last Glacial Maximum

Zasadni

Kłapyta

2014

Journal of Maps

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Tatra Mountains extend along the border between Slovakia and Poland in the Western Carpathians. It is the highest and formerly one of the most glaciated massifs in the entire Carpathian mountain chain. We present a paleoglaciological map of the Tatra Mts. and its foreland (ca. 1270 km 2 ) for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) at the scale 1:50 000. We re-evaluate geomorphological evidence for all Tatra glacial systems identified in the literature based on new field mapping and remote sensing data analysis. Utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) and 10 m resolution digital elevation model (DEM) as a base topography, we have reconstructed, for the first time, the detailed extent and surface geometry of all Tatra LGM glaciers (55 glacier systems, total area ca. 280 km 2 ) based on the distribution of glacial erosional and depositional landforms. Our research results confirm stronger glaciation on the southern slopes of the Tatras due to local topography. We also conclude that distinct morainic amphitheaters, which predominate on the southern side of the highest, eastern part of the Tatras, were formed by debris-covered glaciers.

show abstract

“…Thin sections have been compared to the descriptions by Aeberhard (1986), Burri et al (1999) and Abbu¨hl (2004), and according to these, the investigated boulders are attributed to the Arolla gneisses. Kelly et al (2004) reconstructed the LGM ice surface geometry of the Rhone Valley and suggested that ice from its southern part dominated the Rhone ice flow, pushing the glacier towards the northern valley side. This would explain how boulders from the Zermatt-Saas area have been integrated into the ice, transported to the northern valley side and finally deposited in the eastern Jura Mountains.…”

Section: Distribution Of the Erratic Bouldersmentioning

confidence: 99%

First results of cosmogenic dated pre-Last Glaciation erratics from the Montoz area, Jura Mountains, Switzerland

Graf

Strasky

Ivy‐Ochs

et al. 2007

Quaternary International

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Jura Mountains are a perialpine chain bending from the SW to the NW of Switzerland. Alpine ice reached only marginal areas of this chain during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) but remaining erratic boulders of alpine origin indicate older glaciations of unknown age, tentatively correlated either with the classical Rissian or with the Most Extensive Glaciation. Presented here are the first results of dating these pre-LGM boulders by using cosmogenic radionuclides ( 10 Be) and noble gases ( 21 Ne). Both data sets are in good agreement within 1s error, with radionuclide apparent exposure ages ranging from 60 to 107 ka, and noble gas apparent ages from 73 to 123 ka. Considering the importance of erosion on older boulders, the age of the erratics corresponds most probably to Marine Isotope Stage 6. These results are encouraging for further studies on pre-LGM erratic boulders in the mid-latitudes.

show abstract

A reconstruction of the last glacial maximum (LGM) ice-surface geometry in the western Swiss Alps and contiguous Alpine regions in Italy and France

Cited by 156 publications

References 18 publications

Cosmogenic nuclide‐derived rates of diffusive and episodic erosion in the glacially sculpted upper Rhone Valley, Swiss Alps

Cosmogenic nuclide‐derived rates of diffusive and episodic erosion in the glacially sculpted upper Rhone Valley, Swiss Alps

The Tatra Mountains during the Last Glacial Maximum

First results of cosmogenic dated pre-Last Glaciation erratics from the Montoz area, Jura Mountains, Switzerland

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About