Onset of major Pleistocene glaciations in the Alps

Muttoni, Giovanni; Carcano, Cipriano; Garzanti, Eduardo; Ghielmi, Manlio; Piccin, Andrea; Pini, Roberta; Rogledi, Sergio; Sciunnach, Dario

doi:10.1130/g19445.1

Cited by 232 publications

(210 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The onset of widespread Northern-Hemisphere glaciations has been dated at ~2.4 Ma (e.g., Maslin et al, 1998;Raymo, 1994) but there are indications that the Alps may only have become totally glaciated for the first time at around 0.9 Ma (Muttoni et al, 2003 and references therein).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A quantification of the glacial imprint on relief development in the French western Alps

Beek

Bourbon

2008

Geomorphology

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Mail: pvdbeek@ujf-grenoble.fr AbstractThe morphology of the western Alps has been strongly influenced by Quaternary glaciations.On the basis of observations of glacial morphology in the Belledonne, Grandes-Rousses, Taillefer and Pelvoux-Ecrins Massifs (south-eastern France), we reconstitute the glacial trimline and equilibrium line altitude (ELA) during the most extensive glaciation (MEG). Our best estimate of the MEG ELA is 1800±100 m. Using digital elevation models, we compare our glacial reconstruction with the relief structure of 9 major catchments draining the massifs. This number is insufficient to substantially offset topographic lowering due to regional denudation, and we conclude that the isostatic response to glacial valley carving has not increased peak elevations significantly.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A quantification of the glacial imprint on relief development in the French western Alps

Beek

Bourbon

2008

Geomorphology

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“…This increase was considered as evidence of a climatically-driven surface process change, a large component of which was attributed to increased precipitation (Cederbom et al, 2004) and erosion by glacial processes (Kuhlemann et al, 2001;Champagnac et al, 2007). The glacial erosion seems to have accelerated around 0.9 Ma as suggested by incision rates of a valley in the Central Alps (Häuselmann et al, 2007), and by information about vegetation and sedimentologic changes (Muttoni et al, 2003;Scardia et al, 2006). The glacial overprint in the landscape is presumably the most important process setting the pace and pattern of modern surface erosion (e.g.…”

Section: Paleo-climate and Geomorphic Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erosion-driven uplift of the modern Central Alps

et al. 2009

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We present a compilation of data of modern tectono-geomorphic processes in the Central European Alps which suggest that observed rock uplift is a response to climate-driven denudation. This interpretation is predominantly based on the recent quantification of basinaveraged Late Holocene denudation rates that are so similar to the pattern and rates of rock uplift rates as determined by geodetic leveling. Furthermore, a GPS data-based synthesis of Adriatic microplate kinematics suggests that the Central Alps are currently not in a state of active convergence. Finally, we illustrate that the Central Alps have acted as a closed system for Holocene redistribution of sediment in which the peri-Alpine lakes have operated as a sink for the erosional products of the inner Central Alps.While various hypotheses have been put forward to explain Central Alpine rock uplift (e.g. lithospheric forcing by convergence, mantle processes, or ice melting) we show with an elastic model of lithospheric deformation, that the correlation between erosion and rock uplift rates reflects a positive feedback between denudation and the associated isostatic response to unloading. Thus, erosion does not passively respond to advection of crustal material as might be the case in actively converging orogens. Rather, we suggest that the geomorphic response of the Alpine topography to glacial and fluvial erosion and the resulting disequilibrium for modern channelized and associated hillslope processes explains much of the pattern of modern denudation and hence rock uplift. Therefore, in a non-convergent orogen such as the Central European Alps, the observed vertical rock uplift is primarily a consequence of passive unloading due to erosion.

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“…At~2.9 Ma, the Aare-Doubs was captured by the Rhine River resulting in an early Aare-Rhine system draining through the Upper Rhine Graben and eventually into the North Sea (Figures 1 and 2c) [Petit et al, 1996;Hagedorn and Boenigk, 2008]. Additionally, a portion of the Alpine Rhine remained isolated from the Aare-Doubs system and continued flowing to the Danube until the late to middle Quaternary (~1.7-0.8 Ma; Figures 1 and 2d) [Villinger, 1998;Ziegler and Fraefel, 2009;Muttoni et al, 2003].…”

Section: Geologic Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, if glaciers formed and were erosive enough to lower valley elevations prior to the arrival of the capture signal, then glacial overprinting could reduce the magnitude of the incisional wave when it arrives in the core of the Alps. Given that the timing of the first capture event is~4.2 Ma, well before extensive Alpine glaciations [Muttoni et al, 2003], and that the incision likely worked its way through the landscape in 1 Myr (so by 3.2 Ma), at least some of the Pliocene-modern exhumation of the central Alps is due to this capture event [Schlunegger and Mosar, 2011]. As the first known major glacial advance in the Swiss Alps occurred during the mid-Pleistocene revolution at around 0.87 Ma [Muttoni et al, 2003], we expect that most of the incision propagated through much of the Alps before being strongly influenced by glacial processes.…”

Section: Additional Considerations 531 Potential Influence Of Glacmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that the timing of the first capture event is~4.2 Ma, well before extensive Alpine glaciations [Muttoni et al, 2003], and that the incision likely worked its way through the landscape in 1 Myr (so by 3.2 Ma), at least some of the Pliocene-modern exhumation of the central Alps is due to this capture event [Schlunegger and Mosar, 2011]. As the first known major glacial advance in the Swiss Alps occurred during the mid-Pleistocene revolution at around 0.87 Ma [Muttoni et al, 2003], we expect that most of the incision propagated through much of the Alps before being strongly influenced by glacial processes. Furthermore, even with glaciers in the Alps, the base level lowering that is generated by this incision event will propagate to the glaciated part of the landscape, potentially influencing the type and rate of glacial erosion [e.g., Shuster et al, 2011].…”

Section: Additional Considerations 531 Potential Influence Of Glacmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High magnitude and rapid incision from river capture: Rhine River, Switzerland

et al. 2013

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[1] Landscape evolution is controlled by the development and organization of drainage basins. As a landscape evolves, drainage reorganization events can occur via river capture or piracy, whereby one river basin grows at the expense of another. The river downstream of a capture location will generate a transient topographic response as the added water discharge increases sediment transport and erosion efficiency. This erosional response will propagate upstream through both the captured and original river basins. Here we focus on quantifying the impact of drainage reorganization along the Rhine/Aare River system (~45,000 km 2 ) during the late Pliocene/early Pleistocene, where gravel remnants indicate total incision of~650 m during the last~4.2 Myr in the region of the recent Aare-Rhine confluence. We develop a numerical model of drainage capture to quantify the range of possible magnitudes of erosion and the transient river response resulting from the reorganization of the Rhine River. The model accounts for both fluvial incision and sediment transport. Our model estimates 400-800 m of river elevation change (lowering profiles) during the last~4 Myr due to river capture events, providing an important component to the recent exhumation budget of the Swiss Alpine Foreland. The model indicates a rapid response to capture events (re-equilibration timescale of~1 Myr). The predicted incision magnitudes are consistent with incision measured from the elevation of Pliocene and early Pleistocene river gravels, suggesting that across northern Switzerland, a significant amount of incision can be explained by drainage reorganization.

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Onset of major Pleistocene glaciations in the Alps

Cited by 232 publications

References 13 publications

A quantification of the glacial imprint on relief development in the French western Alps

A quantification of the glacial imprint on relief development in the French western Alps

Erosion-driven uplift of the modern Central Alps

High magnitude and rapid incision from river capture: Rhine River, Switzerland

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