Reconstructing basal ice flow patterns of the Last Glacial Maximum Rhine glacier (northern Alpine foreland) based on streamlined subglacial landforms

Kamleitner, Sarah; Ivy‐Ochs, Susan; Salcher, Bernhard; Reitner, Jürgen M.

doi:10.1002/esp.5733

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 122 publications

(318 reference statements)

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“…A high-resolution chronological framework (e.g., Reber et al, 2014;Kamleitner et al, 2023a) has been established from deposits of the LGM that occurred c. 20 ka ago (Ivy-Ochs et al, 2008;Kamleitner et al, 2023b) (Figure 7). A relatively detailed chronology is also available for the first and second glacial advances during the Birrfeld glaciation (Ivy-Ochs et al, 2008;Preusser, 2004;Preusser et al, 2007;Pfander et al, 2022).…”

Section: Chronological Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overdeepening or tunnel valley of the Aare glacier on the northern margin of the European Alps: Basins, riegels, and slot canyons

Schlunegger,

Kissling,

Bandou

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Abstract. This work summarizes the results of an interdisciplinary project where we aimed to explore the origin of overdeepenings or tunnel valleys through a combination of a gravimetry survey, drillings, dating and a synthesis of previously published work. To this end, we focused on the Bern area, Switzerland, situated on the northern margin of the European Alps. In this region, multiple advances of piedmont glaciers during the Quaternary glaciations resulted in the carving of the main overdeepening of the Aare River valley (referred to as Aare main overdeepening). This bedrock depression is tens of km long and up to several hundreds of meters to a few kilometers wide. We found that in the Bern area, this main overdeepening is made up of two >200 m-deep troughs that are separated by a c. 5 km-long and up to 150 m-high transverse rocky ridge, interpreted as a riegel. The basins and the riegel are overlain by a >200 m- and 100 m-thick succession of Quaternary sediments, respectively. The bedrock itself is made up of a Late Oligocene to Early Miocene suite of consolidated clastic deposits, which are part of the Molasse foreland basin, whereas the Quaternary suite comprises a middle Pleistocene to Holocene succession of glacio-lacustrine gravel, sand and mud. A synthesis of published gravimetry data revealed that the upstream stoss side of the bedrock riegel is c. 50 % flatter than the downstream lee side. In addition, information from >100 deep drillings reaching depths >50 m suggests that the bedrock riegel is dissected by an anastomosing network of slot canyons. We propose that these canyons established the hydrological connection between the upstream and downstream basins during their formation. Based on published modelling results, we interpret that the riegels and canyons were formed through incision of subglacial meltwater during a glacier’s decay state, when large volumes of meltwater were released. Such a situation has repeatedly occurred since the Middle Pleistocene Transition approximately 800 ka ago, when large and erosive piedmont glaciers began to advance far into the foreland. This resulted in the deep carving of the inner-Alpine valleys, and additionally in the formation of overdeepenings on the plateau on the northern margin of the Alps.

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Section: Chronological Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overdeepening or tunnel valley of the Aare glacier on the northern margin of the European Alps: Basins, riegels, and slot canyons

Schlunegger,

Kissling,

Bandou

et al. 2024

Preprint

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How can geomorphology facilitate a better understanding of glacier and ice sheet behaviour?

Jones,

Miller,

Westoby

2024

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Glaciers and ice sheets are an integral part of Earth's system, advancing and retreating in response to changes in climate. Clues about the past, present and future behaviour of these ice masses are found throughout current and former glaciated landscapes. In this commentary, we outline recent scientific advances from a collection of articles in which geomorphological evidence is used to inform us about the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets across a range of spatial (landform to continent) and temporal (seasons to millennia) scales. Through a diversity of approaches including field measurements, remote sensing and numerical modelling, these studies build on an extensive background literature to deepen our understanding of how ice flows, how glaciers and ice sheets respond to climate change, and of the processes of ice advance and retreat and the stability of the system. Further integration of knowledge across the fields of geomorphology and glaciology will have tangible benefits for managing the societal and environmental impacts of glacier change and for improved projections of sea‐level rise over the coming decades to centuries.

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Maps of Quaternary sediments and features in Austria and neighbouring countries at the scales of 1:500 000 and 1:1 500 000

Griesmeier

2024

Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences

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Today’s landscape and morphology of Austria is markedly affected by erosional and sedimentary processes active during the Quaternary. Particularly, large glaciers have shaped the landscape of the Eastern Alps. The presented maps at the scales of 1:500 000 and 1:1 500 000 aim to visualise areas, where deposition or erosion in different stages of the Quaternary prevailed. The maps (free download available) were generated with ArcGIS software using available map sheets at larger scales (1:50 000, 1:200 000). No additional field work has been conducted. The most obvious observation is that an extensive cover of Quaternary sediments predominantly occurs in the northern Alpine foreland, especially outside of Austria. The maps show that large glacier tongues of the Middle to Late Pleistocene glaciations (Günz, Mindel, Riss and Würm) existed in the northern and southeastern alpine foreland. In the east, hardly any signs of glacial coverage are visible due to later fluvial cannibalisation of features partly deposited in narrow valleys. Bordering terminal moraines, extensive, terraced fluvial deposits occur within and around the Alps showing that river courses partly changed during the Pleistocene. Aeolian sediments often accompany these sediments, but also cover huge areas in the Vienna and Tulln Basin and the Little Hungarian plain. The distribution of large rockslide events shows that they mainly formed in glacially covered areas as a result of rock destabilisation after glacier retreat. Additionally, the map shows that the alpine foreland is subject of inhomogeneous uplift since the Neogene. For example, between Salzburg and Munich, wide areas are covered by Pleistocene deposits, whereas to the west of Munich and in Upper Austria, recent rivers incised deeper into Neogene sediments.

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Reconstructing basal ice flow patterns of the Last Glacial Maximum Rhine glacier (northern Alpine foreland) based on streamlined subglacial landforms

Cited by 3 publications

References 122 publications

Overdeepening or tunnel valley of the Aare glacier on the northern margin of the European Alps: Basins, riegels, and slot canyons

Overdeepening or tunnel valley of the Aare glacier on the northern margin of the European Alps: Basins, riegels, and slot canyons

How can geomorphology facilitate a better understanding of glacier and ice sheet behaviour?

Maps of Quaternary sediments and features in Austria and neighbouring countries at the scales of 1:500 000 and 1:1 500 000

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