Chapter 14 - Glacial landscapes of the Romanian Carpathians

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With an extension of about 1500km, the Carpathian Mountains represent one of the major mountain landscapes of Europe. The Romanian Carpathians occupy 54% of the surface (96,900km2). Representing a distinct part of the Alpine–Carpathian–Dinaridic orogenic system, they have a typical alpine structure, with several nappe complexes and thrust sheets. The metamorphic rocks and granitoid plutons are characteristic. In the marginal zones, sedimentary rocks are present, with the Flysch Zone unit, especially in the Eastern Carpathians. A total of 14 peaks in the Southern Carpathians exceed 2500m, the highest being Moldoveanu Peak, with 2544m in the Făgăraş Mountains. Two main types of geomorphologic landscapes related to glacial erosion were identified in the Romanian Carpathians. The Borăscu glacial landscape that consists of cirques developed at the edge of planation surfaces, while the second type is Făgăraș, an alpine-style glacial landscapes characterised by narrow, jagged ridges between glacial cirques and valleys, and horns, associated with striking glacial features. Geomorphological landscape is completed, afterward, with periglacial landforms (scree slopes, rock glaciers, rock streams, etc.). Located at the intersection of the parallel of 45° latitude with the meridian of 25° longitude, the Romanian Carpathians have a moderate continental temperate climate, the mean annual air temperature being −2.4°C at the highest meteorological station, Omu (2505m, Southern Carpathians). The existence of glacial landforms and their correlation with the Quaternary glaciation was first reported in the northern part of the Eastern Carpathians and in the Southern Carpathians in the last two decades of the 19th century.