Chapter 18 - Glacial landscape evolution during the Holocene in the Romanian Carpathians

Abstract

The Romanian Carpathians cover an area of 96,900km2. In total, 14 peaks exceed 2500m in the Southern Carpathians, the highest peak, 2544m, being Moldoveanu in the Făgăraş Mountains. After the Younger Dryas, a generally warm climate continued throughout the Holocene although interrupted by cooling episodes. In protected locations with local favourable topoclimatic conditions, only small cirque glaciers were preserved in the Early Holocene. Some of them were of the cliff glacier type, ice aprons and wall-sided glaciers. These glaciers, especially in the granitic area of Retezat and Parâng Mountains and gneissic area of Făgărăş and Iezer-Păpuşa Mountains, were affected by large amounts of debris production from frost weathering. This triggered an evolution in the glacier type through the following succession: debris-free glacier → debris-covered glacier → ice-cored rock glacier → glacier-derived rock glacier. All these processes were possible in the Holocene cool phases, as documented in pollen and speleothem records. The periglacial processes, more active in the Little Ice Age, generated a series of deposits in the cirques such as debris cones, protalus ramparts, talus slopes and rockfall talus. During warmer climate phases of the Holocene, the paraglacial conditions and permafrost thermal disturbance, glacier undercutting, debuttressing and postglacial stress release caused the appearance of deep-seated gravitational slope deformations such as sagging/sackung. The most important areas defined by glacial landforms and characterised by representative elements of Holocene landscape evolution—geomorphological and environmental—are currently protected within the Romanian network of National and Natural Parks and natural reserves.