Abstract
ABSTRACT Rock glaciers in the southeastern Alps of Slovenia and Italy have been mapped in detail using high resolution digital elevation model and orthophotos, supported by field-based observations. A total of 52 rock glaciers with an area of 3.40 km2 have been delineated on a rock glacier map, divided in 18 sections at a scale of 1:15,000. Several geometrical parameters of rock glaciers have been calculated and their activity degree has been inferred. 90% of rock glaciers have been classified as relict, while the rest are assumed to be of uncertain activity and might still contain some ice. The volumetric ice content and water volume equivalent of the studied rock glaciers for the period of their activity has been calculated to 0.055 ± 0.011 km3 and 0.049 ± 0.010 km3, respectively, which is very close to the ice volume of glaciers reconstructed for this area during the little ice age to 0.069 km3.
Highlights
Masses of coarse and angular debris formed as a result of downslope creep of perennially frozen ice-rich debris with peculiar transversal furrows and ridges on the upper surface, which characterize the periglacial mountain domain of several alpine areas of the world, are commonly named rock glaciers (Barsch, 1996; Haeberli, 1985; Haeberli et al, 2006)
The volumetric ice content and water volume equivalent of the studied rock glaciers for the period of their activity has been calculated to 0.055 ± 0.011 km3 and 0.049 ± 0.010 km3, respectively, which is very close to the ice volume of glaciers reconstructed for this area during the little ice age to 0.069 km3
The inventory of rock glaciers has been made by inspecting medium (0.5 m pixel; 1998, 2003, 2011 and 2014) and high resolution (0.15 m pixel; 2006– 2009) aerial orthorectified photographs, as well as high resolution (1.0 m cell size) digital terrain model (DTM) and shaded relief interpolated from airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) data acquired between September 2006 and September 2009 for Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (RAFVG, 2006–2009) and between February 2011 and April 2015 for Slovenia (Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Slovenian Environment Agency, 2011–2015)
Summary
Masses of coarse and angular debris formed as a result of downslope creep of perennially frozen ice-rich debris with peculiar transversal furrows and ridges on the upper surface, which characterize the periglacial mountain domain of several alpine areas of the world, are commonly named rock glaciers (Barsch, 1996; Haeberli, 1985; Haeberli et al, 2006) Together with glaciers they globally represent the largest cryospheric landforms of the mountain domain and widespread components of cold climate environment. On the other hand the onset and decay of rock glaciers have been related to the Younger Dryas (YD) cold phase event and the subsequent climate amelioration of the early Holocene (Colucci et al, 2016b) This description lacks the real size in terms of ice volume and water content which are instead known for glaciers at the LIA peak (Colucci & Žebre, 2016) but still unknown for the Lateglacial phases. Glacial features and morphologies were already mapped by Colucci and Žebre (2016) and Žebre and Stepišnik (2016), this work is part of an extensive effort aiming for a better understanding of environments and landscapes of this transboundary European area
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