Rock glaciers and the geomorphological evolution of deglacierizing mountains

Abstract

Rock glaciers are an important geomorphic element of glaciated mountain landscapes, but our understanding of their distribution and ages, controls on their development, and their importance in regional mountain hydrology and mountain geomorphic evolution is incomplete. In part, this incomplete knowledge arises through problems associated with identifying rock glaciers on a morphological basis alone, amplified by the multiple ways in which rock glaciers can form in different glacial, periglacial, and paraglacial settings. This study focuses on rock glaciers as a paraglacial mountain landscape element and considers the relationships between rock glaciers and glacial, periglacial, and paraglacial processes. New geomorphic and sedimentary data on different rock glaciers from the Khumbu region of Nepal are presented. These data show that even within a single region, rock glaciers may have varied origins and thus likely ages and different climatic and environmental controls. We argue that rock glaciers in deglacierizing mountains may have a long residence time in the landscape, unlike many other glacially influenced mountain landforms, and can undergo significant morphodynamic changes as glaciated landscapes transition into paraglacial landscapes.