scholarly journals Periglacial landforms and the geological controlling factors: examples from the highest mountains of the Balkan Peninsula

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
Emil Gachev
Keyword(s):  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
Controlling Factors ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
High Mountains ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Geological Conditions ◽  
Rock Glaciers ◽  
Geological Factors ◽  
Mountain Environment ◽  
Tectonic Settings

Periglacial landforms are typical features of the high mountain environment on the Balkan Peninsula. Their formation and diversity is determined by climatic, topographic and geological factors. Presently active periglacial processes occur above 1700-2000 m a. s. l., while relict features are observed down to 1100-1400 m a. s. l. Among the most prominent periglacial landforms are the extensive talus screes and fans, the numerous rock glaciers (especially in Rila, Pirin, Shar and Prokletije Mountains) – considered mostly relict – and nivation features (nivation cirques, long-lasting snow patches), as well as cryo-clastuc landforms (stone seas and strips). The present study aims to focus on the importance of geological conditions (bedrock composition and structure, tectonic settings) for the diversity and style of periglacial landforms – a factor, whose role has often been underestimated. The analysis and the derived conclusions are based mainly on regional and local comparisons between the high mountains throughout the peninsula.

scholarly journals Rock glaciers in mixed lithologies: a case study from Northern Pirin

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-72
Author(s):  
Emil Mariov Gachev
Keyword(s):  
Granite Gneiss ◽  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Environments ◽  
Typical Morphology ◽  
Rock Glaciers ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Marginal Zones ◽  
Silicate Rocks

Rock glaciers are lobate or tongue-shaped assemblages of poorly sorted, angular-rock debris and ice, commonly found in high mountain environments, which move as a consequence of the deformation of internal ice (Giardino and Vitek, 1988; Barsch, 1996). However, in most research works, when discussing the formation of these features, the focus has been mainly on the past or present climatic conditions. The systematic observations of the distribution of relict rock glaciers in the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula indicate however that geological setting, represented by bedrock type and composition, and the pattern of fault lines, is not less important for the formation and evolution of these landforms. The present article is focused on rock glaciers in the high mountain zone of the Pirin Mounains (Bulgaria), which are formed in mixed lithology, with participation of both silicate rocks (granite, gneiss) and carbonate rocks (marble). In fact, these rock glaciers are the only ones of a typical morphology that exist in the glaciokarstic marble area of Northern Pirin. What is common for all locations where such rock glaciers are found is that the marble layer, which is on top, is quite thin (few metres to few hundreds of metres). In such conditions, the rock glacier formation occurred following the mechanism typical for silicate rocks, but using marble debris and block material instead. The observed forms are characteristic only for marginal zones, along the contact line between silicate and carbonate high mountain environments.     

Supplementary material to "Glacier-permafrost relations in a high-mountain environment: 5 decades of kinematic monitoring at the Gruben site, Swiss Alps"

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Gärtner-Roer ◽  
Nina Brunner ◽  
Reynald Delaloye ◽  
Wilfried Haeberli ◽  
Andreas Kääb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Swiss Alps ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Environment ◽  
Supplementary Material

scholarly journals Mechanisms linking active rock glaciers and impounded surface water formation in high-mountain areas

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Colombo ◽  
Luigi Sambuelli ◽  
Cesare Comina ◽  
Chiara Colombero ◽  
Marco Giardino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Water Formation ◽  
Rock Glaciers

scholarly journals Analysis of high-mountain vegetation of the Kurai Ridge

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 00102
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Popova ◽  
Evgeniy Sinkovskiy
Keyword(s):  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Taxonomic Structure ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
The South ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
The North ◽  
Geographic Position ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Mountain Vegetation ◽  
Plant Families

The paper presents a taxonomic, areographic and belt-andzonal analysis of the high-mountain flora of the Kurai Ridge. The flora of the region in question contains 312 species of plants, referred to 143 genera belonging to 48 families. Analysis of the taxonomic structure of the high-mountain flora of the Kurai Ridge has shown the following most abundant plant families: Asteraceae, Ranunculaceae, and Poaceae. For the variety of the genera, the following genera are predominant: Carex, Pedicularis, Salix, and Oxytropis. The areographic analysis has demonstrated that the said species are of the North Asian (21 %), South Siberian (19.4 %) and Holarctic (17.4 %) origins. Dominant in the belt-and-zonal range are the following species: high-mountain (23.2 %), light-coniferous forest (17.7 %) and Arctic Alpine (17.4 %) species. In general, the composition and structure of the high-mountain flora of the Kurai Ridge are determined by its geographic position at the boundary of Central and South-Eastern Altai and by decrease in the amount of precipitation in the south-eastern direction.

scholarly journals Ice content and interannual water storage changes of an active rock glacier in the dry Andes of Argentina

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Halla ◽  
Jan Henrik Blöthe ◽  
Carla Tapia Baldis ◽  
Dario Trombotto ◽  
Christin Hilbich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Rock Glacier ◽  
Mountain Catchment ◽  
Rock Glaciers ◽  
Ice Content ◽  
Surface Ice ◽  
Water Contents

Abstract. The quantification of volumetric ice and water contents in active rock glaciers is necessary to estimate their role as water stores and contributors to runoff in dry mountain catchments. In the semi-arid to arid Andes of Argentina, active rock glaciers potentially constitute important water reservoirs due to their widespread distribution. Here however, water storage capacities and their interannual changes have so far escaped quantification in detailed field studies. Volumetric ice and water contents were quantified using a petrophysical four-phase model (4PM) based on complementary electrical resistivities (ERT) and seismic refraction tomographies (SRT) in different positions of Dos Lenguas rock glacier in the Upper Agua Negra basin, Argentina. We derived vertical and horizontal surface changes of the Dos Lenguas rock glacier, for the periods 2016–17 and 2017–18 using drone-derived digital elevation models (DEM). Interannual water storage changes of −36 mm yr−1 and +27 mm yr−1 derived from DEMs of Difference (DoD) for the periods 2016–17 and 2017–18, respectively, indicate that significant amounts of annual precipitation rates can be stored in and released from the active rock glacier. Heterogeneous ice and water contents show ice-rich permafrost and supra-, intra- and sub-permafrost aquifers in the subsurface. Active layer and ice-rich permafrost control traps and pathways of shallow ground water, and thus regulate interannual storage changes and water releases from the active rock glacier in the dry mountain catchment. The ice content of 1.7–2.0 × 109 kg in the active Dos Lenguas rock glacier represents an important long-term ice reservoir, just like other ground ice deposits in the vicinity, if compared to surface ice that covers less than 3 % of the high mountain catchment.

Southern Carpathian rock glaciers: Inventory, distribution and environmental controlling factors

Geomorphology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 293 ◽  
pp. 391-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandru Onaca ◽  
Florina Ardelean ◽  
Petru Urdea ◽  
Brigitte Magori
Keyword(s):  
Controlling Factors ◽  
Rock Glaciers ◽  
Inventory Distribution

scholarly journals Controlling factors of microclimate in blocky surface layers of two nearby relict rock glaciers (Niedere Tauern Range, Austria)

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wagner ◽  
Marcus Pauritsch ◽  
Cyril Mayaud ◽  
Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer ◽  
Felix Thalheim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Controlling Factors ◽  
Surface Layers ◽  
Rock Glaciers
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