Unravelling the moisture sources of the Alpine Glaciers using tunnel valleys as constraints

Reber, Regina; Schlunegger, Fritz (2016). Unravelling the moisture sources of the Alpine Glaciers using tunnel valleys as constraints. Terra nova, 28(3), pp. 202-211. Blackwell Scientific Publications 10.1111/ter.12211

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A lack of archives has impeded reconstructions of moisture pathways for past glaciations in the European Alps. Here, we focus on the confluence area of two palaeoglaciers in the Swiss Plateau that were sourced on the northern (Aare glacier) and southern sides (Valais glacier) of the European Alps. We mapped tunnel valleys in the region using a drilling database, based on which we inferred the relative extent of each glacier c. 270 ka ago when the valleys were formed. We then compared this situation with that of the LGM. We found that, while the Valais glacier expanded farther into the foreland than the Aare glacier during the LGM, the opposite was the case c. 270 ka ago. We also found that LGM glaciers were non-erosive in the distal foreland. These contrasts in extents and erosional efficiencies imply differences in moisture pathways between the LGM and the time when the tunnel valleys were formed.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geological Sciences

UniBE Contributor:

Reber-Tikhomirov, Regina, Schlunegger, Fritz

Subjects:

500 Science > 550 Earth sciences & geology

ISSN:

0954-4879

Publisher:

Blackwell Scientific Publications

Language:

English

Submitter:

Regina Reber-Tikhomirov

Date Deposited:

21 Jun 2016 10:15

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:27

Publisher DOI:

10.1111/ter.12211

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.80810

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/80810

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