Late Pleistocene glaciers in the western Rodna Mountains, Romania

Glacial landforms are commonly found throughout the highest belt (above ∼1700 m a.s.l.) of the Romanian Carpathians. This paper presents glacial geomorphological evidence from the Zănoaga Mare, Zănoaga Iezerului and the western part of Buhăescu valley complex situated on the northern slope of the Rodna Mountains, in the Eastern Carpathians, Romania. GIS-based geomorphological mapping reveals five sets of moraines in glacial phases assigned to the Late Pleistocene. The most extensive glacier was in western Buhăescu valley and had a surface area of 5 km2 and a length of 4.2 km and reached down to an altitude of 1086 m. Several methods were tested to determine the former ELAs of the glaciers. Using size-specific AAR, the average ELA for the oldest phase was 1765 m and rose to 1865, 1960, 2001 and 2025 m. The last and youngest phase was characterised only by cirque glaciers. Comparison with previous studies shows that extents were over-estimated.