Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5781078 | Geomorphology | 2017 | 48 Pages |
Abstract
The Jizerské hory Mountains in the Czech Republic have traditionally been considered to be a highland that lay beyond the limits of Quaternary glaciations. Recent work on cirque-like valley heads in the central part of the range has shown that niche glaciers could form during the Quaternary. Here we report geomorphological and sedimentary evidence for a small glacier in the Pytlácká jáma Hollow that represents one of the most-enclosed valley heads within the range. Shape and size characteristics of this landform indicate that the hollow is a glacial cirque at a degraded stage of development. Boulder accumulations at the downslope side of the hollow probably represent a relic of terminal moraines, and the grain size distribution of clasts together with micromorphology of quartz grains from the hollow indicate the glacial environment of a small glacier. This glacier represents the lowermost located such system in central Europe and provides evidence for the presence of niche or small cirque glaciers probably during pre-Weichselian glacial periods. The glaciation limit (1000Â m asl) and paleo-ELA (900Â m asl) proposed for the Jizerské hory Mountains implies that central European ranges lower than 1100Â m asl were probably glaciated during the Quaternary.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Earth-Surface Processes
Authors
ZbynÄk Engel, Marek KÅÞek, Marek Kasprzak, Andrzej Traczyk, Martin Hložek, Klára Krbcová,