Exposure dating of a pronounced glacier advance at the onset of the late-Holocene in the central Tyrolean Alps

A two-phased moraine system in the high Alpine valley of Lisenser Längental in the Stubai Alps of western Austria is located in an intermediate morphostratigraphic position constrained by ‘Egesen Stadial’ (Younger Dryas) moraines down valley and ‘Little Ice Age’ (‘LIA’) positions (modern times) up v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Holocene (Sevenoaks) 2017-09, Vol.27 (9), p.1350-1358
Main Authors: Moran, Andrew P, Ivy Ochs, Susan, Christl, Marcus, Kerschner, Hanns
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alpine environments
Altitude
Boulders
Dating
Dating techniques
Exposure
Glaciation
Glaciers
Holocene
Moraines
Valleys
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Summary:A two-phased moraine system in the high Alpine valley of Lisenser Längental in the Stubai Alps of western Austria is located in an intermediate morphostratigraphic position constrained by ‘Egesen Stadial’ (Younger Dryas) moraines down valley and ‘Little Ice Age’ (‘LIA’) positions (modern times) up valley. The equilibrium line altitude (ELA) was about 50 m lower than during the ‘LIA’ when applying an accumulation area ratio of 0.67. Exposure dating of boulders with 10Be yields a mean age of 3750 ± 330 years for the more extensive outer moraine system and a single age of 3140 ± 280 years for the inner one. The ages correspond well to the ‘Loebben oscillation’, a sequence of multi-decadal to multi-centennial cooling phases at the onset of the late-Holocene, also recognized in other Alpine records. The climatic downturn was severe enough to cause small to medium-sized Alpine glaciers in the central Alps to advance significantly beyond their ‘LIA’ extent, but too short to trigger a similar reaction with large glaciers.
ISSN:0959-6836
1477-0911
DOI:10.1177/0959683617690589