New data on the glacial heritage of the Mt Maiella (Abruzzo - Central Italy) [Nuovi dati sul glacialismo della montagna Della Maiella (Abruzzo, Italia Centrale)]

• Main Author: Giraudi, C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Italian
• Published: AIQUA - Associazione Italiana per lo Studio del Quaternario 1998
• Subjects: Mt. maiella; Last glacial maximum; Equilibrium line altitude; Glacial sediments and features; Ela; Ice cap
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12079/3325; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84981557046&partnerID=40&md5=73a0a92801ae2a70e89ff1b24f9f947b

The result of the present paper can be synthetized in the following way. For the first time three morainic anphiteatres attributable to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) were recognized: they lie in the southern part of the Maiella Massif, outside the area of the main glacial valleys and they have been formed by glacial tongues fed by an extended ice cap that occupied the more elevated portion of that area. Moreover, some moraines and a trimline have been found, that allow a better reconstruction of the extension of the same ice cap and help to estimate the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) during the LGM. E LA during LGM was very different according to the direction of valleys and slopes: ELA has been calculated at the height of 2160 m in valleys directed toward ESE, at 1900 m in the deep-cut valleys directed toward NW, N and NE, higher than 2250 m in the ice cap on slopes directed toward SW, S and SE. The subsequent retreat phases, in the valleys of the northern portion of the massif, occurred in five steps, with ELA increasing of 140 m, 235 m, 380 m, 500÷600, 650, 740 m. According to the comparison with the Gran Sasso Massif, one can hypothesize that the Maiella's moraines formed by glaciers whose ELA was 140 m higher than during LGM, are dated to a period older than 17÷18,000 years BP; the moraine formed by glaciers with ELA 235, 380, 500÷600 m higher are younger than 16,000 and older than 10÷11,000 years BP; the moraine formed by glaciers with ELA 650 and 740 m higher must be dated to the Holocene. The youngest moraines were formed by a glacierlet, probably, during the Little Ice Age. A lot of rock glaciers has been found: the greatest amount of them developed probably during the retreat of the glaciers and the early post-glacial. However, at least at the head of the Cannella Valley, there are two rock glaciers that look very young. The recentmost has a surface less wethered and colonized by the vegetation in coparison with the last moraine: it cannot be excluded that it has been active at least until recent ...