The origin and collapse of rock glaciers during the Bølling-Allerød interstadial: A new study case from the Cantabrian Mountains (Spain)

• DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108112
• Publication Date: 2022-01-19T18:20:02Z
• Authors: Javier Santos-Gon...; Rosa Blanca Gonzá...; José María Redond...; Amelia Gómez-Villar; Vincent Jomelli; José M. Fernández...; Nuria Andrés; José M. García-Ruiz; Sergio Alberto Pe...; Adrián Melón-Nava; Marc Oliva; Javier Álvarez-Ma...; Joanna Charton; David Palacios
• Keywords: Cirque; Rock glacier; Deglaciation; Cirque glacier; Glacier morphology; Terminal moraine

During the Late Pleistocene, main mountain ranges of Iberian Peninsula were covered by small icefields and cirque alpine glaciers. The deglaciation triggered paraglacial processes that generated landforms, mostly within ice-free glacial cirques. In this research we analyse process in Muxivén Cirque (42°15′N – 6°16′W), upper Sil River Basin, which includes some largest relict rock glaciers Cantabrian Mountains. We addressed objective means accurate geomorphological reconstructions, sedimentological analysis, Schmidt-hammer surface weathering measurements a dataset 10 10Be Cosmic-Ray Exposure ages. Results reveal after ~16 ka, retreated to bottom cirques at headwaters valley, leaving walls free ice triggering avalanches onto remnants these This supplied debris glacier Cirque, transformed two These isolated inside only for very short period time ended up melting completely before Younger Dryas. lower sector one stabilized 14.5 ± 1.5 while remained active until 13.5 0.8 ka. Previous stabilization northern glacier, its margin high-energy avalanche occurred ~14.0 0.9 data agree with previous research, corroborating origin most during Bølling-Allerød interstadial.