The Holocene

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Register here to gain access to SAGE's 500+ Journals Online

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hormes, A.
Right arrow Articles by Schlüchter, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
The Holocene, Vol. 11, No. 3, 255-265 (2001)
DOI: 10.1191/095968301675275728

The Alps with little ice: evidence for eight Holocene phases of reduced glacier extent in the Central Swiss Alps

Anne Hormes

Quartärgeologie, Geologisches Institut, Baltzerstrasse 1, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland; Via V. Brancati 48, 00144 Roma, italyhormes{at}anpa.it

Benjamin U. Müller

Christian Schlüchter

Quartärgeologie, Geologisches Institut, Baltzerstrasse 1, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland

Glacially deformed pieces of wood, organic lake sediments and clasts of reworked peat have been collected in front of Alpine glaciers since AD 1990. The palaeoglaciological interpretation of these organic materials is related to earlier phases of glacier recession surpassing that of today's shrunken glaciers and to tree growth and peat accumulation in the valleys now occupied by the glaciers. Glacial transport of the material is indicated by wood anatomy, incorporated silt, sand and gravel particles, missing bark and deformed treerings. A total of 65 samples have been radiocarbon dated so far, and clusters of dates provide evidence of eight phases of glacier recession: 9910-9550, 9010-7980, 7250-6500, 6170-5950, 5290-3870, 3640-3360, 2740-2620 and 1530-1170 calibrated years BP. Allowing for the timelag between climatic fluctuations, glacier response and vegetation colonization, these recession phases may lag behind climatic changes by 100-200 years.

Key Words: Glacier variations • glacier retreat phases • minimal glacier extension • radiocarbon dating • climatic change • Holocene • Swiss Alps


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
J. A. Matthews and P. Q. Dresser
Holocene glacier variation chronology of the Smorstabbtindan massif, Jotunheimen, southern Norway, and the recognition of century- to millennial-scale European Neoglacial Events
The Holocene, January 1, 2008; 18(1): 181 - 201.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
B. L. Hall
Late-Holocene advance of the Collins Ice Cap, King George Island, South Shetland Islands
The Holocene, December 1, 2007; 17(8): 1253 - 1258.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
R. A. Shakesby, J. G. Smith, J. A. Matthews, S. Winkler, P. Q. Dresser, J. Bakke, S.-O. Dahl, O. Lie, and A. Nesje
Reconstruction of Holocene glacier history from distal sources: glaciofluvial stream-bank mires and a glaciolacustrine sediment core near Sota Saeter, Breheimen, southern Norway
The Holocene, September 1, 2007; 17(6): 729 - 745.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
U. E. Joerin, T. F. Stocker, and C. Schluchter
Multicentury glacier fluctuations in the Swiss Alps during the Holocene
The Holocene, July 1, 2006; 16(5): 697 - 704.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
H. Kerschner, H. Kerschner, A. Hertl, G. Gross, S. Ivy-Ochs, and P. W. Kubik
Surface exposure dating of moraines in the Kromer valley (Silvretta Mountains, Austria)-evidence for glacial response to the 8.2 ka event in the Eastern Alps?
The Holocene, January 1, 2006; 16(1): 7 - 15.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
A. Nesje
Briksdalsbreen in western Norway: AD 1900-2004 frontal fluctuations as a combined effect of variations in winter precipitation and summer temperature
The Holocene, December 1, 2005; 15(8): 1245 - 1252.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
H. Holzhauser, M. Magny, and H. J. Zumbuuhl
Glacier and lake-level variations in west-central Europe over the last 3500 years
The Holocene, September 1, 2005; 15(6): 789 - 801.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
A. L. Carnelli, J.-P. Theurillat, M. Thinon, G. Vadi, and B. Talon
Past uppermost tree limit in the Central European Alps (Switzerland) based on soil and soil charcoal
The Holocene, April 1, 2004; 14(3): 393 - 405.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
C. Mayr, C. Mayr, B. Frenzel, M. Friedrich, M. Spurk, W. Stichler, and P. Trimborn
Stable carbon- and hydrogen-isotope ratios of subfossil oaks in southern Germany: methodology and application to a composite record for the Holocene
The Holocene, April 1, 2003; 13(3): 393 - 402.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Sedimentary ResearchHome page
Carbonate Speleothems in the Dry, Inneralpine Vinschgau Valley, Northernmost Italy: Witnesses of Changes in Climate and Hydrology Since the Last Glacial Maximum
Journal of Sedimentary Research, November 1, 2002; 72(6): 793 - 808.


Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
F. M. Chambers, F. M. Chambers, and S. A. Brain
Paradigm shifts in late-Holocene climatology?
The Holocene, February 1, 2002; 12(2): 239 - 249.
[Abstract] [PDF]