Landforms of High Mountains

Landforms of High Mountains

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Alexander Stahr Ewald Langenscheidt Landforms of High Mountains

Alexander Stahr Taunusstein Germany Ewald Langenscheidt Rotthalmünster Germany ISBN 978-3-642-53714-1 ISBN 978-3-642-53715-8 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-53715-8 Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2014945812 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 All illustrations are published with kind permission of # Alexander Stahr, Ewald Langenscheidt 2014. All Rights Reserved. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Cover illustration: # Alexander Stahr, 2014. All Rights Reserved. Peitlerkofel (Sass de Putia, 2875 m). Highest mountain of Peitlerkofelgruppe in the Dolomites (Italy). On June 26, 2009, parts of the Dolomites were recognized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as a serial World Heritage Site. The Peitlerkofel massif is a UNESCO World Heritage and includes all typical rock formations of the Dolomites. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

Preface When the high mountains call, then they come: The hikers and mountaineers, pupils, students, scientists, the juniors, the seniors, and the moderate or the extreme ones. All of them come and they come with pleasure. There are no exact numbers, but it might be millions annually who travel into the high mountains of the world. All of us enjoy the beauties of the mountains: We take photographs, walk their valleys, climb over their glaciers, and climb their walls. We think often we know what we see at different landforms. However, can we also describe or explain them? And what actually do we know about their emergence? But what are the things called which we see? What exactly can we say about the various landforms? To us names like Reinhold Messner, Sir Edmund Hillary, Ueli Steck, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, or Wanda Rutkiewicz are familiar. But do we know the terms lapies or shore moraine? This book shall give information about the various landforms in the high mountains. It is a textbook which is understandable and illustrated richly, an adviser, as well as a reference book. The book therefore addresses both the interested layman and pupils and teachers or students of earth sciences for introduction to the geomorphological variety of high mountain areas. However, it cannot and will not replace any conventional textbook. The secondary documents are referred to in the bibliography to deepen studies of the topics dealt with. Most given examples are from Europe, Asia, and the North and South Americas as well as from Oceania. Completeness was not striven for. Anyway it would be impossible to discuss comprehensively the enormous variety of landforms in the high mountains in one book. Photos and textual content therefore confine themselves to a subjective choice. Our thanks go to Herbert Funk (Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Heiko Kurz (Mainz, Germany), Dr. Johannes Thomas Weidinger (Gmunden, Austria), and Prof. Dr. Heinz Veit (University of Bern, Switzerland) for leaving photographic materials. The excellent photos of Herbert Funk from Svalbard, Norway, and Greenland can be seen on the Web site http://www. arcticimpressions.de. A wealth of photographs and other materials can be found at the U.S. Geological Survey (http://www.usgs.gov) that can provide further insights into the world of high mountains geomorphology. With this book we hope to give to a broader public a better understanding of the fascinating form variety in the high mountains and also an appreciation of the essential causal geomorphological relationships in the high mountains region. Taunusstein, Germany Rotthalmünster, Germany Spring 2014 Alexander Stahr Ewald Langenscheidt v

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Contents 1 Introduction... 1 1.1 High Mountains and Man.... 2 1.2 What Does High Mountain Mean?....... 8 1.3 The Origin of High Mountains... 8 1.4 Climate and High Mountains.................................. 12 1.4.1 Leeward and Windward Effects........................... 12 1.4.2 Local Winds.... 14 1.4.3 Temperature and Precipitation............................ 14 1.4.4 Exposure... 15 1.4.5 Altitudinal Zonation... 15 1.4.6 Climate Change.... 17 2 Landforms Determined by Tectonics... 19 2.1 FoldsandNappes... 20 2.2 Fractures and Related Structures... 23 2.3 Reliefs of Former Times... 23 3 Volcanoes... 29 3.1 The Formation of Volcanic Mountains... 30 3.2 The Distribution of Volcanic Mountains.......................... 31 3.3 Types of Volcanoes..... 34 4 Weathering and Erosion Form High Mountains... 37 4.1 Weathering............................................... 38 4.1.1 Physical Weathering................................... 38 4.1.2 Chemical Weathering... 39 4.2 Erosion... 44 4.2.1 Falls............................................... 45 4.2.2 Slides.............................................. 47 4.2.3 Flowages.... 53 4.2.4 Abrasion and Transportation............................. 56 5 Landscapes Caused by Geological Structure and Rock Features... 63 5.1 Structure-Controlled Development.............................. 64 5.2 Shaping Due to Rock Features..... 65 6 Shaping of High Mountains by Snow... 77 6.1 Nivation Hollows.................. 78 6.2 Erosion by Moving Snow Blankets.............................. 78 vii

viii Contents 7 Glaciers... 85 7.1 The Formation of Glaciers...... 86 7.2 Properties of Glaciers........................................ 86 7.2.1 Mass Balance...... 86 7.2.2 Why Does a Glacier Flow?.............................. 88 7.2.3 Glacial Surge... 89 7.3 Ablation Forms on Glaciers..... 90 7.4 The Structure of Glaciers..................................... 90 7.5 Types of Glaciers.... 93 7.6 Glacier Fluctuations............. 93 8 Glaciers Form the Landscape... 109 8.1 Glacial Erosion Forms....................................... 110 8.2 Glacial Deposits... 113 9 Meltwater and Landscape... 125 9.1 Fluvioglacial and Glacialfluvial Deposits.......................... 127 10 Water and High Mountains... 131 10.1 Torrents.... 132 10.2 Mountain Torrents... 132 10.3 Lakes... 139 11 How Man Shapes the High Mountains... 147 Picture Credits... 153 About the Authors... 155 Further Reading... 157