Long-Term Changes of Morphodynamics on Little Ice Age Lateral Moraines and the Resulting Sediment Transfer into Mountain Streams in the Upper Kauner Valley, Austria
Open Access
- 1 December 2020
- Vol. 12 (12), 3375
- https://doi.org/10.3390/w12123375
Abstract
Since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA), formerly glaciated areas have undergone considerable changes in their morphodynamics due to external forces and system-internal dynamics. Using multi-temporal high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) from different remote sensing techniques such as historical digital aerial images and light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and the resulting DEMs of difference (DoD), spatial erosion and accumulation patterns can be analyzed in proglacial areas over several decades. In this study, several morphological sediment budgets of different test sites on lateral moraines and different long-term periods were determined, covering a total period of 49 years. The test sites show high ongoing morphodynamics, and therefore low vegetation development. A decrease as well as an increase of the mean annual erosion volume could be demonstrated at the different test sites. All test sites show a slope–channel coupling and a decrease in the efficiency of sediment transport from slopes to channels. These developments are generally subject to conditions of increasing temperature, decreasing short-term precipitation patterns and increasing runoff from adjacent mountain streams. Finally, the study shows that sediment is still available on the investigated test sites and the paraglacial adjustment process is still in progress even after several decades of deglaciation (~133 years).Funding Information
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BE 1118/38-1, BE 1118/39-1, BE 1118/40-1, HA 5740/10-1, HE 5747/6-1, ER 905/1-1, DI 639/5-1, CH 981/3-1, MA 6966/4-1, LA 4426/1-1)
- Austrian Science Fund (unknown)
- Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (unknown)
This publication has 73 references indexed in Scilit:
- Investigations on intra- and interannual coarse sediment dynamics in a high-mountain riverZeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Supplementary Issues, 2011
- Topographic airborne LiDAR in geomorphology: A technological perspectiveZeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Supplementary Issues, 2011
- Changes in hydrology and erosion over a transition from grassland to shrublandHydrological Processes, 2009
- Sediment release and storage in early deglaciated areas: Towards an application of the exhaustion model from the case of Massif des Écrins (French Alps) since the Little Ice AgeNorsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography, 2008
- The rainfall intensity–duration control of shallow landslides and debris flows: an updateLandslides, 2007
- Towards a protocol for laser scanning in fluvial geomorphologyEarth Surface Processes and Landforms, 2006
- Evaluation of in‐channel gravel storage with morphology‐based gravel budgets developed from planimetric dataJournal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 2003
- Reach‐scale sediment transfers: an evaluation of two morphological budgeting approachesEarth Surface Processes and Landforms, 2003
- Coupling between hillslopes and channels in upland fluvial systems: implications for landscape sensitivity, illustrated from the Howgill Fells, northwest EnglandCATENA, 2001
- The extraction of drainage networks from digital elevation dataComputer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing, 1984