Late Holocene glacial and periglacial evolution in the upper Orco Valley, northwestern Italian Alps

The sediments present in some areas of the Orco Valley provide indications on climatic variations that occurred during the last 6000 years on the southern slopes of the Alps. In particular, distribution and ages of peat layers help define periods and extent of glacial fluctuation in the last 2200 years. Sampling of soils involved in periglacial processes provided a basis for development of a chronological framework of late Holocene environmental change. The data indicate a trend toward cooler climate in the second half of the Holocene. A strong relationship exists between phases of River Po flooding and expansion/retreat phases of the Swiss glaciers: major glacial advances were coeval with periods of intense flooding of the River Po, whereas the phases of glacial retreat coincided with periods of little flooding of the Po. Only in three cases do relationships between glacier activity and floods show weak correlations; two of the cases relate to the warmest periods in approximately the last 2200 years, while the third is the present period. Paleoclimatic evidence from the study region indicates the relatively warm Roman Period between about 2200 and 1900 cal yr BP appears to better represent modern conditions than does the Medieval Warm Period.     

Past occurrences of hypoxia in the Baltic Sea and the role of climate variability,environmental change and human impact

The hypoxic zone in the Baltic Sea has increased in area about four times since 1960 and widespread oxygen deficiency has severely reduced macro benthic communities below the halocline in the Baltic Proper and the Gulf of Finland, which in turn has affected food chain dynamics, fish habitats and fisheries in the entire Baltic Sea. The cause of increased hypoxia is believed to be enhanced eutrophication through increased anthropogenic input of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. However, the spatial variability of hypoxia on long time-scales is poorly known: and so are the driving mechanisms. We review the occurrence of hypoxia in modern time (last c. 50 years), modern historical time (AD 1950–1800) and during the more distant past (the last c. 10 000 years) and explore the role of climate variability, environmental change and human impact. We present a compilation of proxy records of hypoxia (laminated sediments) based on long sediment cores from the Baltic Sea. The cumulated results show that the deeper depressions of the Baltic Sea have experienced intermittent hypoxia during most of the Holocene and that regular laminations started to form c. 8500–7800 cal. yr BP ago, in association with the formation of a permanent halocline at the transition between the Early Littorina Sea and the Littorina Sea s. str. Laminated sediments were deposited during three main periods (i.e. between c. 8000–4000, 2000–800 cal. yr BP and subsequent to AD 1800) which overlap the Holocene Thermal Maximum (c. 9000–5000 cal. yr BP), the Medieval Warm Period (c. AD 750–1200) and the modern historical period (AD 1800 to present) and coincide with intervals of high surface salinity (at least during the Littorina s. str.) and high total organic carbon content. This study implies that there may be a correlation between climate variability in the past and the state of the marine environment, where milder and dryer periods with less freshwater run-off correspond to increased salinities and higher accumulation of organic carbon resulting in amplified hypoxia and enlarged distribution of laminated sediments. We suggest that hydrology changes in the drainage area on long time-scales have, as well as the inflow of saltier North Sea waters, controlled the deep oxic conditions in the Baltic Sea and that such changes have followed the general Holocene climate development in Northwest Europe. Increased hypoxia during the Medieval Warm Period also correlates with large-scale changes in land use that occurred in much of the Baltic Sea watershed during the early-medieval expansion. We suggest that hypoxia during this period in the Baltic Sea was not only caused by climate, but increased human impact was most likely an additional trigger. Large areas of the Baltic Sea have experienced intermittent hypoxic from at least AD 1900 with laminated sediments present in the Gotland Basin in the Baltic Proper since then and up to present time. This period coincides with the industrial revolution in Northwestern Europe which started around AD 1850, when population grew, cutting of drainage ditches intensified, and agricultural and forest industry expanded extensively.     

Frequency and intensity of high-altitude floods over the last 3.5 ka in northwestern French Alps (Lake Anterne)

In central Western Europe, several studies have shown that colder Holocene periods, such as the Little Ice Age, also correspond to wet periods. However, in mountain areas which are highly sensitive to erosion processes and where precipitation events can be localized, past evolution of hydrological activity might be more complicated. To assess these past hydrological changes, a paleolimnological approach was applied on a 13.4-m-long sediment core taken in alpine Lake Anterne (2063 m asl) and representing the last 3.5 ka. Lake sedimentation is mainly composed of flood deposits triggered by precipitation events. Sedimentological and geochemical analyses show that floods were more frequent during cold periods while high-intensity flood events occurred preferentially during warmer periods. In mild temperature conditions, both flood patterns are present. This underlines the complex relationship between flood hazards and climatic change in mountain areas. During the warmer and/or dryer times of the end of Iron Age and the Roman Period, both the frequency and intensity of floods increased. This is interpreted as an effect of human-induced clearing for grazing activities and reveals that anthropogenic interferences must be taken into account when reconstructing climatic signals from natural archives.     

Colluviation and soil formation as geoindicators to study long-term environmental changes

Soil is a dynamic natural body and fundamental resource. Human activities influence intensively the natural processes in soils. They modify and accelerate the development of soils. In this investigation, the deposition of colluvial sediments (colluviation) and soil formation are proposed as geoindicators for a better understanding of long-term environmental changes and environmental impact assessment. Deposition of colluvial sediments during several time periods and subsequent soil formation under different land-use systems reflect important aspects on the long-term human interference in the environment. In this study, we hypothesize that intensive human activities and environmental changes during middle and late Holocene are responsible for a strong modification of soils in an investigation area in Schleswig–Holstein (Germany). Soil age information together with geomorphological data, physical, chemical and biological soil properties provide the database which is necessary to study the types and rates of colluviation and soil formation. After the investigation with a high resolution in time and space, results show that middle and late Holocene land-use changes and land management are responsible for soil formation in colluvial layers. Properties of soils and sediments vary intensively from Mesolithic until Modern times. Intensive soil formation took place during periods of geomorphodynamic stability in dense woodland. Evidence in our investigations shows that colluviation has a strong relation with decision-making and environmental degradation in the past. This confirms, too, that a geoindicator concept is needed to understand and to monitor long-term environmental changes and degradation.     

从油气勘探的角度论博格达山的隆升

应用构造运动学、沉积原型恢复、有效烃源岩评价及改造型盆地模拟等技术和方法,综合研究分析了博格达山地区及周缘烃源岩特征与生排烃高峰期、构造-沉积演化、博格达山的隆升及其对油气勘探的意义。分析认为,现今博格达山地区及周缘在晚二叠世沉积期属于深湖-半深湖亚相,发育两套好-中等级别烃源岩,即上二叠统芦草沟和红雁池组,生、排烃高峰期属于侏罗纪末期-新生代;现今博格达山地区在侏罗纪末期开始隆起,与烃源岩生、排烃高峰期相同。博格达山隆升期,博格达山地区周缘柴窝堡凹陷与米泉地区尽管接受博格达山地区的供油量较少,但自身烃源岩厚度大,生烃能力强,具有较大的资源潜力,仍然是有利的油气勘探地区。     

Mid to late holocene climate evolution of the lake telmen basin, north central mongolia, based on palynological data

Palynological and sedimentological data from Lake Telmen, in north-central Mongolia, permit qualitative reconstruction of relative changes in moisture balance throughout the mid to late Holocene. The climate of the Atlantic period (7500–4500 yr ago) was relatively arid, indicating that Lake Telmen lay beyond the region of enhanced precipitation delivered by the expanded Asian monsoon. Maximum humidity is recorded between 4500 and 1600 cal yr B.P., during the Subboreal (4500–2500 yr ago) and early Subatlantic (2500 yr–present) periods. Additional humid intervals during the Medieval Warm Epoch (1000–1300 A.D. or 950–650 ago) and the Little Ice Age (1500– 1900 A.D. or 450–50 yr B.P.) demonstrate the lack of long-term correlation between temperature and moisture availability in this region. A brief aridification centered around 1410 cal yr B.P. encompasses a decade of cold temperatures and summer frost between A.D. 536 and 545 (1414–1405 yr B.P.) inferred from records of Mongolian tree-ring widths. These data suggest that steppe vegetation of the Lake Telmen region is sensitive to centennial- and decadal-scale climatic perturbations.     

Late Holocene high resolution palaeoclimatic reconstruction inferred from Sebkha Mhabeul, southeast Tunisia

Relations between climate change and landscape evolution during the last two millennia in southeastern coastal Tunisia have been documented using high-resolution reconstruction of flood history and fire activity in the Sebkha Mhabeul core. The age model, based on tephrochronology, indicates that the core extends from Roman to modern times and encompasses the well-defined climatic periods of the last two millennia. This record provides a first palaeoecological/palaeoclimatic high resolution reconstruction in North Africa using a cross-disciplinary approach with both physical (grey-scale intensity, quartz particles) and biological (charcoal and pollen) indicators. The flood history shows four wet/dry cycles (ca. AD 550-950, 950-1300, 1300-1570 and 1570-1870) of different duration. Major hydrological instabilities are concentrated during the Medieval Climate Anomalies and the early Little Ice Age, between AD 1000 and 1550. Direct correlation between climate and fire cannot be established suggesting that the fire history of the Sebkha environment is mainly influenced by human activity. This study demonstrates the great value of sebkhas as palaeoenvironmental archives.     

末次冰消期以来内蒙古东部气候变化——基于风成砂-古土壤序列的地球化学记录

通过对内蒙古东部现代东亚季风界线两侧的浑善达克沙地和呼伦贝尔沙地风成砂-古土壤剖面的光释光、~(14)C年代和沉积物主、微量元素地球化学的分析,重建内蒙古东部末次冰消期以来气候变迁过程。浑善达克沙地的浩来呼热剖面(hsh1-09)显示了末次冰消期以来3次暖湿气候期,分别对应末次冰消期、全新世大暖期、中世纪暖期。呼伦贝尔沙地的嵯岗剖面(CG-09)表现了全新世大暖期和中世纪暖期两次的暖湿气候期。这一过程是对东亚夏季风的响应,大致反映了内蒙古东部末次冰消期以来的东亚夏季风两次不同程度增强及大暖期结束的南退过程。通过对比前人研究结果,全新世中期东亚夏季风较强,在内蒙古东部大约距今4 ka开始减弱、南退;中世纪暖期夏季风强度较弱,持续时间短。     

MIS 5/4 transition in a mountain environment: herpetofaunal assemblages from Cueva del Camino,central Spain

The Cueva del Camino site (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain) is located in the upper valley of the Lozoya River in the Sierra de Guadarrama, a mountain range extending NE?SW within the Central Range System. Due to its location within a mountain range on the central Iberian Peninsula at an altitude of 1114 m a.s.l. and the numerical dating of its sediments, the palaeontological site of Cueva del Camino has proved a highly relevant location for studying the ecological changes linked to the climatic fluctuations at the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 and the beginning of MIS 4. Environmental reconstructions suggest a rather open, patchy landscape throughout the succession, with abundant evidence of dry meadows, scrublands and rocky habitats. The climate can be considered as generally warm, reaching mean annual temperatures (MATs) of up to 13.8°C (i.e. higher than today's by up to 2.9°C). Three cooler events can be seen throughout the succession as reflected by the presence of Rana iberica, Anguis fragilis and Coronella austriaca. The first of these events may correlate with MIS 5b; the second in the Central sector may correlate with the Stadial I pollen event occurring at the end of MIS 5a; and the third event, corresponding to the coldest MAT of the entire succession with MATs 0.9°C lower than today's, may correspond to the transition from MIS 5a to MIS 4. The evolution of mean annual precipitation (MAP) is characterized by warm periods, drier and cold periods, as well as wetter periods (up to +356 mm compared to today's MAP values), similar to what occurs today in the high‐elevation areas of the neighbouring mountains. Our study gives new quantitative estimations for the climatic fluctuations in mountain environments of central Spain at the MIS 5/4 transition and their associated ecological changes.     

基于概率分布法的典型内陆河流域径流未来变化

基于黑河干流历史时期（1960 - 2012年）和RCPs（本文RCPs指RCP2.6、 RCP4.5和RCP8.5三种情景）情景下预估的未来（2013 - 2100年）月平均流量和冰川融水数据, 运用概率分布法和河道来水量距平法, 分析了黑河干流出山径流量与冰川融水径流量及其极值的未来变化趋势与程度、 径流丰枯变化以及冰川融水径流对黑河出山径流的补给与调节作用的变化。结果表明, 相较历史时期, 不同RCPs情景下未来黑河干流出山径流量将略呈增加态势, 但不显著; 月最大（7 - 8月）出山径流量将大幅度减少, 不确定性降低, 月最小（12月 - 翌年1月）出山径流量变化不明显。未来黑河干流, 不同RCPs情景下枯水年的发生概率将增加2～3倍, 偏枯水年在RCP2.6和RCP4.5情景下的发生概率亦将增大; 黑河干流未来可能进入平水年, 甚至枯水年。未来黑河干流年冰川融水径流与月最大冰川融水径流均显著减少, 对黑河径流的补给与调节作用均降低。     

1960-2003年新疆山区与平原积雪长期变化的对比分析

对新疆91个地面站44a(1960—2003年)的>0cm积雪日数、冬季最大积雪厚度、冬季降水量和冬季平均温度统计分析,结果发现:伴随着20世纪80年代以来明显的增温增湿变化,新疆积雪呈轻度增长趋势,90年代增加明显.积雪日数和厚度与冬季降水量呈正相关,但与冬季平均温度没有明显相关关系.将91个地面站分成24个山区站和67个平原站的进一步分析表明,山区积雪增幅大于平原,而平原的冬季温度和降水增幅大于山区.60年代和90年代山区和平原呈两个相反方向的同步变化(60年代少雪、少降水和降温;90年代多雪、多降水和增温),但幅度略有不同.70年代和80年代山区和平原无论积雪还是温度、降水量都呈现明显不同的变化.     

Paleoclimate reconstruction based on the timing of speleothem growth and oxygen and carbon isotope composition in a cave located in the rain shadow in Israel

High-resolution ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U ages and δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C compositions of speleothems in Ma’ale Efrayim Cave located to the east of the central mountain ridge of Israel enable us to examine the nature of the rain shadow aridity during glacial and interglacial intervals. Speleothem growth occurred during marine glacial isotopic periods, with no growth during the two last marine isotope interglacial intervals and during the peak of the Last Glacial Maximum. This contrasts with speleothem growth in caves located on the western flank of the central mountain ridge, in the Eastern Mediterranean semiarid climatic zone, which continued throughout the last 240,000 yr. Thus, during glacial periods water reached both sides of the central mountain ridge. A comparison of the present-day rain and cave water isotopic compositions and amounts at the Ma’ale Efrayim Cave site with those on the western flank shows that evaporation and higher temperatures on the eastern flank are major influences on isotopic composition and the lack of rainfall. The δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C profiles of the speleothems deposited between 67,000 and 25,000 yr B.P. match the general trends of the isotopic profiles of Soreq Cave speleothems, suggesting a similar source (eastern Mediterranean Sea) and similar climatic conditions. Thus, during glacial periods the desert boundary effectively migrated further south or east from its present-day location on the eastern flank, whereas interglacial periods appear to have been similar to the present, with the desert boundary at the same position. The decrease in overall temperature and a consequent reduction in the evaporation to precipitation ratios on the eastern flank are viewed as the major factors controlling the decay of the rain shadow effect during glacial periods.     

风景区泥石流防治特点与技术

中国大部分风景区位于山区,泥石流时有活动,破坏景观资源,危害生态环境,危及游人安全,而风景区泥石流往往暴发频次低,多含有漂木。分析了风景区泥石流防治的需求和特点,提出了风景区泥石流防治以保护自然景观和生态环境为主、灾害治理工程与自然景观相协调的基本目标。通过泥石流形成区源头治理、新型结构(梳齿坝、滤水坝、预制组合结构)和林内分散拦淤等措施,实现风景区的泥石流的治理目标,形成了以减灾工程与自然景观相协调和工程减灾与生态减灾功能相结合的风景区泥石流治理技术。采用这些技术对世界自然遗产九寨沟的14条灾害性泥石流进行治理,有效地控制了泥石流的发生和成灾,达到了保护景观资源、生态环境、游客与居民安全的目的。     

四川巴塘措拉间歇喷泉区旅游资源及开发构想

巴塘措拉间歇喷泉区是四川西部新近发现的一个旅游胜地。这里有间歇喷泉，康巴第一圣湖，原始森林，草原，雪山，银矿，佛教圣地措普寺以及高山盘羊，马鸡，喊鱼等众多景观，无不处处渗透出香格里拉的神韵。本文较系统的阐述了域内旅游资源特征，并对其进行了评述。在此基础上，浅析了主要自然景观成因，提出了开发的总体构想。     

Beyond hydrogeologic evidence: challenging the current assumptions about salinity processes in the Corangamite region, Australia

In keeping with the standard scientific methods, investigations of salinity processes focus on the collection and interpretation of contemporary scientific data. However, using multiple lines of evidence from non-hydrogeologic sources such as geomorphic, archaeological and historical records can substantially add value to the scientific investigations. By using such evidence, the validity of the assumptions about salinity processes in Australian landscapes is challenged, especially the assumption that the clearing of native vegetation has resulted in rising saline groundwater in all landscapes. In the Corangamite region of south-west Victoria, salinity has been an episodic feature of the landscapes throughout the Quaternary and was present at the time of the Aboriginal inhabitants and the first pastoral settlement by Europeans. Although surface-water salinity has increased in some waterways and the area of salinised land has expanded in some landscapes, there is no recorded evidence found which supports significant rises in groundwater following widespread land-use change. In many areas, salinity is an inherent component of the region’s landscapes, and sustains world-class environmental assets that require appropriate salinity levels for their ecological health. Managing salinity requires understanding the specific salinity processes in each landscape.     

Palaeoecological,archaeological and historical data and the making of Devon landscapes. I. The Blackdown Hills

This paper presents the first systematic study of the vegetation history of a range of low hills in SW England, UK, lying between more researched fenlands and uplands. After the palaeoecological sites were located bespoke archaeological, historical and documentary studies of the surrounding landscape were undertaken specifically to inform palynological interpretation at each site. The region has a distinctive archaeology with late Mesolithic tool scatters, some evidence of early Neolithic agriculture, many Bronze Age funerary monuments and Romano‐British iron‐working. Historical studies have suggested that the present landscape pattern is largely early Medieval. However, the pollen evidence suggests a significantly different Holocene vegetation history in comparison with other areas in lowland England, with evidence of incomplete forest clearance in later‐Prehistory (Bronze?Iron Age). Woodland persistence on steep, but poorly drained, slopes, was probably due to the unsuitability of these areas for mixed farming. Instead they may have been under woodland management (e.g. coppicing) associated with the iron‐working industry. Data from two of the sites also suggest that later Iron Age and Romano‐British impact may have been geographically restricted. The documented Medieval land management that maintained the patchwork of small fields, woods and heathlands had its origins in later Prehistory, but there is also evidence of landscape change in the 6th–9th centuries AD. We conclude that the Blackdown Hills area was one of many ‘distinctive subregions’, which due to a combination of edaphic, topographic and cultural factors could qualify as an eco‐cultural region or ‘pays’. It is argued that the use of such eco‐culturally distinctive regions or pays can provide a spatial and archaeological framework for palaeoecology, which has implications for landscape research, designation and heritage management.     

青海湖近千年来气候环境变化的湖泊沉积记录

本文通过对青藏高原上所钻取的古里雅冰芯和青海都兰树轮高分辨率气候变化记录的对比,分析了过去近2 000a来的气候变化特征.结果表明:1)这两个地区过去2 000a来温度都在波动中逐渐上升,展示了气候逐渐变暖的趋势.进入20世纪以来,气候显著变暖,并有加速变暖的趋势;2)树轮和冰芯均明显地记录了小冰期的3次冷期,其出现的时间基本上一致.小冰期并不是过去2 000a来的最寒冷的时期.冰芯和树轮记录均表明公元初的寒冷程度要大于小冰期;3)古里雅冰芯所记录的温度和降水量揭示出,过去近2 000a来的降水和温度变化的总趋势是正相关关系;但在短时间尺度上,温度和降水的变化并不同步.这主要表现在两个方面,一是温度长期变化中的低频波动频率要大于降水,二是虽然温度和降水的变化在百年级时间尺度上有正相关性,但降水的变化要滞后于温度变化50～100a;4)同时周期分析表明,古里雅冰芯中的δ180和积累量以及都兰树轮记录的变化周期大多数与太阳活动有关,表明青藏高原地区冷、暖、干、湿变化的主要驱动力可能是太阳活动的变化;5)对这两记录的对比研究也揭示了气候变化的区域差异.如中世纪暖期在都兰树轮记录中很强而在古里雅冰芯记录中很弱,而都兰树轮记录中,中世纪暖期以后至1 800A.D.在波动中变冷,但在古里雅冰芯记录中这一时期在波动中变暖.     

A new artificial oasis landscape dynamics in semi-arid Hongsipu region with decadal agricultural irrigation development in Ning Xia,China

Understanding the ecological mechanisms and processes driving changes in our landscapes is significant for ecological conservation. This work used remote sensing with the extending contingency-based method to quantify the interchange relationship of land use types, and landscape metrics including spatially nuanced difference at patch level to track immigrants’ resettlement impacts at the semi-arid Hongsipu region with decadal agricultural pumping irrigation development in Ning Xia, China. Landsat-TM images acquired in 1989, 1999, 2003, and 2008 were used to study landscape changes in three periods, the earlier development from 1989 to 1999, the middle period in 1999–2003, and final stage in 2003–2008. The results showed the over 50 % landscape area experienced drastic change in each period with heavy immigrants’ perturbations since 1998. The nearly natural landscape with 1:1 area between desert and steppe in 1989 10 years before development, however, became the overwhelming barren landscape with almost 80 % of the study area in 2008, grassland and shrub land almost disappeared respectively, and cultivated land climbed to the third large type from about 2 % in 1989 to more than 16 % in 2008. The landscape became more fragmented, more regular shape with human disturbance spreading from the northwest low mountain and flat basin to the southeast diluvial fan, even high mountain at the end. Although Hongsipu pumping irrigation zone alleviates poor population pressure in the fragile ecological southern mountainous areas of Ningxia, the new artificial oasis creates another possible new ecological risk of the study area. Therefore, besides the economic development, the ecological conservation and restoration measures should be also the primary objectives in order to successful resettlement immigrants.     

长白山自然保护区历史森林景观的初步重建

本文在对环境因子(包括年均温、年降水量、海拔高度、坡度和坡向)进行空间表达的基础上,建立了长白山自然保护区当前森林景观垂直带(包括阔叶红松林、云冷杉林、岳桦林和苔原)与这些环境因子间的逻辑斯蒂回归模型,然后利用1997年各环境因子的空间数字面来反推1975年森林景观带的空间分布,并根据1975年MSS遥感影像计算机监督分类的结果,用Kappa指数对模型预测结果进行验证。结果表明,苔原、岳桦林、云冷杉林和阔叶红松林1975年的预测分布面积分别为7243.83hm2、6517.08hm2、125570.16hm2和34264.80hm2,与遥感分类结果相比,苔原和云冷杉林的面积分别减少了29.04%和3.05%;岳桦林和阔叶红松林的面积分别增加了246.45%和8.6%。用逻辑斯蒂回归模型可以较好地预测苔原在保护区内的分布范围,同时在一定程度上也能预测阔叶红松林的分布范围,但是对岳桦林和云冷杉林分布范围的预测结果较差。尽管如此,作为一种方法性的探讨,本文可以为森林景观空间分布和环境因子变化的关系以及森林景观对气候变化的反应研究提供一种新思路。     

Glacial landscape evolution in the Uummannaq region,West Greenland

The Uummannaq region is a mosaic of glacial landsystems, consistent with hypothesized landscape distribution resulting from variations in subglacial thermal regime. The region is dominated by selective linear erosion that has spatially and altitudinally partitioned the landscape. Low altitude areas are dominated by glacial scour and higher elevations are dominated by plateaux or mountain valley and cirque glaciers. The appearance and nature of each landscape type varies locally with altitude and latitude, as a function of bedrock geology and average glacial conditions. Selective linear erosion has been a primary control on landscape distribution throughout Uummannaq, leading to plateau formation and the growth of a coalescent fjord system in the Uummannaq region. This has allowed the development of the Uummannaq ice stream's (UIS) onset zone during glacial periods. Fjord development has been enhanced by a downstream change in geology to less‐resistant lithologies, increasing erosional efficiency and allowing a single glacial channel to develop, encouraging glacier convergence and the initiation of ice streaming. The landscape has been affected by several periods of regional uplift from 33 Ma to present, and has been subject to subsequent fluvial and glacial erosion. Uplift has removed surfaces from the impact of widespread warm‐based glaciation, leaving them as relict landsurfaces. The result of this is a regional altitude‐dependent continuum of glacial modification, with extreme differences in erosion between high and low elevation surfaces. This study indicates that processes of long‐term uplift, glacial erosion/protection and spatial variability in erosion intensity have produced a highly partitioned landscape.