PREFACE: THE MOUNTAIN CRYOSPHERE – A HOLISTIC VIEW ON PROCESSES AND THEIR INTERACTIONS

Gruber, S., Egli, M., Gärtner‐Roer, I. and Hoelzle, M., 2012. Preface: The mountain cryosphere – a holistic view on processes and their interactions. Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography, ??, ??–??. doi :10.1111/j.1468‐0459.2012.00468.x     

Groundwater dolocretes in a lake-marginal environment: an alternative model for dolocrete formation in continental settings (Danian of the Provence Basin, France)

In the long continental history of the Provence Basin which extended from Santonian to Oligocene times, a major period of palaeosol development occurred in the Danian. Dolocretes developed within floodplain silts, and partly from palustrine limestones. Dolocretes are overlain by pedogenic facies: calcretes and palustrine limestones. Gradational lower and upper limits of profiles, succession of nodular, coalescent and massive horizons, the epigenesis of quartz by dolomite, the unimodal crystal size and the euhedral dolomite fabric, as well as the absence of biogenic structures and vadose cements show that dolocretes formed in the phreatic zone. The exclusive occurrence of dolocretes around the palaeolake or playa suggests that dolocrete formed by the mixing of groundwaters and lake brines, which infiltrated the phreatic zone during periods of strong evaporation and lake level lowering. The term halo dolocrete is proposed to describe this type of dolocrete deposit. Subsequent alteration of the dolocrete includes leaching of the central core of dolomite crystals and calcitization. Calcitization was either fabric-destructive (type I) or fabric-preserving (type II) and took place during very early diagenesis, i.e. concomitant with calcrete formation or palustrine limestone deposition. Fabric-destructive calcitization is attributed to a drop in the lake level, when the upper part of the dolocrete was subjected to vadose zone processes, whereas the fabric-preserving calcitization resulted from reactions with dilute lake and groundwaters during rise in lake level.     

Holocene palaeoenvironments at the timberline in the French Alps—a multidisciplinary approach

An attempt is made to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental Holocene history at the timberline on the basis of the analysis of various palaeoecological proxy indicators available on a marshy area and its surroundings in the Taillefer Massif (Isère. France). The multidisciplinary approach involves analyses of pollen assemblages. plant macrofossils, coleoptera remains. subfossil trunks extracted from lakes or peat-bogs. and charcoals derived from the surrounding soils. This enables definition of the respective roles of five forest taxa ( Pinus uncinata Mill., Pinus cembra L., Larix decidua Mill., Abies alba Mill, and Picea abies L. Karsten) in the evolution of high altitude forests during the Holocene. Pinus uncinata was present on the plateau throughout the Holocene. Larix and Pinus cembra were present only during two periods: 7500-5000 BP and 3500-2000 BP. All trees disappeared from the plateau at about 2000 BP, while, at lower altitude. Abies was replaced by Picea. The action of both climate and early human impact can explain these changes.     

From non‐tidal shelf to tide‐dominated strait: The Miocene Bonifacio Basin,Southern Corsica

This study documents a change from a non‐tidal to tide‐dominated shelf system that occurred between Corsica and Sardinia (the Bonifacio Basin, Western Mediterranean) during the early to middle Miocene. The non‐tidal deposits formed on a low‐energy siliciclastic shelf surrounded by progradational coralline algal ramps at full highstand. The tidal deposits consist of an up to 200 m thick succession of siliciclastic to coralline‐rich cross‐beds formed by large sub‐tidal dunes. Based on outcrop and sub‐surface data, it is possible to conclude that the tidal currents were amplified as a consequence of the rapid subsidence of the basin centre due to tectonic activity. It is suggested that this tectonic event initiated the strait between Corsica and Sardinia. The strait was deep enough to allow the tidal flux to be significantly increased, generating a localized strong tidal current at the junction between the Western Mediterranean and the East Corsica Basin.