Age determination of intermoraine areas, Austerdalen, southern Norway

This paper is concerned with the size variation of thalli of the lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum agg. on intermoraine surfaces in the proglacial valley of Austerdalen, southern Norway, and with the use of thallus dimensions for both relative and absolute dating of intermoraine deposits. Measurements of the five largest lichens in 200 m² search areas at 255 sites show significant cross-valley and down-valley variations, with the smallest thalli located towards the centre of the valley and at up-valley sites. This variation has been examined in greater detail by dividing the intermoraine areas into twelve morphological zones, for which geomorphological and stratigraphical relations enable the construction of a relative time sequence of formation. This relative time sequence was then found to he confirmed by mean values of measurements of the largest lichen thalli in 100 m square quadrats within each morphological zone. This approach has allowed not only the relative age of morainic and intermorainic deposits to he established from geomorphological evidence but also, using tentative dates for the moraines, the construction of a chronology of moraine and intermoraine depositional events.