0000000000621210
AUTHOR
Jean-louis Mugnier
A complex thrust sequence in western Himalaya: the active Medlicott Wadia Thrust.
15 pages; International audience; The recent activity of the Medlicott-Wadia Thrust (MWT) is investigated by geomorphic and tectonic studies in the Riasi zone, south of the Pir Panjal range (India, Jammu-Kasmir state of western Himalaya). In the Riasi area, the MWT forms a splay of five faults that dip northward. The recent activity of the splay is quantified using a set of deformed Quaternary alluvial units. The central branch of the thrust splay moved Precambrian limestones above Quaternary sediments and is sealed by 36 ± 3 ka (youngest OSL age) deposits. The other branches offset the top of a 15 ± 1 ka (youngest OSL age) alluvial fan by 180 to 120 m; the two southernmost branches form 17…
Improved discrimination of subglacial and periglacial erosion using10Be concentration measurements in subglacial and supraglacial sediment load of the Bossons glacier (Mont Blanc massif, France)
Deciphering the complex interplays between climate, uplift and erosion is not straightforward and estimating present-day erosion rates can provide useful insights. Glaciers are thought to be powerful erosional agents, but most published ‘glacial’ erosion rates combine periglacial, subglacial and proglacial erosion processes. Within a glaciated catchment, sediments found in subglacial streams originate either from glacial erosion of substratum or from the rock walls above the glacier that contribute to the supraglacial load. Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCN) are produced by interactions between cosmic ray particles and element targets at the surface of the Earth, but their concentration …
Synchronous Early Holocene glacier behavior in the European Alps – Evidences from a new cosmogenic 10Be chronology of Argentière glacier (Mont-Blanc massif, French Alps).
Reconstruction of past glacier fluctuations is an important step towards the comprehension of glacier responseto past and future climate changes. Moraine deposits and roches moutonnées represent univocal geomorphicmarkers of advanced glacier extensions, and their dating using in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides is a valuableapproach for better constraining past glacier behavior.To better understand the past glacier fluctuations in the European Alps, this study focuses on the Argentièreglacier, located on the north-western flank of the Mont-Blanc massif (MBM) in the Western Alps, and hostingsome of the largest European glaciers. Here, gemorphological analysis and new 10Be exposure ages obta…
The Bossons glacier protects Europe's summit from erosion
13 pages; International audience; The contrasting efficiency of erosion beneath cold glacier ice, beneath temperate glacier ice, and on ice-free mountain slopes is one of the key parameters in the development of relief during glacial periods. Detrital geochronology has been applied to the subglacial streams of the north face of the Mont-Blanc massif in order to estimate the efficiency of erosional processes there. Lithologically this area is composed of granite intruded at ~303 Ma within an older polymetamorphic complex. We use macroscopic features (on ~10,000 clasts) and U-Pb dating of zircon (~500 grains) to establish the provenance of the sediment transported by the glacier and its subgl…
Proglacial sediment dynamics from daily to seasonal scales in a glaciated Alpine catchment (Bossons glacier, Mont Blanc massif, France)
The sediment yields of Alpine catchments are commonly determined from streamload measurements made some distance downstream from glaciers. However, this approach indiscriminately integrates erosion processes occurring in both the glacial and proglacial areas. A specific method is required to ascertain the respective inputs from (i) subglacial and supraglacial sediments, (ii) proglacial hillslopes and (iii) proglacial alluvial areas or sandurs. This issue is addressed here by combining high‐resolution monitoring (2 min) of suspended sediment concentrations at different locations within a catchment with discharge gauging and precipitation data. This methodological framework is applied to two …
Sedimentation close to the active Medlicott Wadia Thrust (Western Himalaya): how to estimate climatic base level changes and tectonics.
16 pages; International audience; The Medlicott-Wadia Thrust (MWT) is one of the major active out-of-sequence thrusts in the Himalaya. Studies on Quaternary terraces in its vicinity have been performed using sedimentological, geomorphic and geochronological methods. We focus on the Riasi zone, south of the Pir Panjal range, in the Jammu and Kashmir region of India. The sedimentary units of Quaternary landforms have been mapped as a function of their location with respect to the thrust faults, their relative chronology, and their lithology. Three aggrading sedimentary units, five thin units above strath surfaces at the footwall of the fault system, and seven thin units above strath surfaces …