Articles | Volume 71, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-163-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-163-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
01 Sep 2022
Research article |
| 01 Sep 2022
| 01 Sep 2022
Two glaciers and one sedimentary sink: the competing role of the Aare and the Valais glaciers in filling an overdeepened trough inferred from provenance analysis
Michael A. Schwenk
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Laura Stutenbecker
Institute of Applied Geosciences, Technical University Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
Patrick Schläfli
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Dimitri Bandou
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Fritz Schlunegger
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Owen A. Anfinson, Daniel F. Stockli, Joseph C. Miller, Andreas Möller, and Fritz Schlunegger
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Samuel Mock, Christoph von Hagke, Fritz Schlunegger, István Dunkl, and Marco Herwegh
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Based on thermochronological data, we infer thrusting along-strike the northern rim of the Central Alps between 12–4 Ma. While the lithology influences the pattern of thrusting at the local scale, we observe that thrusting in the foreland is a long-wavelength feature occurring between Lake Geneva and Salzburg. This coincides with the geometry and dynamics of the attached lithospheric slab at depth. Thus, thrusting in the foreland is at least partly linked to changes in slab dynamics.
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Short summary
We investigated the origin of glacial sediments in the Bern area to determine their route of transport either with the Aare Glacier or the Valais Glacier. These two ice streams are known to have joined in the Bern area during the last major glaciation (ca. 20 000 years ago). However, little is known about the ice streams prior to this last glaciation. Here we collected evidence that during a glaciation about 250 000 years ago the Aare Glacier dominated the area as documented in the deposits.
We investigated the origin of glacial sediments in the Bern area to determine their route of...
