Patterned ground with sorted stripes on the Gran Sasso Massif (Abruzzo-central Italy)

Abstract

In the eastern portion of Campo Pericoli, 2400 m a.s.L, an area has been found where there is a patterned ground with sorted stripes due to periglacial environment The strips, lengthened according to the direction of the maximum slope, differ in the grain size and colour. The debris on which the strips have developed has a thickness of few centimeters and covers a soil rich in organic material: one can hypothesize that the strips were formed by the thaw and freezing cycles and In particular by the development of ice needles on the water absorbed by the soil. Some radiocarbon datings show that the strips were formed during the last 2000 years, probably during the Little Ice Age. Because some pioneer vegetation is colonizing the area, one can suppose that the end, or the reduction, of the periglacial processes has been produced by the climatic warming that cause, also, the Catderone Glacier's strong reduction.