The holocene evolution of the Calderone Glacier - Gran Sasso d'ltalia (Abruzzo - Central Italy)

Abstract

The study carried out on the high Comacchie Valley and on the margin of the Calderone Glacier cirque, on the Gran Sasso d'ltalia Massif, provided some useful data in order to date the holocene glacial phases. The following phases of expansion of the Calderone Glacier have been recognized: - Comacchie stage, currently not dated, but probably more recent than the maximum glacial advance of the Younger Dryas; - Franchetti stage, currently not dated, but more ancient than 4000 years BP; - stage Calderone 1, begun after 3895±65 years BP; - stage Calderone 2, begun after 2650±50 years BP; - stage Calderone 3 (divided in 3a, 3b, 3c) is dated to the Little Ice Age. During the Little Ice Age, the Calderone Glacier reached the maximum extension in the last 4000 years. Before 3895±65 years BP a soil developed inside the depression of the Calderone Glacier cirque. This fact implies that the glacier disappeared or reduced at a very small size under a very thick detrital cover: the size was surely smaller than the present one.