Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.7
Vlasian Stage (190-127 ka) moraines in the Vourtapa valley on Mount Tymphi in
northwestern Greece (photo by the author). (
A full colour version of this figure appears in the
colour plate section
)
whilst annual precipitation would have been similar to modern values at more than
2000 mm.
Hughes
et al.
(2006d) found evidence of a similar glacial sequence to Mount
Tymphi on neighbouring Mount Smolikas (2637 m asl). Here, there is also evidence
for a fourth and later glacial phase in the highest cirques, where small cirque glaciers
developed with an ELA of c. 2372 m asl and total area of less than 0.5 km
2
. This
phase of glaciation is likely to have occurred after the glacial maximum of the
Tymphian Stage, possibly during the Younger Dryas (12.9-11.7 ka) (Hughes
et al.
,
2006d).
The glacial history of Mount Olympus (2917 m asl), the highest mountain in
Greece, was investigated by Smith
et al.
(1997). Here, glaciers extended to the
piedmont during the most extensive glacial phase and altitudes as low as 500 m asl.
Smith
et al.
(1997) proposed a tentative chronology for glaciation on Mount Olym-
pus by correlating soils on glacial deposits with dated soils in the river deposits
of the Larissa Basin. The oldest and most extensive glaciation was correlated with
soils older than 200 ka, leading Smith
et al.
(1997) to suggest that this glaciation
occurred during MIS 8. A second phase of glaciation, characterized by upland ice
and valley glaciers that did not reach the piedmont, was correlated with MIS 6.
During the last major glacial phase, glaciers were restricted to valley heads, and
this glacial phase was correlated with MIS 4 to 2. Smith
et al.
(1997) suggested
