The Romanian Carpathians: glacial landforms from the Younger Dryas

Past glaciation of temperate‐continental mountains: A model for a debris‐charged plateau icefield/cirque glacier landsystem in the Southern Carpathians, Romania

“…However, the extent and timing of operation of these plateau icefields may differ from that of the Godeanu Mountains, and therefore, a careful assessment of topographic, lithological and climatic contexts is needed before making more direct comparisons. Likewise, the debris‐rich cirque glacier component of the landsystem is not dissimilar to that of the majority of former cirque and valley glaciers in all the Romanian Carpathians (Urdea et al, 2022a, 2022b, 2022c, 2022d, 2022e; Urdea et al, 2022) and the Western Carpathians (e.g., Tatra Mountains) (Zasadni, Kłapyta, Kałuża, & Makos, 2022; Zasadni et al, 2022a, 2022b, 2022c; Zasadni, Kłapyta, Tołoczko‐Pasek, & Makos, 2022; Zasadni, Makos, & Kłapyta, 2022). Indeed, previous research in the Romanian Carpathians highlighted a glacial geomorphology throughout the last deglaciation that was characterised by debris‐charged palaeoglaciers (e.g., Balaban, 2018; Gheorghiu, 2012; Gheorghiu et al, 2015; Kłapyta et al, 2021, 2022; Kłapyta, Mîndrescu, & Zasadni, 2023; Kłapyta, Zasadni, & Mîndrescu, 2023; László et al, 2013; Reuther et al, 2007; Ruszkiczay‐Rüdiger et al, 2016, 2021), but the exact timing and causes of glacial recession have not been assessed in detail (Popescu, Urdea, & Vespremeanu‐Stroe, 2017).…”

“…Hence, we endorse the concept of equifinality of rock glaciers (Knight et al, 2019; Whalley, 2009). Additionally, we follow the conventions of Thompson (1957), Østrem (1964), England (1978), Leigh et al (2021) and Urdea et al (2022) in recognising rock‐glacierised moraines in situations where moraines appear to have been remobilized by creep, either due to interstitial pore ice accumulation or an initial glacier ice core (Table 1). In each case, rock glaciers and rock‐glacierised moraines in the study area are relict features and, hence, are genetically classified based upon their more muted appearance after de‐icing.…”

“…Although the Romanian Carpathians (particularly the Southern Carpathians) contain a rich glacial geomorphology (Urdea et al, 2022a, 2022b, 2022c, 2022d, 2022e; Urdea et al, 2022), these mountains have not been systematically mapped according to well‐established diagnostic criteria (e.g., Chandler et al, 2018; Giles et al, 2017). Early (19th century) studies on the glacial geomorphology focused on landform descriptions in individual mountain ranges (e.g., de Martonne, 1900; Lehmann, 1881; Tietze, 1878).…”