Development of the critical zone environment in the highly dynamic landscape of the Forni Glacier forefield: Winds, tree vegetation, pedogenesis and surface waters after glacier retreat

IF 2.8 3区 地球科学 Q2 GEOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Pub Date : 2024-09-12 DOI:10.1002/esp.5983
Giovanni Leonelli, Anna Masseroli, Luca Trombino, Alessio Golzio, Adalberto Bonetti, Valter Maggi, Manuela Pelfini
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Abstract

The expansion of glacier‐free forelands after glacier retreat is emerging as a typical climate change‐dependent feature that is widely studied for assessing biogeomorphic feedbacks and analysing the vertical processes and changes occurring in the critical zone (CZ). However, the horizontal processes occurring in the CZ environment are still poorly understood. Here, we comprehensively analyse the development of the CZ environment over time in the Forni Glacier forefield, Italian Alps, since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) by considering different sectors (air, forest, water and soil) in two portions of the glacier forefield: the lower portion, which occurs below the glacier‐forefield treeline (GFT), where a fully functioning CZ environment has developed, and the upper portion, which occurs above the GFT, in the proglacial area (PA), where only an incipient CZ exists. The early stages of CZ development in the PA are highly influenced by katabatic winds, which impact the colonisation patterns of saplings and young trees, and characterised by high‐energy geomorphic processes that cause sediment reworking and initial stages of soil development. Below the GFT, the minimum tree ecesis interval after glacier retreat reaches a median value of 38 years (n = 8), and the fully developed CZ environment (with trees reaching at least 2 m in height after 20 years) formed after ~60 years following glacier retreat and is characterised by forest cover, soils organised in a chronosequence and contrasting isotopic signatures of surface and running waters. The correlation with the isotopic signatures of tree rings allowed us to estimate a groundwater flow period of approximately 2 months from the slopes into the CZ of the valley floor. By analysing the horizontal processes driving the geomorphic and biotic evolution patterns of a glacier forefield, this work introduces a novel approach for assessing the development of the CZ environment over time.
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福尔尼冰川前场高度动态景观中临界区环境的发展:冰川退缩后的风、树木植被、植被生成和地表水
冰川退缩后无冰川前陆的扩展是一个典型的气候变化依赖特征,在评估生物地貌反馈和分析临界区(CZ)的垂直过程和变化方面得到了广泛研究。然而,人们对临界区环境中发生的水平过程仍然知之甚少。在这里,我们通过考虑冰川前场两部分的不同区域(空气、森林、水和土壤),全面分析了自小冰河时期(LIA)结束以来,意大利阿尔卑斯山福尔尼冰川前场临界区环境随时间变化的发展情况:下部位于冰川-森林林木线(GFT)以下,这里已经形成了功能完备的临界区环境;上部位于冰川-森林林木线以上的前冰川区(PA),这里只存在萌芽期的临界区。前冰川区 CZ 发展的早期阶段受到卡塔巴赫风的高度影响,影响了树苗和幼树的定植模式,其特点是高能地貌过程导致沉积物再加工和土壤发展的初始阶段。在冰川退缩后的约 60 年后,形成了完全发育的 CZ 环境(20 年后树木至少长到 2 米高),其特征是森林覆盖、按时间序列组织的土壤以及地表水和流水的对比同位素特征。根据与树木年轮同位素特征的相关性,我们可以估算出地下水从山坡流入谷底 CZ 的时间约为 2 个月。通过分析驱动冰川前场地貌和生物演化模式的水平过程,这项研究引入了一种新的方法来评估 CZ 环境随时间的发展。
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来源期刊
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 地学-地球科学综合
CiteScore
6.40
自引率
12.10%
发文量
215
审稿时长
4 months
期刊介绍: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms is an interdisciplinary international journal concerned with: the interactions between surface processes and landforms and landscapes; that lead to physical, chemical and biological changes; and which in turn create; current landscapes and the geological record of past landscapes. Its focus is core to both physical geographical and geological communities, and also the wider geosciences
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Issue Information Runoff and sediment reduction effects of different Paspalum wettsteinii-planting measures on the slopes of Masson pine plantation in the red soil region of southern China Holocene hillslope evolution through extreme rainfall induced landslides in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Geochronology and paleoenvironmental evidence Issue Information Issue Information
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