Rock glaciers, Austria  View Catalog Page Entry ID
GGD310
Summary
The Austrian Alps are part of the Eastern Alps which consist of three main mountain ranges. The Northern Alps as well as the Southern Alps are predominantly built of limestone and have poor glaciation in spite of high amounts of precipitation (2000-3000 mm/a) due to the fact that they reach elevations of not more than 3000 m. In contrast the Central Alps consist of metamorphic rocks and receive less precipitation, but are glaciated on large areas (highest mountain of Austria: Groglockner, 3797 m). Recent permafrost and rock glaciers are best developed in the Central Alps, where discontinuous mountain permafrost occurs above a mean altitude of 2500 m.
Rock glaciers were mapped from aerial photographs (different years, most of them 1980-1990) completely covering the area described above. The inventory comprises 1451 rock glaciers with data on their horizontal and vertical position, activity, and morphometric characteristics of each rock glacier. The distinction between active and inactive rock glaciers within the activity class 'intact' was not possible due to the quality of the photographs. Only 19 % of the rock glaciers were classified as intact, while 81 % are relict ones and in most cases of Late Glacial age (a great part of the investigated is situated below present day lower limit of permafrost). In detail the inventory contains information of the following parameters: 1: River basin 2: Number of rock glacier according to river basins 3: Topographic name out of the official map 1:50.000 4: Mountain group 5: Number of official map 1:50.000 6: Number of official aerial photograph map 7: Exposure (8 classes) 8: Lower limit of rock glacier (m above sea level) 9: Maximum length (m, in estimated flow direction) 10: Maximum width (m) 11: Activity (2 classes: intact, relict=fossil) 12: Highest point of the catchment area of the rock glacier (m above sea level) 13: Difference between 12 and 8 (m)
Geographic coordinates of coverage as listed in the GGD inventory are approximate. These data are presented on the CAPS Version 1.0 CD-ROM, June 1998. The inventory does not include measurements on dynamics of rock glacier permafrost.
Geographic Coverage
Spatial Coordinates:
N: 49°
S: 47°
E: 17°
W: 12°
|
|
Data Set Citation
Dataset Creator: Lieb, G.K
Dataset Title: Rock glaciers, Austria
Dataset Release Date: 1998-01-01
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, Colorado USA
Dataset Publisher: NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/ggd310.html
Temporal Coverage
Start Date: 1980-01-01
Stop Date: 1990-12-31
Location Keywords
- CONTINENT EUROPE WESTERN EUROPE AUSTRIA AUSTRIAN PART OF EASTERN ALPS
Science Keywords
- Cryosphere Frozen Ground Rock Glaciers
- Land Surface Frozen Ground Rock Glaciers
Ancillary Keywords
- GIS
- Mapping
- Remote Sensing
- Rock Glaciers
Data Center
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
NSIDC Frozen Ground Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/fgdc/
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC FGDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
Distribution
Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Format: ASCII Text
Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Format: GIF
Personnel
Gerhard K. Lieb
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
- Karl Franzens Universitaet Graz
- Institute of Geography
- Heinrichstrasse 36
City: Graz
Postal Code: A-8010
Country: Austria
Reference
Lieb, G.K. (1991). The horizontal and vertical distribution of rock glaciers in the Hohe Tauern Range (Austria). - Z. Geomorph. N.F. 35/3, 345-365 (in German). Lieb, G.K. (1996). Permafrost and rock glaciers in the Eastern Austrian Alps. - In: Contributions to permafrost research in Austria. Arbeiten aus dem Institut fuer Geographie der Universitaet Graz 33, 9-125 (in German).
Metadata Name and Version
Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date: 1998-01-01
Last DIF Revision Date: 2012-08-29
| 
Home | Contact Us
