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Note: This data set was first published on the 1998 CAPS CD.
The text for this document was taken unchanged from that CD.

See also Description of Data Files.

IPA Global Geocryological Database

Name of data set: Rock Glaciers, Lombardy, Italy

Details of Principal Investigators:

1Mauro Guglielmin
2Claudio Smiraglia
3Nicoletta Cannone
4Claudio Tellini

Organization:

  1. Home address: Via G. Matteotti, 22, 20035, Lissone, Mi, Italy;
    Phone: +39 (2) 67655152;
    Email: cannone.guglielmin@galactica.it
  2. Dipartimento di Geologia , Universitê di Milano, Via Mangiagalli, 34 20100 milano
    Phone +39 (2) 23698253
    Fax +39 (2) 70638261
    Email:
  3. Dipartimento di Ecologia del Territorio e degli Ambienti Terrestr,
    Universitê di Pavia, Via Sant'Epifanio, 14 27100 Pavia
    +39 (382) 504311
    Fax: +39 (382) 34240;
    Email: cannone.guglielmin@galactica.it
  4. Dipartimento di Geologia, Paleontologia e Geografia, viale delle Scienze,
    78 43100 Parma
    Phone: +39 (521) 905317
    Fax: +7 (521) 905305
    Email:

Coverage of data set:

Study location:

Lombardia Regione, Central Italian Alps.

Geographic extent - Describe the corners of the box representing data coverage:

Northwestern latitude: 46.5' N
Northwestern longtitude: 9.3' E
Southeastern latitude: 45.833' N
Southeastern longtitude: 10.5' E

Period of investigation - Years covered

Inventory of rock glaciers 1987, 1997

Summary Description.

The Lombardia is one of the regions in which Italy is divided from administrative point of view. In this region is comprised the more eastern part of Italian sector of the Lepontine Alps and a large part of the Rhaetian Alps. The highest point of this part of the Alps is Bernina Peak (4052 m a.s.l.) There are 305 glaciers and the total glaciated area is about 113 of sq. km. The glaciers are more widespread in the northeastern part of the region (Ortles-Cevedale Group). In this region have been identified 498 rock glaciers that have been classified according their degree of morphological activity in active (92, 18%), doubt (94, 19%), complex (27, 5%) and inactive (285, 58%). After the first works carried out in the mid 1920s by Nangeroni , at the end of 1987 started the work for the rock glaciers inventory. This inventory has been carried out by the analysis of color aerial photographs at 1:20.000 scale. In addition, for the approximately 10% of the land forms identified a geomorphological survey in the field was completed.

Since 1989 in Lombardy region, and, in particular, in Upper Valtellina (Sondrio), were carried out some geophysical investigations to define the geometry of the permafrost bodies included in rock glaciers (Guglielmin et Alii, 1994; Guglielmin, 1997) and some BTS (Bottom temperature of winter snow cover) measurements to map the permafrost occurence (Guglielmin & Tellini, 1992, 1994).

The rock glacier inventory of the Alps has been carried out with the same criteria used for the Italian Alps rock glaciers inventory.

The following parameters of each rock glacier were measured:

  1. 1. Location (geographic coordinates also respect the official italian cartography).
  2. Activity (active/inactive/complex and of uncertain activity).
  3. Size (length, width), m.
  4. Square, m2.
  5. Orientation.
  6. Mean slope of the landform (í)
  7. Maximum elevation of the landform , m a.s.l..
  8. Minimum elevation of the front, m a.s.l.
  9. Geomorphological location (cirque, slope, valley bottom, furrow)
  10. Lithology of the area that feeds the rock glacier (metamorphic, carbonate, volcanitic, plutonic and other rocks)
  11. Relationships with glacial bodies (glaciers, glacierets, snow banks, morainic landforms)
  12. Relationships with the vegetation (above or below the tree line and continuous meadows line).
  13. Description of the main surficial geomorphologic elements (meandering ridges and furrows, conical pits and so on).

The areas with the higher density of rock glaciers are located in the inner valleys of the Valtellina and in some valleys of the northward aspect of the Orobian Alps.

The lowest altitude of the active rock glaciers ranges from 2850 to 2150 m a.s.l, with a mean value of 2537 m a.s.l while the same value for inactive ones is of 2108 m a.s.l..

Current storage of data - Mark with X as many as are appropriate, or delete those that do not apply:

	CD ROM
	Paper        X
	Spreadsheet
	Wordprocessor file(s)
	Database     X

Datacenter (please give name of center)

Home address of Mauro Guglielmin
Via Matteotti, 22 20035 Lissone (MI) Italy,
e-mail : cannone.guglielmin@galactica.it

Are your data at risk of being lost? Yes or No *** Yes ***

Bibliography -

CALDERONI G., GUGLIELMIN M., L0ZEJ A. e TELLINI C. (1993): Researches on rock glaciers in the Italian central Alps (Valtellina, Sondrio, Italia), Proceedings of VI Int. Conf. on Permafrost, Beijng, 1, 72-77.

CANNONE N., GUGLIELMIN M, SMIRAGLIA C. (1995): Rapporti tra vegetazione e permafrost discontinuo in ambiente alpino. Val Vallaccia (Livigno, Sondrio). Rivista Geografica Italiana, 102, 91-111.

GUGLIELMIN M. (1989b): I rock glacier del Passo del Foscagno (Alta Valtellina, Sondrio). Natura Bresciana, 26, 35-47.

GUGLIELMIN M. con contributi di A. NOTARPIETRO (1997) Il Permafrost Alpino. Concetti, morfologia e metodi di individuazione (con tre indagini esemplificative in Alta Valtellina). Quaderni di Geodinamica alpina e Quaternaria, CNR, 5, 117 pp.

GUGLIELMIN M., LOZEJ A., TELLINI C. (1994): Permafrost Distribution and Rock Glaciers in the Livigno Area (Northern Italy). Permafrost and Periglacial Processess, 5, 1-12.

GUGLIELMIN M. e TELLINI C. (1992): Contributo alla conoscenza dei rock glaciers delle Alpi Italiane. I rock glaciers del Livignasco. (Alta Valtellina, Sondrio). Riv. Geogr. It.,99, 395-414.

GUGLIELMIN M. & TELLINI C. (1993): First example of permafrost mapping with BTS in the Italian Alps (Livigno, Sondrio, Italy). Acta Naturalia, 29, 1/2, 39-46.

GUGLIELMIN M. & TELLINI C. (1994): Rilevamento del permafrost con il metodo BTS (Bottom Temperature of the Winter Snow Cover) nell'alta Valtellina (Sondrio, ITALIA).- Geogr. Fis. Din. Quat., 17, 47-54

GUGLIELMIN M. & TELLINI C. (1995) Relazioni tra permafrost alpino e copertura nevosa: risultati preliminari (area del Foscagno, Sondrio, Italia). Geogr. Fis. Dinam. Quat. 18, 25-29.

LOZEJ A. & GUGLIELMIN M. (1992): Prospezioni geoelettriche sul rock glacier de "La Foppa", Livigno, Sondrio (ITALIA), GEAM-Boll. Ass. Min. Subalp, XXIV, 4, dicembre, pp.373-382.

GUGLIELMIN M. (1997) : Periglacial Phenomena, permafrost distribution and glacial evolution in Foscagno area, Livigno (SO), Italy, In IV Intern. Conference on Geomorphology, Italy, 1997 - Guide for the excursion- Mountain permafrost and slope stability in the periglacial belt of the Alps, Suppl. Geogr. Fis. Dinam. Quat. 193, 195-199.

SMIRAGLIA C. & GUGLIELMIN M. (1997) : Periglacial Morphology in Val Pisella , In IV Intern. Conference on Geomorphology, Italy, 1997 -Guide for the excursion- Mountain permafrost and slope stability in the periglacial belt of the Alps, Suppl. Geogr. Fis. Dinam. Quat.,200-203.

GUGLIELMIN M. & SMIRAGLIA C. (1998, in stampa) : Italian alps rock glacier inventory, Archivi Com. Glac. It., 5, 110 pp.

GUGLIELMIN M., ROSSETTI G. & TELLINI C. (1997) PergÄlisol alpin et variations climatiques dans les Alpes Centrales (valtellina, Italie), IV Intern. Conf. On Geomorphology, Abstract, Suppl. Geogr. Fis. Din. Quat., III, 1, 192, Submitted to Arctic and Alpine Research.

GUGLIELMIN M., SMIRAGLIA C. & CANNONE N. (1997) The rock glaciers of the Lombardy Alps (Italy) as indicators of mountain permafrost, IV Intern. Conf. On Geomorphology, Abstract, Suppl. Geogr. Fis. Din. Quat., III, 1, 193, Submitted to Geomorphology.

Keywords - List up to ten keywords that describe the content of this dataset.

  1. Lombardia
  2. Rock Glaciers
  3. Photointerpretation
  4. Inventory of rock glaciers
  5. Geophysical investigation
  6. BTS measurements
  7. Geomorphologic survey

Data sample:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lombardia :  Rock Glaciers.  Rhaetian Alps 
INVENTORY DATA:  

1.  Location: La Foppa I rock glacier;  progressive n. 609 (of rock glaciers inventory of 
Italian Alps); coordinates: 46í28'36"N; 10í11'20"E;  location respect the official cartographic
italian 
system: ( 8 , 3, NE)
2. Activity : (active).
3. Size : width,( 180 ), length (480) m
4. Square: (86400) m2 
5. Orientation (N)
6 . Mean slope of  the landform (18í)
7. Maximum elevation of the landform , (2830) m a.s.l.
8.  Minimum elevation of the front, (2670) m a.s.l.
9.  Geomorphological location (cirque)
10.  Lithology of the  area that feeds the rock glacier (metamorphic)
11.  Relationships with glacial bodies (morainic landforms)
12.  Relationships with the vegetation (above the tree line and continuous meadows line).
13.  Description of the main surficial geomorphologic elements (meandering ridges and furrows, 
steep front slope, convex profile).

Please cite these data as follows:

Guglielmin, M. 1998. Rock glaciers, Lombardy, Italy. In: International Permafrost Association, Data and Information Working Group, comp. Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS), versi on 1.0. CD-ROM available from National Snow and Ice Data Center, nsidc@kryos.colorado.edu. Boulder, Colorado: NSIDC, University of Colorado at Boulder.

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