investigations regarding alpine talus slopes using ground penetrating radar gpr in the bavarian alps germany the applicability of ground penetrating radar gpr for the investigation of loose debris was tested at two sites viererkar and zugspitzplatt a pulseekko 100 gpr system equipped with 25 mhz antennae was utilized the aim of the investigation was to record the base of the debris layer and thereby acquire an estimation of the backweathering rates of the adjacent rockwalls the study areas are situated in the northern alps near the german austrian border the sites are characterized by steep limestone rockwalls and extensive talus accumulations a total of six profiles was surveyed the method is suitable and effective for a quick survey in this dry high ohmic substrate the gpr system was able to deliver information about the subsurface stratigraphy to c 70 m depth the boundary line to the bedrock was discovered depending upon the profile surveyed 5 to 25 m below the surface the base of the debris material sometimes shows no distinct reflection buried features v shaped furrows zones overdeepened by ice action geological structures could be detected arched structures well below the talus bedrock interface can be interpreted as drainage systems in the karstic bedrock a thick scree layer of late glacial age was separated from a thinner layer on the talus surface which was related to the holocene the backweathering rates were fixed by a calculation of talus volume to c 100 mm 103 a during the holocene viererkar and 150 300 mm 103 a zugspitzplatt the detrital formation in north exposed sites is twice as intense as in south exposed sites these results match the rates of recent rockfall in the same area of investigation the calculated backweathering for the late glacial period is 150 730 mm 103 a the magnitude of the calculated rockwall retreat lies well within the range of previous measurements the discrepancy between some weathering rates highlights the fact that recent and past relief formation must be differentiated otherwise recent removal rates may be overestimated copyright 2001 john wiley sons ltd

polynomial and power functions for glacial valley cross section morphology an empirical evaluation of glacial trough cross section shape is performed on seven vertical cross sections in three sierra nevada valleys glaciated during the late quaternary power and second order polynomial functions are fitted by statistical regression power functions are very sensitive to subtle valley bottom topographic features and require precise specification of the valley bottom centre location this dependency is problematic given under representation of valley bottoms by conventional contour sampling methods and the common alteration of valley bottom morphology by non glacial processes power function exponents vary greatly in response to these and other non genetic factors and are not found to be reliable indicators of overall valley morphology second order polynomials express overall valley shape in a single robust function they are applied to both bedrock and sediment floored glacial valleys with negligible statistical bias except where side slopes are stepped or convex upward or where valley form is asymmetrical they can describe alluviated or severely eroded valleys and can objectively identify indi vidual components of polymorphic valleys because valley bottom and centre locations need not be specified mathematical expressions of parameters useful for geomorphic measurements and glaciological modelling are analytically derived from the polynomials as functions of the three polynomial coefficients these parameter equations provide estimates of valley side slopes mean and maximum depth midpoint location width area boundary length form ratio and symmetry

spatial distribution of sediment storage types and quantification of valley fill deposits in an alpine basin reintal bavarian alps germany spatial patterns of sediment storage types and associated volumes using a novel approach for quantifying valley fill deposits are presented for a small alpine catchment 17 km 2 in the bavarian alps the different sediment storage types were analysed with respect to geomorphic coupling and sediment flux activity the dominant landforms in the valley in terms of surface area were found to be talus slopes sheets and cones followed by rockfall deposits and alluvial fans and plains more than two thirds of the talus slopes are relict landforms completely decoupled from the geomorphic system notable sediment transport is limited to avalanche tracks debris flows and along floodplains sediment volumes were calculated using a combination of polynomial functions of cross sections seismic refraction and gis modelling a total of 66 seismic refraction profiles were carried out throughout the valley for a more precise determination of sediment thicknesses and to check the bedrock data generated from geomorphometric analysis we calculated the overall sediment volume of the valley fill deposits to be 0 07 km 3 this corresponds to a mean sediment thickness of 23 3 m the seismic refraction data showed that large floodplains and sedimentation areas which have been developed through damming effects from large rockfalls are in general characterised by shallow sediment thicknesses 20 m by contrast the thickness of several talus slopes is more than twice as much for some locations e g narrow sections of valley the polynomial generated cross sections resulted in overestimations of up to one order of magnitude whereas in sections with a moderate valley shape the modelled cross sections are in good accordance with the obtained seismic data for the quantification of valley fill deposits a combined application of bedrock data derived from polynomials and geophysical prospecting is highly recommended d 2003 elsevier b v all rights reserved

using parabolas to describe the cross sections of glaciated valleys it is widely accepted that the simple power curve y axb can be used to describe the cross section of glaciated valleys there are however good reasons to suppose that this particular form of equation is inappropriate for this purpose

paraglacial response of steep sediment mantled slopes to post little ice age glacier recession in the central swiss alps this research assesses the morphological consequences of recent post little ice age paraglacial reworking of valley side sediment mantles in the european alps it aims to identify the extent and conditioning factors of slope adjustment at sites in the swiss alps model the temporal pattern and assess the rates of sediment reworking involved gully systems have cut into steep high level lateral moraines and debris cones have accumulated downslope debris flow is the dominant agent of sediment transfer factors controlling the extent of this activity include moraine slope gradient relief and moisture availability gullies appear to have reached their maximum dimensions within ca 50 yr of deglaciation after which gully relief is reduced by removal of inter gully slopes and gully infilling within 80 140 yr on the most recently deglaciated terrain minimum erosion rates average ca 95 mm yr 1 since gully initiation greatly exceeding normal erosion rates in other environments mean annual accumulation of a single debris cone since ice retreat was calculated to be ca 30 mm yr 1 implications of these findings are applied to patterns of paraglacial sediment mantled slope adjustment conceptualising paraglacial landscape response in terms of a sediment release exhaustion model and paraglacial landform succession copyright 2005 john wiley sons ltd

a quantitative model for deposition of thin fluvial sand sheets sheetfloods are typically invoked as the mechanism responsible for the kilometre scale transport of sand sized sediment grains in shallow gradient fluvial systems this concept is based on the lateral extent of ancient thin sheet sandstone deposits rather than on fluid dynamics which has resulted in a loosely constrained model for sheetfloods this study tested the conceptual mechanism by developing a depth averaged 2d computational fluid dynamics model the model results compare well against observations from modern deposits at lake eyre to provide a quantitative physically sound basis for sheetfloods that can be applied in ancient and modern settings to constrain otherwise qualitative interpretations

geomorphic tectonic control of sediment discharge to the ocean the importance of small mountainous rivers analysis of data from 280 rivers discharging to the ocean indicates that sediment loads yields are a log linear function of basin area and maximum elevation of the river basin other factors controlling sediment discharge e g climate runoff appear to have secondary importance a notable exception is the influence of human activity climate and geology on the rivers draining southern asia and oceania sediment fluxes from small mountainous rivers many of which discharge directly onto active margins e g western south and north america and most high standing oceanic islands have been greatly underestimated in previous global sediment budgets perhaps by as much as a factor of three in contrast sediment fluxes to the ocean from large rivers nearly all of which discharge onto passive margins or marginal seas have been overestimated as some of the sediment load is subaerially sequestered in subsiding deltas before the proliferation of dam construction in the latter half of this century rivers

a discussion of hirano and aniya s 1988 1989 explanation of glacial valley cross profile development in a rational explanation of cross profile morphology for glacial valleys and of glacial valley development hirano and aniya 1988 present an explanation for the apparent catenary form of glaciated valley cross profiles based on the assumption that glacial erosion works towards minimizing friction between a glacier and its channel however as there is as yet no convincing justification for the application of such extremum principles to this problem it is not clear how useful this type of analysis might be in more detail hirano and aniya s analysis includes assumptions about patterns of basal water pressures and the controls on friction inconsistent with other work in this area furthermore as hirano and aniya 1989 point out the catenary solution they derive is the maximum rather than the minimum friction solution the underlying reason for this surprising result is that the variational principle hirano and aniya use is inappropriately structured for the problem being addressed as it does not involve a cross section area i e ice discharge constraint hirano and aniya also discuss the progressive development of glacial valley cross profiles but their analysis is hindered by the fact that most of the data they present are purely morphological and thus cannot be used to assess form development as a function of either time or extent of glacial erosion the only possible exceptions are graf s 1970 data which give morphological parameters as a function of valley order but these do not unequivocally support hirano and aniya s conclusions and are used with implicit assumptions about the relationship between valley order and time of glacial occupation or magnitude of glacial erosion that are incorrect or uncorroborated respectively however if we accept the common assumption that glacial erosion results in a progression from initial v shaped to broadly u shaped parabolic or catenary forms hirano and aniya s argument that there are two distinct types of form development incision in alpine situations versus valley widening under ice sheets is justified and is an important observation that needs to be addressed in future models of glacial valley development

a new procedure for gridding elevation and stream line data with automatic removal of spurious pits abstract a morphological approach to the interpolation of regular grid digital elevation models dems from surface specific elevation data points and selected stream lines is described the approach has given rise to a computationally efficient interpolation procedure which couples the minimization of a terrain specific roughness penalty with an automatic drainage enforcement algorithm the drainage enforcement algorithm removes spurious sinks or pits yielding dems which may be used to advantage in hydrological process studies the drainage enforcement algorithm has also been found to significantly increase the accuracy of dems interpolated from sparse but well chosen surface specific elevation data moreover it facilitates the detection of errors in elevation data that would not be detected by more conventional statistical means and forms a sound physical basis for cartographic generalization

terrestrial sediment yield and the lifetimes of reservoirs lakes and larger basins water reservoirs lakes and larger basins including their drainage areas represent sedimentologically closed to semi closed denudation accumulation systems the mean rates of mechanical denudation drme and clastic sedimentation srme are related by the ratio of the drainage lake area ad al if the latter is known drme or the specific sediment yield sy in t per km2 a can be calculated from srme or vice versa the best data for modern sy mainly come from the sediment fills of artificial reservoirs small drainage areas of mountainous regions show sy values up to two orders of magnitude higher than lowlands and approximately one order higher than larger regions of mixed relief this is also true of arid to semi arid zones which often provide approximately as much sediment sy as humid temperate and even tropical zones of comparable relief lithology and climate river runoff also may play some role for sy from catchments of limited size the importance of these factors is exemplified by perialpine lakes and two east african lakes sediment yields gained from some large reservoirs compare well with long term denudation rates derived from geological studies e g the tarbela dam reservoir along the indus river in many other cases human activities have raised sy by factors of 2 10 locally up to 100 artificial reservoirs in mountainous regions with sy in the range of 300 2000 t per km2 a tend to become filled within several tens to hundreds of years some have even shorter lifetimes perialpine lakes of the alps and british columbia are strongly affected by delta prograding and have lifetimes mostly between 15 and 40 ka closed lake systems in deep morphological depressions lake bonneville aral sea northern caspian sea have a high potential for sediment storage up to the level of spillover and therefore can persist over long time periods basins with markedly subsiding basin floors lakes of the east african rift zone the southern caspian sea and the black sea both on oceanic crust can survive for many ma in the future despite relatively high terrigenous input

lutschine fan delta response to climate variability and land use in the bernese alps during the last 2400 years abstract despite important progress in holocene palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental studies in the alps during recent years the knowledge of alpine river dynamics and their chronology is still limited to address the influence of external factors such as climatic variability and land use on aggradation and floods we focused our research on the late holocene sedimentary and geomorphologic history of the lutschine fan delta morphological mapping sedimentology geochemistry palynology historical maps building inventories and 14c dating techniques provided valuable data for the reconstruction of palaeofloods wetland environments and anthropogenic impact the sedimentological findings showed a general agreement between geochemical and pollen changes and 14 c anomalies from 2400 to 850 yr cal bp furthermore the coarse grained layers deposited during palaeofloods about 400 yr cal bc and 100 700 1100 1550 and 1830 ad correlate with positive radiocarbon anomalies suggesting that aggradation in the lutschine fan delta during the focused period was triggered by solar forcing according to our pollen data and the traced correlations the lutschine river floods occurred during cold and wet periods the return interval of recorded flooding events during the last 2400 years varies between 300 and 600 years with regard to the last millennium anthropogenic impacts such as woodland clearance for grazing and agriculture and river diversion have changed the sedimentary and geomorphic pattern on the lutschine fan delta reducing wetland environments

a rational explanation of cross profile morphology for glacial valleys and of glacial valley development the fact that the cross profile of the glacial valley could be well approximated by parabolas y axb b 2 0 is explained by the variation principle assuming that the glacier erosion works towards minimizing thefriction between ice and bedrock the variation principle proves that the ideal or fully developed morphology of the glacial valley should be a catenary the curve which a chain hanging from two fixed points forms maclaurin s series expansion of the catenary equation shows that a parabola is a very good approximation of the catenary hence the good approximation of the cross profile by parabolas different catenaries are generated by changing the form ratio depth rim width and are then approximated by y axb by the method of last squares the b values obtained become only fractionally larger than 2 0 with invreasing form ratios of up to 1 0 indicating that b values would range in practice between 1 0 and about 2 0 two types of trend in the relationship between b values and the form ratio were obtained from several glaciers for one type the b value becomes larger with increasing form ratios and for the other the opposite the first type is called the rocky mountain model after its source of data and represents overdeepening of the glacial valley development the second type is caalled the patagonia antarctica model representing a widening instead of a deepening process of development these differences are attributed to the nature of the glaciers which produced these valleys i e alpine glaciers and continental ice sheets

the glacially overdeepened trough of the salzach valley austria bedrock geometry and sedimentary fill of a major alpine subglacial basin abstract overdeepened valleys are unambiguous features of glacially sculpted landscapes they result from erosion at the bed of the glacier and their size and shape is determined by ice dynamics and the characteristics of the underlying bedrock major overdeepened valleys representing vertical bedrock erosion of several hundreds of meters are characteristic features of many trunk valleys in the formerly glaciated parts of the alpine mountain belt the thick sedimentary fill usually hinders attempts to unravel bedrock geometry formation history and fill characteristics based on reflection seismic data and core logs from multiple deep drillings we construct a detailed bedrock model of the lower salzach valley trough one of the largest overdeepened valleys in the european alps the analysed overdeepened structure characterized by a strongly undulating topography two reaches of enhanced erosion can be identified and are suggested to be related to variations in bedrock erodibility and a triple glacier confluence the sedimentary fill shows clear characteristics of rapid infilling and subaqueous fan delta deposits indicate a strong influence of tributary streams associated surface lowering of the valley floor had a major impact on tributary stream incision but also on the available ice accumulation area at subsequent glaciations the extent to which fills of earlier glaciations have been preserved from erosion during the last glacial maximum remains ambiguous and demands further exploration to our knowledge the presented bedrock model is one of the best defined of any major overdeepened trunk valley

detecting alpine landforms from remotely sensed imagery a pilot study in the bavarian alps abstract this study investigates the suitability of remote sensing for detecting rock and sediment storage areas in the reintal subcatchment 17 km2 east of zugspitze germany first characteristic features of alpine landforms such as curvature process coupling or type of deposited sediment were compiled based on this a landform classification was performed topographical information from a digital elevation model dem and spectral data from an aster advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer satellite scene were classified using a multiscale object oriented approach comprising four differently scaled levels the complex decision tree hierarchy is based for the most part on fuzzy membership functions and to a lesser extent on the hard nearest neighbour classifier the results show that both an identification of the present day pattern of storage types and the classification of geomorphologic units also with regard to their activity status and complexity is largely possible moreover the methodology developed in this study permits a first assessment of the upper regions of the study area which could not be included in any previous survey because of their inaccessibility coherent landform classification using remote sensing methods as developed in this study constitutes a promising scientific approach especially with regard to the enhanced spatial and spectral resolution of modern satellite systems

the influence of rock mass strength on glacial valley cross profile morphometry a case study from the southern alps new zealand the erosional morphology in the vicinity of the main divide of the southern alps and fiordland new zealand appears to be a product of the interaction between alpine fault induced tectonic processes rock mass strength of the uplifted and eroded bedrock and the processes acting to denude the developing mountain landscape the magnitude of the effects of glacial erosion on the landscape is directly controlled by the size and physical properties of the glaciers whilst the form of the trough is a direct consequence of the rock mass strength rms properties of the slope rock realistic models of development of the cross profile shape of glacial valleys must take into consideration the rms properties of the eroded substrate

comparing the characteristics of rockfall talus and snow avalanche landforms in an alpine environment using a new methodological approach massif des ecrins french alps abstract the geometry and sedimentology of 49 talus slope deposits have been analysed in the french alps to show the effects of snow avalanche activity on their characteristics twenty slopes are heavily avalanche modified 15 are snow avalanche boulder tongues and 14 are rockfall talus slopes slope angle slope segmentation longitudinal and sorting indices provide criteria to differentiate these deposits although the transition from rockfall to avalanche dominated slopes is gradational a transitional talus is identified with distinctive characteristics

on the mathematical description of glaciated valley cross sections morphometric analyses of glaciated valleys typically involve attempts to fit empirical data from valley cross profiles to quadratic parabolic or power law equations with the choice of equation depending on the goal of the analysis in assessing the relative merits of these two types of equations some confusion has arisen because of apparent variations in coordinate system datums between studies which have made use of the power law equation however we show that this confusion relates to a simple mathematical error rather than any true difference in methodology of more significance however is the fact that in fitting a power law equation to observed profiles significant bias is introduced by the use of a logarithmic data transformation because of this implicit bias power law equation parameters are influenced most strongly by data points close in elevation to the centre of the valley and so failure to account for the depositional elements which frequently occur in these areas can lead to significant errors if the aim of the analysis is to characterize the form of the erosional profile

assessment of sediment sources throughout the proglacial area of a small arctic catchment based on high resolution digital elevation models abstract the article presents calculations of quantitative modifications of the morphology of selected subsystems of a glacial valley through i identification of the spatial distribution of important sources of sediment ii assessment of the spatiotemporal variety of sediment volume and landform morphology and iii assessment of the role of particular subsystems in sediment distribution the study involved a comparison of the results of field measurements from 2010 to 2013 performed in the scott glacier catchment 10 1 km2 in nw wedel jarlsberg land spitsbergen the assessment of the landform surface changes was performed by means of a precise terrestrial laser scanning tls survey the applied field and post processing techniques for oblique laser scanning permitted the acquisition of digital elevation data at a resolution 0 01 m and density 500 pt m 2 this allowed the development of a detailed terrain model and balancing spatial quantitative changes in six research test areas 10 000 m2 located within two subsystems of the catchment in a cascade arrangement in the alluvial valley floor subsystem the survey covered 1 the glacier terminus 2 the intramarginal outwash plain 3 the extramarginal braid plain and 4 the alluvial fan and in the slope subsystem 5 the erosional depositional slope in the gorge through terminal moraines and 6 the solifluction slope three zones differing in terms of the spatiotemporal dynamics of geomorphic processes were distinguished within the two analysed valley subsystems in the valley floor subsystem these are i the zone of basic supply distribution throughout the melting season and ii the redeposition zone distribution particularly during floods and in the slope subsystem iii zone of periodical supply distributed mainly in periods of increased precipitation and rapid increases in temperature in summer and during snow avalanches in winter the glacier and the landforms of the channel and valley floor as well as slope sediments transported as a result of mass wasting processes and activity of the active permafrost layer constitute important sources of sediment supply over a short 3 year timescale evidence of major changes of the surface morphology slopes floodplain and channel platform resulted in varied sediment budgets the subtraction of consecutive dems of the test areas located in the alluvial valley subsystem revealed downstream spatial and volumetric differentiation from the predominance of erosion 79 of volume 43 of area to the dominance of deposition 90 91 respectively in upper part of the valley floor to erosion predominance in the central 88 95 and lower 87 82 part of valley floor the test areas located on the slope subsystem showed the opposite relationship deposition dominance 88 of volume 80 of area in the upper gorge and erosion dominance 99 99 respectively in the lower part solifluction slopes the analysis of short time repeated surveys 3 week survey where volumes were calculated following dem subtraction showed increased deposition 82 of volume 79 of area for the alluvial fan and for solifluction slopes 70 57 respectively

the transfer of modern organic carbon by landslide activity in tropical montane ecosystems 1 geomorphic processes play an important role in the transfer and storage of carbon within steep mountainous terrain among these mass wasting stands out because of its impact on above and below ground carbon pools and its potential for releasing or sequestering carbon a combined remote sensing and gis modeling approach was used to quantify the amount and spatial redistribution of modern organic carbon mobilized by mass wasting activity in a tropical mountain setting the study focused on a population of hundreds of shallow translational landslides triggered by hurricane mitch 1998 on seven watersheds draining the southern flank of the sierra de las minas mountain range slm in central eastern guatemala results illustrate that mass wasting contributed to the transfer of 43 104mgc or 3 of the pre event c in above ground vegetation and soils for an equivalent carbon flux rate of 0 08 0 33 mgc ha 1 y 1 depending on whether we consider hurricane mitch to be a landslide triggering event with a 20 year or an 80 year recurrence interval while 30 of this carbon was delivered to hillslopes or first order streams with a presumed high potential for long term sequestration the remaining 70 was delivered to higher order streams with unknown carbon retention capabilities therefore the ultimate fate of the carbon released by landsliding is very uncertain but depending on the proportion sequestered by colluvial deposits the recurrence interval of landslide triggering events and the rate of ecosystem recuperation at the landslide failure sites mass wasting could be either a net source or sink of carbon in a simulated setting based on the slm study results in which all carbon transferred by landslides from all tropical mountains of the globe is released to the atmosphere it would represent an amount equivalent to 1 11 of the global carbon currently being released by the burning of fossil fuels meanwhile in a projected scenario where a significant proportion of the carbon transferred by landslides is retained within sedimentary deposits sequestration rates would equal 2 19 of the residual land sink

the contribution of geomorphological mapping to sediment transfer evaluation in small alpine catchments the assessment of sediment transfer processes is necessary to understand the hydro geomorphological functioning of small alpine watersheds prone to channelised debris flows because their occurrence often depends on the amount of debris available in the gully systems therefore sediment budgets should be studied through the identification of erosion transport and deposition processes sediment transfer processes were investigated in a small catchment by field measurements and more specifically through the application of a process based geomorphological mapping method the proposed methodology is based on data directly derived from gis analysis using high resolution dem field measurements and aerial photograph interpretations it has been conceived to estimate sediment transfer dynamics taking into account the role of different sediment stores in the torrential system the proposed geomorphological mapping methodology is quite innovative in comparison with most legend systems that are not adequate for mapping comprehensively active and complex geomorphological systems such as debris flow catchments maps representing the various sediment storages and their relationships can be used for hydro geomorphological hazard mitigation

arctic rockwall retreat rates estimated using laboratory calibrated ert measurements of talus cones in longyeardalen svalbard holocene rockwall retreat rates quantify integral values of rock slope erosion and talus cone evolution here we investigate holocene rockwall retreat of exposed arctic sandstone cliffs in longyear

locating and characterising groundwater storage areas within an alpine watershed using time lapse gravity gpr and seismic refraction methods unconsolidated sediments in alpine watersheds can store glacier melt and snowmelt as groundwater which helps sustain flow in mountain rivers during dry periods however the amount and distribution of groundwater storage in rugged alpine terrain is not well understood hindering our ability to predict the rate and timing of groundwater discharge into alpine streams we show how non invasive time lapse microgravity surveys can be used to gauge the spatial distribution of groundwater storage changes within a large ca 1500 1000 m moraine talus field of the lake o hara alpine watershed of the canadian rockies additional ground penetrating radar gpr and seismic refraction surveys provide complementary information on subsurface bedrock topography and reveal the location of a major northwest southeast trending depression that likely controls groundwater flow to an alpine lake contiguous with the moraine talus field repeat relative gravity measurements made on a network of 80 gravity stations over and around the moraine talus field during the summers of 2009 and 2010 reveal gravity changes of up to 25 gal although the small gravity changes associated with groundwater flowing out of storage areas are noisy significant changes are evident on the eastern side of the moraine talus field her majesty the queen in right of canada 2012

disequilibrium of holocene sediment yield in glaciated british columbia it is generally supposed that specific sediment yield the quantity of sediment passing a monitored river cross section per unit area drained upstream of that section declines as the area drained increases1 3 part of the sediment mobilized from the land surface is supposed to go back into storage at field edges and on footslopes and floodplains in contrast we show here that data from british columbian rivers reveal a pattern of increasing specific sediment yield at all spatial scales up to 3 104 km2 this results from the dominance of secondary remobilization of quaternary sediments along river valleys over primary denudation of the land surface the result controverts the conventional model which has been derived from studies of small highly disturbed agricultural catch ments the rivers are still responding to the last glaciation giving a landscape relaxation time greater than 10 kyr this holds pro found implications for geomorphological theory and for studies of erosion

paraglacial slope adjustment since the end of the last glacial maximum and its long lasting effects on secondary mass wasting processes hauser kaibling austria abstract this study indicates the possible long lasting impacts of deep seated gravitational slope deformation dgsd on erosional and mass movement processes dgsd features are common large scale landforms in the crystalline basement rocks of the central alps of austria inactive forms are related to paraglacial nonglacial processes directly conditioned by former glaciation and deglaciation rock slope adjustment processes acting after glacier retreat towards the end of the late glacial period the near surface metamorphic bedrock of dgsd features is generally disintegrated such rock type favours erosion and the formation of small landslides field data laboratory analyses aerial photographs and gis based terrain analyses are used to describe the different geomorphic effects of an extremely disintegrated rock slope the studied dgsd hauser kaibling 13 6 km2 is located in central austria during the last glacial maximum the adjacent valley glacier reached an altitude of approximately 1900 m a s l glacier retreat in combination with the unfavourable tectono metamorphic setting caused gravity induced stresses to act subsequent sediment build up in the main valley restabilised the slope linear erosion cut a number of gullies into the lower part of the dgsd calculated mean erosional denudation rates at incised valley sections range from 0 5 to 2 6 mm a 1 since deglaciation smaller active landslides on the sides of the steep gullies draining the dgsd contribute to high denudation rates active landsliding is favoured by i fragmented rock ii steep slopes iii supply of surface and subsurface water by rain and snowmelt and iv human impact debris flows and debris charged flood events occurred frequently in the past during such events material was transported from the unstable slopes to the populated alluvial fans thus knowledge about the spatial distribution and the stage of development of dgsds active and currently inactive provides an important basis for risk management measures