Confluence (glaciology)
Confluence is a term in glaciology and describes the confluence of glaciers that come from different directions and form a larger glacier. The two inner lateral moraines of the converging glaciers unite to form a central moraine . A classic example of confluence is Konkordiaplatz in the Bernese Alps , where the Grosse Aletschfirn , the Jungfraufirn , the Ewigschneefeld and the Grüneggfirn form the Great Aletsch Glacier .
If the size of the confluent glaciers is different, the smaller one is also known as the tributary glacier .
At the bottom of the glacier, in the area of the confluence, the glacial erosion can develop land steps, so-called confluence steps , which indicate the former confluence after melting.
The opposite of confluence, i.e. the splitting of the glacier into several branches, is called diffluence or transfluence .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Editing of the Swiss Lexicon, Glacier Commission of the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences (ed.): Glaciers, snow and ice. Verlag Schweizer Lexikon Mengis + Ziehr, Horw / Luzern 1993, ISBN 3-9520144-2-7 , p.
- ^ Hester Jiskoot: Tributary Glaciers. In: Vijay P. Singh, Pratap Singh, Umesh K. Haritashya (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers. Springer, Dordrecht 2011, ISBN 978-90-481-2641-5 , pp. 1209f
- ↑ Frank Preusser, Jürgen M. Reitner, Christian Schlüchter: Distribution, geometry, age and origin of overdeepened valleys and basins in the Alps and their foreland. In: Swiss Journal of Geosciences. Volume 103, 2010, pp. 407-426 ( online )