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Cover beds form a rather uniform veil of most slopes in Central Europe and, most likely, all over the mid-latitudes. Accordingly, their properties are of utmost importance for the formation of soils, for slope hydrology, and for slope dynamics. More research is, however, needed, as there is still insufficient information on the properties of cover-bed successions reaching deeper than 1 m, and there are still many areas where cover beds have not yet been studied at all. The potential use of cover beds for paleoenvironmental reconstructions is also still limited by the unsatisfactory techniques that are currently available for their numerical dating. Furthermore, better techniques for modeling the distribution and the properties of cover beds are required to forecast their influence on flooding events.
Mid-Latitude Slope Deposits (Cover Beds), Second Edition focuses on widespread deposits and discusses their properties, genesis and age in subdued mountains of Central Europe, where to date most research on the matter has been conducted. The ecological consequences of such slope deposits on soils, slope water dynamics, and slope failures are addressed. Finally, transfer of the cover-bed concept to other mid-latitude regions is attempted for the reconstruction of landscape evolution. This unique compilation, covering several decades of a facies-oriented approach to slope-deposit research delivers deep insights into the wide field of research on cover beds and encourages researchers all over the world. This is a valuable resource for students, academics and researchers in geomorphology, quaternary sciences, pedology, hydrology, and sedimentology. - Provides a unique compilation covering several decades of slope-deposit research with a facies-oriented approach - Covers new fields of research developed since the first edition on interbedded/intercalated loess-like slope deposits and the provenance of cover-bed eolian matter - Addresses ecological consequences on soils, slope water dynamics and slope failures
Slope deposits, which veil entire slopes or large parts of them in a rather uniform manner (cover beds), are ubiquitous in the subdued mountains of Central Europe (e.g., ). Here, we show that successions of cover beds are not restricted to this area but occur in many other regions of rather different natural inventories, such as the European Alps, the Russian Plain, south-central Turkey, and the western USA (Great Basin and Rocky Mountains). Cover beds usually form sequences of two or more distinct layers, and their distribution depends on the geomorphic, climate-driven processes of their formation. As they influence pedogenesis, they contribute to the understanding of soil properties and soil distribution: horizon boundaries occur at depths where cover-bed properties change. The properties of the layers and of the soils developed in them are different per region: in humid areas layers free of admixed loess components, thus being solely influenced by weathered local materials, are frequent, whereas in dry regions such layers have not yet been reported. In several areas studied in this chapter, paleosols either occur within cover-bed successions or have been reallocated and incorporated into the cover beds. This provides handles to the ages of layers. The layer successions slowly change with elevation but show a drastic break at around the timberline where Holocene rather than Pleistocene periglacial slope processes gained supremacy.
Slope deposits are common in any inclined relief. So-called cover beds may veil entire landscapes, in which case they are commonly overlooked or confused with soil horizons. This book focuses on these widespread deposits and discusses their properties, genesis, and age mainly in subdued mountains of Central Europe, where to date most research on the matter has been conducted. The ecological consequences of such slope deposits on soils, slope water dynamics, and slope failures are addressed. Finally, transfer of the cover-bed concept to other mid-latitude regions is attempted for the reconstruction of landscape evolution. This unique compilation, covering several decades of a facies-oriented approach to slope-deposit research, delivers deep insight into the wide field of research on cover beds and encourages researchers all over the world to take an in-depth look at the critical zone as to its possible stratified nature. - Unique compilation of several decades of slope-deposit research - Facies-oriented approach - Addresses ecological consequences on soils, slope water dynamics, and slope failures
The occurrence and spatial distribution of cover beds are decisive for modern hillslope morphodynamics. This aspect is strongly associated with the geotechnical properties of cover beds and especially with their anisotropy. The impact of periglacial cover beds on mass movements, in particular landslides in subdued mountains, will be discussed in this section. The case studies in this chapter show that soil-physical and soil-mechanical properties significantly influence the forces in periglacial cover beds and, thus, directly control the slope stability. In contrast to long-lasting stable geomorphological factors, the reduction of shear strength, friction angle, and cohesion as well as the deformability may induce abrupt instability. Abrupt instabilities in periglacial cover beds particularly arise, when the soil-water content increases and, consequently, both the pore water and the hydrostatic pressures rise. In particular, we show that landslides to a large extent occur in hillslope sediments which are weakly consolidated and sensitive to water penetration.
Cover beds are usually not regarded of use for relative dating. The examples discussed in this chapter demonstrate otherwise. Central European cover beds usually are of Pleistocene age, and they can be utilized for distinguishing older landforms, such as slope failures, covered by one or more cover beds, from those which are not covered by periglacial deposits. In the western USA, where intervening soil-forming episodes provide a stratigraphic framework for such deposits, the stratigraphic value of cover-bed and soil successions is tested on various types of landforms. However, dating landforms relatively by overlying cover beds calls for due consideration of erosion-induced hiatuses and of tectonically induced processes out of phase with those driven by climate.
Numerous case studies carried out in the subdued mountains of Germany during the last decades have revealed that periglacial cover beds play a decisive role in hillslope hydrology. Considering the omnipresence of cover beds in sloped terrain of the mid-latitudes, knowledge of slope-water paths is crucial not only for flood forecast but also for understanding how contaminants pass through ecosystems. Since periglacial cover beds are usually composed of different sedimentary layers, they show a high spatial variability of physical soil parameters, which are, in turn, responsible for small-scale variations of the hydraulic properties. Regardless of bedrock type, the observations reported in this chapter from different regions lead to the conclusion that there is a clear relationship between subsurface layering and runoff-generation processes. The hydraulic anisotropic structure of the deepest (basal) layer is the major factor controlling subsurface water-flow paths. On one hand, this layer acts as an aquitard for seeping water because of its high bulk density. On the other hand, once water has percolated into this layer, it is able to flow in lateral directions because of the coarse clasts oriented parallel to the slope. Therefore, such a cover bed may be treated neither as an aquifer nor as an aquiclude. Besides, as a function of pre-moisture, a nonlinear runoff response to precipitation or snow-melt of the investigated catchments was identified.
This book comprehensively presents the geography of landforms linked to periglacial processes across Europe. The landscape of the European cold climate regions, both at high latitudes and in mountainous environments, represent the lingering, minimal expression of the glaciers. In addition, periglacial elements can be found in temperate regions, where temperatures no longer favor periglacial processes, so landforms are therefore inherited from previous cold phases. The book is divided into five parts: an introductory section on climate variability responsible for periglacial dynamics across Europe; a second part including 3 blocks on periglacial landforms in southern, central and northern Europe; and a final chapter providing a more general perspective on the impact of periglacial processes on the landscape of Europe. The book offers a valuable reference guide for scientists from all disciplines interested in cold climate processes, as well as readers outside academia (territorial managers, environmentalists, mountaineers, politicians, engineers, etc.).