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8 - Megafans of Southern and Central Europe

from Part II - Regional Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2023

By
Alessandro Fontana  and
Paolo Mozzi
Edited by
Justin Wilkinson  and
Yanni Gunnell
Justin Wilkinson
Affiliation:
Texas State University, Jacobs JETS Contract, NASA Johnson Space Center
Yanni Gunnell
Affiliation:
Université Lumière Lyon 2
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Summary

Fluvial megafans are uncommon in Europe but a few are recognisable in the Alps and Carpathians foreland zones. Along the southern Alps mountain front, megafans are present from Milan (central Po Plain) to the Venetian–Friulian Plain (Olona, Oglio, Adige, Brenta, Piave and Tagliamento rivers). These systems recorded a strong depositional phase during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 29–19 ka BP), functioning as glacial outwash systems to the larger Alpine glaciers, largely followed by sediment starvation. These Alpine megafans are thus climate-controlled relics of the last glaciation. Megafans also occur on the Little Hungarian Plain (Danube River megafan near Bratislava and Rába River megafan, mainly fed from the Alps), and the Great Hungarian Plain (Maros, Szamos, and Drina megafans). The largest (Maros) consists of two lobes covering an area > 7,000 km². On the Danube, activity was continuous until recent time, whereas on the Maros and Szamos the main aggradational phase occurred during the Lateglacial. Compared to their Alpine counterparts, megafans on the Great Hungarian Plain are fed by larger catchments but these were not severely glaciated during the LGM. They recorded important depositional phases during the humid periods of the Lateglacial.

Type
Chapter
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Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars , pp. 141 - 164
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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