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The global retreat of glaciers is dramatically altering mountain and high-latitude landscapes, with new ecosystems developing from apparently barren substrates1–4. The study of these emerging ecosystems is critical to understanding how climate change interacts with microhabitat and biotic communities and determines the future of ice-free terrains1,5. Here, using a comprehensive characterization of ecosystems (soil properties, microclimate, productivity and biodiversity by environmental DNA metabarcoding6) across 46 proglacial landscapes worldwide, we found that all the environmental properties change with time since glaciers retreated, and that temperature modulates the accumulation of soil nutrients. The richness of bacteria, fungi, plants and animals increases with time since deglaciation, but their temporal patterns differ. Microorganisms colonized most rapidly in the first decades after glacier retreat, whereas most macroorganisms took longer. Increased habitat suitability, growing complexity of biotic interactions and temporal colonization all contribute to the increase in biodiversity over time. These processes also modify community composition for all the groups of organisms. Plant communities show positive links with all other biodiversity components and have a key role in ecosystem development. These unifying patterns provide new insights into the early dynamics of deglaciated terrains and highlight the need for integrated surveillance of their multiple environmental properties5.

Floods are both complex and destructive, and in most parts of the world cause injury, death, loss of agricultural land, and social disruption. Flood susceptibility (FS) maps are used by land-use managers and land owners to identify areas that are at risk from flooding and to plan accordingly. This study uses machine learning ensembles to produce objective and reliable FS maps for the Haraz watershed in northern Iran. Specifically, we test the ability of the support vector regression (SVR), together with linear kernel (LK), base classifier (BC), and hyper-parameter optimization (HPO), to identify flood-prone areas in this watershed. We prepared a map of 201 past floods to predict future floods. Of the 201 flood events, 151 (75%) were used for modeling and 50 (25%) were used for validation. Based on the relevant literature and our field survey of the study area, 10 effective factors were selected and prepared for flood zoning. The results show that three of the 10 factors are most important for predicting flood-sensitive areas, specifically and in order of importance, slope, distance to the river and river. Additionally, the SVR-HPO model, with area under the curve values of 0.986 and 0.951 for the training and testing phases, outperformed the other two tested models., Validerad;2023;Nivå 2;2023-11-14 (marisr);Licens fulltext: CC BY

Evidence of at least three Early to Middle Pleistocene glaciations is recorded in the stratigraphic exposures near the outer limit of glaciation in southern Patagonia. At Cabo Vírgenes, at the mouth of the Strait of Magellan, up to 70 m of till, gravel, sand, and stony silt were deposited in a grounding-line environment at the front of the Magellan lobe along a front several tens of kilometres wide. Accommodation space for the sediments was produced by glacio-isostatic depression resulting from the advance of the Magellan lobe to the Atlantic coast. At that time, the ‘moat’ in which the sediments accumulated may have been seaward of the modern Atlantic shoreline because the continental shelf is shallow and sea level was much lower than it is today. The sediments at Cabo Vírgenes are normally magnetized, carry no reversed overprints, and thus probably date to the Brunhes Chron (<0.774 Ma). Seacliff exposures south of the Strait of Magellan along the Atlantic coast of northern Tierra de Fuego expose two tills separated by glaciofluvial sediments. Although not dated, the tills record two advances of the Magellan lobe onto the Atlantic continental shelf. The location of the exposures relative to Cabo Vírgenes indicates that the upper of the two tills may correlate with the Cabo Vírgenes drift. The Tres de Enero highway cut, 90 km northwest of Cabo Vírgenes, exposes lodgement tills deposited during the Great Patagonian glaciation (GPG) – two stacked, normally magnetized tills overlie a reversely magnetized till. Truncated sand wedges separate each of the three tills, indicating that the tills record three separate Early to Middle Pleistocene glaciations. The younger of the two normally magnetized tills, and perhaps both, were deposited in the Brunhes Chron; the lowest, reversely magnetized till records extensive glaciation late during the Matuyama Chron (2.608–0.780 Ma). At Bella Vista in the Río Gallegos valley, a 0.89-Ma-old basalt flow caps a thick unit of normally ma

Soil erosion is a major cause of damage to agricultural lands in many parts of the world and is of particular concern in semiarid parts of Iran. We use five machine learning techniques—Random Forest (RF), M5P, Reduced Error Pruning Tree (REPTree), Gaussian Processes (GP), and Pace Regression (PR)—under two scenarios to predict soil erodibility in the Dehgolan region, Kurdistan Province, Iran. Our models are based on a variety of soil properties, including soil texture, structure, permeability, bulk density, aggregates, organic matter, and chemical constituents. We checked the validity of the models with statistical metrics, including the coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), T-tests, Taylor diagrams, and box plots. All five algorithms show a positive correlation between the soil erodibility factor (K) and silt, sand, fine sand, bulk density, and infiltration. The GP model has the highest prediction accuracy (R2 = 0.843, MAE = 0.0044, RMSE = 0.0050). It outperformed the RF (R2 = 0.812, MAE = 0.0050, RMSE = 0.0061), PR, (R2 = 0.794, MAE = 0.0037, RMSE = 0.0052), M5P (R2 = 0.781, MAE = 0.0043, RMSE = 0.0053), and REPTree (R2 = 0.752, MAE = 0.0045, RMSE = 0.0056) algorithms and thus is a useful complement to studies aimed at predicting soil erodibility in areas with similar climate and soil characteristics.

Shallow landslides damage buildings and other infrastructure, disrupt agriculture practices, and can cause social upheaval and loss of life. As a result, many scientists study the phenomenon, and some of them have focused on producing landslide susceptibility maps that can be used by land-use managers to reduce injury and damage. This paper contributes to this effort by comparing the power and effectiveness of five machine learning, benchmark algorithms—Logistic Model Tree, Logistic Regression, Naïve Bayes Tree, Artificial Neural Network, and Support Vector Machine—in creating a reliable shallow landslide susceptibility map for Bijar City in Kurdistan province, Iran. Twenty conditioning factors were applied to 111 shallow landslides and tested using the One-R attribute evaluation (ORAE) technique for modeling and validation processes. The performance of the models was assessed by statistical-based indexes including sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and area under the receiver operatic characteristic curve (AUC). Results indicate that all the five machine learning models performed well for shallow landslide susceptibility assessment, but the Logistic Model Tree model (AUC = 0.932) had the highest goodness-of-fit and prediction accuracy, followed by the Logistic Regression (AUC = 0.932), Naïve Bayes Tree (AUC = 0.864), ANN (AUC = 0.860), and Support Vector Machine (AUC = 0.834) models. Therefore, we recommend the use of the Logistic Model Tree model in shallow landslide mapping programs in semi-arid regions to help decision makers, planners, land-use managers, and government agencies mitigate the hazard and risk., Validerad;2020;Nivå 2;2020-04-27 (johcin)

We used AdaBoost (AB), alternating decision tree (ADTree), and their combination as an ensemble model (AB-ADTree) to spatially predict landslides in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. The models were trained with a database of 152 landslides compiled using Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry, Google Earth images, and field surveys, and 17 conditioning factors (slope, aspect, elevation, distance to road, distance to river, proximity to fault, road density, river density, normalized difference vegetation index, rainfall, land cover, lithology, soil types, curvature, profile curvature, stream power index, and topographic wetness index). We carried out the validation process using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and several parametric and non-parametric performance metrics, including positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, root mean square error, and the Friedman and Wilcoxon sign rank tests. The AB model (AUC = 0.96) performed better than the ensemble AB-ADTree model (AUC = 0.94) and successfully outperformed the ADTree model (AUC = 0.59) in predicting landslide susceptibility. Our findings provide insights into the development of more efficient and accurate landslide predictive models that can be used by decision makers and land-use managers to mitigate landslide hazards., Validerad;2020;Nivå 2;2020-08-17 (alebob)

Mapping flood-prone areas is a key activity in flood disaster management. In this paper, we propose a new flood susceptibility mapping technique. We employ new ensemble models based on bagging as a meta-classifier and K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) coarse, cosine, cubic, and weighted base classifiers to spatially forecast flooding in the Haraz watershed in northern Iran. We identified flood-prone areas using data from Sentinel-1 sensor. We then selected 10 conditioning factors to spatially predict floods and assess their predictive power using the Relief Attribute Evaluation (RFAE) method. Model validation was performed using two statistical error indices and the area under the curve (AUC). Our results show that the Bagging–Cubic–KNN ensemble model outperformed other ensemble models. It decreased the overfitting and variance problems in the training dataset and enhanced the prediction accuracy of the Cubic–KNN model (AUC=0.660). We therefore recommend that the Bagging–Cubic–KNN model be more widely applied for the sustainable management of flood-prone areas., Validerad;2020;Nivå 2;2020-01-24 (johcin)

At least seven late Pliocene tills cap plateaus (mesetas) south of Lago Viedma, just east of the Andes in Argentine Patagonia. Chronologic constraints on the tills are provided by 40Ar/39Ar ages and magnetic polarities on associated basalt flows and sediments. The tills were deposited by piedmont glaciers that reached at least 80 km east of the crest of the Andes and flowed on a low-relief surface sloping gently downward in that direction. The oldest of the tills is about 3.6 Ma old. Glacial deposits dating to the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition are present at least 40 km beyond the east limit of the Pliocene tills at Lago Viedma, and tills of similar age occur at Condor Cliff in the Río Santa Cruz valley to the southeast. A sequence of at least seven Early Pleistocene (2.1–1.1 Ma) tills is present between basalt flows in the Cerro del Fraile meseta south of Lago Argentino. The glaciers that deposited these Early Pleistocene tills reached far beyond the Marine Isotope Stage 2 limit in the Río Santa Cruz valley. Based on positions, extents, and ages of the un-deformed, basalt-capped mesetas flanking Lago Viedma, we conclude that the topography in this area was profoundly changed during the Pleistocene – the low to moderate relief Pliocene surface was deeply incised by glaciers that became increasingly confined to, and flowed within, troughs. The valley floors today are up to 1350 m below the late Pliocene surface.

The North American Ice Sheet Complex (NAISC; consisting of the Laurentide, Cordilleran and Innuitian ice sheets) was the largest ice mass to repeatedly grow and decay in the Northern Hemisphere during the Quaternary. Understanding its pattern of retreat following the Last Glacial Maximum is critical for studying many facets of the Late Quaternary, including ice sheet behaviour, the evolution of Holocene landscapes, sea level, atmospheric circulation, and the peopling of the Americas. Currently, the most up-to-date and authoritative margin chronology for the entire ice sheet complex is featured in two publications (Geological Survey of Canada Open File 1574 [Dyke et al., 2003]; 'Quaternary Glaciations - Extent and Chronology, Part II' [Dyke, 2004]). These often-cited datasets track ice margin recession in 36 time slices spanning 18 ka to 1 ka (all ages in uncalibrated radiocarbon years) using a combination of geomorphology, stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating. However, by virtue of being over 15 years old, the ice margin chronology requires updating to reflect new work and important revisions. This paper updates the aforementioned 36 ice margin maps to reflect new data from regional studies. We also update the original radiocarbon dataset from the 2003/2004 papers with 1541 new ages to reflect work up to and including 2018. A major revision is made to the 18 ka ice margin, where Banks and Eglinton islands (once considered to be glacial refugia) are now shown to be fully glaciated. Our updated 18 ka ice sheet increased in areal extent from 17.81 to 18.37 million km(2), which is an increase of 3.1% in spatial coverage of the NAISC at that time. Elsewhere, we also summarize, region-by-region, significant changes to the deglaciation sequence. This paper integrates new information provided by regional experts and radiocarbon data into the deglaciation sequence while maintaining consistency with the original ice margin positions of Dyke et al. (2003) and Dyke (2004) whe

We provide lithostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic data derived from a Plio-Pleistocene continental sediment sequence underlying the Altiplano plateau at La Paz, Bolivia. The record comprises six sections along the upper Río La Paz valley, totaling over one kilometre of exposure and forming a ~20-km transect oblique to the adjacent Cordillera Real. Lithostratigraphic characterization includes lithologic and stratigraphic descriptions of units and their contacts. We targeted gravel and diamicton units for paleomagnetic sampling to address gaps in the only previous magnetostratigraphic study from this area. Paleomagnetic data – magnetic susceptibility and primary remanent magnetization revealed by progressive alternating field demagnetization – are derived from 808 individually oriented samples of flat-lying, fine-grained sediments. The datasets enable characterization of paleo-surfaces within the sequence, correlation between stratigraphic sections, and differentiation of asynchronous, but lithologically similar units. Correlation of the composite polarity sequence to the geomagnetic polarity time scale supports a range of late Cenozoic paleoenvironmental topics of regional to global importance: the number and ages of early glaciations in the tropical Andes; interhemispheric comparison of paleoclimate during the Plio-Pleistocene climatic transition; timing of and controls on inter-American faunal exchange; and the variability of Earth's paleomagnetic field.

Roskilde University (Denmark) hosted a November 2015 workshop, Environmental Risk—Assessing and Managing Multiple Risks in a Changing World. This Focus article presents the consensus recommendations of 30 attendees from 9 countries regarding implementation of a common currency (ecosystem services) for holistic environmental risk assessment and management; improvements to risk assessment and management in a complex, human-modified, and changing world; appropriate development of protection goals in a 2-stage process; dealing with societal issues; risk-management information needs; conducting risk assessment of risk management; and development of adaptive and flexible regulatory systems. The authors encourage both cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to address their 10 recommendations: 1) adopt ecosystem services as a common currency for risk assessment and management; 2) consider cumulative stressors (chemical and nonchemical) and determine which dominate to best manage and restore ecosystem services; 3) fully integrate risk managers and communities of interest into the risk-assessment process; 4) fully integrate risk assessors and communities of interest into the risk-management process; 5) consider socioeconomics and increased transparency in both risk assessment and risk management; 6) recognize the ethical rights of humans and ecosystems to an adequate level of protection; 7) determine relevant reference conditions and the proper ecological context for assessments in human-modified systems; 8) assess risks and benefits to humans and the ecosystem and consider unintended consequences of management actions; 9) avoid excessive conservatism or possible underprotection resulting from sole reliance on binary, numerical benchmarks; and 10) develop adaptive risk-management and regulatory goals based on ranges of uncertainty. © 2016 SETAC, Funding: Roskilde University and their Environmental Risk Research Initiative. S. Loureiro acknowledges the financial support of CESAM (UID/AMB/50017), to FCT/MEC through national funds, and the cofunding by FEDER (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638), within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020.

The extent and behaviour of glaciers during the mid-Piacenzian warm period illustrate the sensitivity of the cryosphere to atmospheric CO2 concentrations above pre-industrial levels. Knowledge of glaciation during this period is restricted to globally or regionally averaged records from marine sediments and to sparse terrestrial glacial deposits in mid-to-high latitudes. Here we expand the Pliocene glacial record to the tropics by reporting recurrent large-scale glaciation in the Bolivian Andes based on stratigraphic and paleomagnetic analysis of a 95-m sequence of glacial sediments underlying the 2.74-Ma Chijini Tuff. Paleosols and polarity reversals separate eight glacial diamictons, which we link to cold periods in the benthic oxygen isotope record. The glaciations appear to coincide with the earliest glacial activity at high northern latitudes and with events in Antarctica, including the strong M2 cold peak and terminal Pliocene climate deterioration. This concordance suggests inter-hemispheric climate linkages during the late Pliocene and requires that the Central Andes were at least as high in the late Pliocene as today. Our record fills a critical gap in knowledge of Earth systems during the globally warm mid-Piacenzian and suggests a possible driver of faunal migration preceding the large-scale biotic interchange in the Americas during the earliest Pleistocene.

Repeated outburst flooding from glacial LakeMissoula,Montana, affected large areas of Washington duringMarine Oxygen Isotope Stage 2 (29–14 ka).We present the first high-resolution rock magnetic results from two sites that are critical to interpreting these outburst floods and that provide evidence of sediment provenance: glacial Lake Missoula, the source of the floods; and glacial Lake Columbia, where floodwaters interrupted sedimentation. Magnetic carriers in glacial LakeMissoula varves are dominated by hematite,whereas those in outburst flood sediments and glacial Lake Columbia sediments aremainly magnetite and titano-magnetite. Stratigraphic variation of magnetic parameters is consistent with changes in lithology. Importantly, magnetic properties highlight depositional processes in the flood sediments that are not evident in the field. In glacial Lake Columbia, hematite is present in fine silt and clay deposited near the end of each flood as fine sediment settled out of the water column. This signal is only present at the end of the floods because the hematite is concentrated in the finer-grained sediment transported from the floor of glacial LakeMissoula, the only possible source of hematite, ~240 km away.

Geologic mapping in Yukon Territory, Canada, over the past 100 years has revealed a consistent pattern of diminishing Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) extent during successively younger glaciations. Although this pattern is generally accepted, there is still much uncertainty about the number of glaciations, their ages, and the dynamics of the different lobes that constituted the digitate ice sheet margin, their subglacial thermal regimes, and ice thicknesses. We address uncertainties in the timing of glaciation using cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating at key localities that straddle several major lobes of the CIS in west-central Yukon Territory. Differences in exposure duration within what are thought to be the same map units are perhaps due to inheritance (older than expected), but more likely result from postglacial shielding (younger than expected) or surface erosion. Despite a significant spread in exposure durations on moraines and within map units, and tending to rely on longest exposure durations on moraines due to postglacial degradation and shielding, our results indicate that the McConnell glacial advance occurred during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 2, judging from oldest minimum apparent exposure ages of 15.7 +/- 1.5 and 17.7 +/- 1.6 ka, a Gladstone glacial advance occurred before 51.8 +/- 4.7 ka (MIS 4) and Reid glacial advances before 79.8 +/- 7.3 and 82.8 +/- 7.5 ka (consistent with MIS 6). Traces of even older glacial advances predate 100 ka (107.5 +/- 9.9-154.3 +/- 14.2 ka)., AuthorCount:5

The Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) covered most of British Columbia and southern Yukon Territory at the local Last Glacial Maximum (ILGM) during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 2. However, its subsequent demise is not well understood, particularly at high elevations east of its ocean-terminating margin. We present Be-10 exposure ages from two high-elevation sites in southern and central British Columbia that help constrain the time of initial deglaciation at these sites. We sampled granodiorite erratics at elevations of 2126-2230 m a.s.l. in the Marble Range and 1608-1785 m a.s.l. in the Telkwa Range at the western margin of the Interior Plateau. The erratics at both sites are near ice-marginal meltwater channels that delineate the local ice surface slope and thus the configuration of the ice sheet during deglaciation. The locations of the erratics and their relations to meltwater channels ensure that the resulting Be-10 ages date CIS deglaciation and not the retreat of local montane glaciers. Our sample sites emerged above the surface of the CIS as its divide migrated westward from the Interior Plateau to the axis of the Coast Mountains. Two of the four samples from the summit area of the Marble Range yielded apparent exposure ages of 14.0 +/- 0.7 and 15.2 +/- 0.8 ka. These ages are 1.8-3.0 ka younger than the well-established ILGM age of ca 17 ka for the Puget lobe of the CIS in Washington State; they are 1.7 ka younger than the ILGM age for the Puget lobe if a snow-shielding correction to their uncertainty-weighted mean age is applied. The other two samples yielded much older apparent exposure ages (20.6 +/- 1.4 and 33.0 +/- 1.5 ka), indicating the presence of inherited isotopes. Four samples collected from the summit area of the Telkwa Range in the Hazelton Mountains yielded well clustered apparent exposure ages of 10.1 +/- 0.6, 10.2 +/- 0.7, 10.4 +/- 0.5, and 11.5 +/- 1.1 ka. Significant present-day snow cover introduces a large uncertainty in the apparent exposure ag, AuthorCount:4

Rapidly accelerating ground subsidence in the south-western part of British Columbia, the third largest metropolitan area in Canada with over 2.3 million of inhabitants, is estimated using the Multidimensional Small Baseline Subset (MSBAS) advanced Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR), an effective processing strategy for multi-mission, multi-temporal SAR data. The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data used in this study consists of seven independent data sets: one ascending and one descending ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT frames, together spanning July 1995–September 2010, and three RADARSAT-2 frames spanning February 2009–October 2012. During the July 1995–October 2012 period we observe fast ground subsidence with a maximum rate of about 2 cm/year in the Greater Vancouver region that includes the Fraser River Delta and the cities of Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, New Westminster and Vancouver. The rapidly accelerating subsidence is observed beneath the Vancouver International Airport, SkyTrain terminal as well as several agricultural and industrial locales. These time series suggest that the subsidence rate at the studied regions does not decrease with time, as suggested in previous studies, but remains steady or increases. These results also demonstrate the importance of acquiring and appropriately estimating longer time series, as previous studies on the same Greater Vancouver area may have misinterpreted the long term ground deformation rate and direction and underestimated the potential hazard. The long term impact of this subsidence on urban infrastructure can be significant and needs to be investigated further.

The Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) covered much of the mountainous northwestern part of North America at least several times during the Pleistocene. The pattern and timing of its growth and decay are, however, poorly understood. Here, we present a reconstruction of the pattern of ice-sheet retreat in central British Columbia at the end of the last glaciation based on a palaeoglaciological interpretation of ice-marginal meltwater channels, eskers and deltas mapped from satellite imagery and digital elevation models. A consistent spatial pattern of high-elevation (1600-2400m a.s.l.), ice-marginal meltwater channels is evident across central British Columbia. These landforms indicate the presence of ice domes over the Skeena Mountains and the central Coast Mountains early during deglaciation. Ice sourced in the Coast Mountains remained dominant over the southern and east-central parts of the Interior Plateau during deglaciation. Our reconstruction shows a successive westward retreat of the ice margin from the western foot of the Rocky Mountains, accompanied by the formation and rapid evolution of a glacial lake in the upper Fraser River basin. The final stage of deglaciation is characterized by the frontal retreat of ice lobes through the valleys of the Skeena and Omineca Mountains and by the formation of large esker systems in the most prominent topographic lows of the Interior Plateau. We conclude that the CIS underwent a large-scale reconfiguration early during deglaciation and was subsequently diminished by thinning and complex frontal retreat towards the Coast Mountains., AuthorCount:5;Funding agencies:Swedish Space Agency Swedish Research Council 2005-4972, 2008-3449; Carl Mannerfelts Fond; Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography; Albert och Maria Bergströms Stiftelse

Concern and interest are rising that climate change may have an adverse impact on slope stability in mountain regions. Rock slopes in high mountain areas with glaciers and permafrost are particularly sensitive to atmospheric warming. In fact, several large rock slope failures have been observed in high mountain areas around the world in recent years. However, the detection of changes in the frequency or magnitude of such slope failures is fraught with a number of difficulties and has only recently been addressed. Here we outline several approaches that could be used to detect a change in high mountain slope failure activity. Rather than present research results, we provide a conceptual design of how research in this field could be strengthened.

The response of glaciers to atmospheric warming has become a key issue in scientific as well as public and even political discussions about human impacts on the climate system. The predominant tendency of continued worldwide glacier shrinkage may indeed constitute one of the clearest indications in nature of rapid climate change at a global scale. More than a century of systematic and internationally coordinated observations provide quantitative documentation of this development and a basis for model developments in view of possible future scenarios. Mountain ranges at lower latitudes have lost large percentages of their glacier areas and volumes since the end of the Little Ice Age. Many of them may even become largely to even completely de-glaciated already during the coming decades. Such changes have the potential to profoundly affect environmental conditions in and around cold mountain chains. Sea-level rise, changing seasonality in water supply, and local formation of new lakes reflect changes in the water cycle at global, continental, and regional to local scales. They are accompanied by rather marked changes in landscape appearance, slope stability, erosion/sedimentation, and hazard conditions. The monitoring of glaciers itself faces difficult challenges of vanishing glaciers with long-term mass-balance observations. Modern techniques of spatial modeling increasingly help with integrated analysis of observed phenomena and early anticipation of possible developments.

We review current understanding of the effects of climate change on the occurrence of landslides and debris flows in cold, temperate, and tropical mountains. We start with a summary of observed impacts of climate change on shallow landslides and debris flows, followed by discussions of rock-slope failures and the physical processes that make climate an important cause and trigger of landslides. While an increase in extreme precipitation has been observed in many regions worldwide over the past decades, changes in frequency and magnitude of landslides are more difficult to identify. In high mountain regions with snow, glaciers, and permafrost, slope stability is sensitive not only to changes in precipitation but also to changes in temperature. In the European Alps, the number of high alpine rock-slope failures has increased over the past few decades, coincident with an increase in mean air temperature. Model-based projections of future climate indicate that extreme precipitation events are likely to increase, causing more landslides. Seasonal variations in precipitation and earlier snowmelt imply changes in the seasonality of landslide occurrence. In addition, changes in sediment supply can strongly condition debris-flow frequency and magnitude. We conclude with a case study that outlines the potential and limitations of adaptation to future changes in precipitation.

This chapter provides a review on current understanding of different effects of climate change on landslides and debris flows in cold, temperate, and tropical mountains. We start with observed impacts of climate change on shallow landslides and debris flows, followed by discussions of rock-slope failures, and the physical processes that make climate an important cause and trigger of landslides. While an increase in extreme precipitation has been observed in many regions worldwide over the past decades, changes in frequency and magnitude of landslides are more difficult to identify. In high mountain regions with snow, glacier and permafrost slope stability is not only sensitive to changes in precipitation but also to changes in temperature. In the European Alps an increase of high alpine rock slope failures has been detected over the past decades and correlates to an increase in mean air temperature. Future projections generally indicate a further increase of extreme precipitation events that are likely to go along with an increase of landslide occurrence. Seasonal variations of precipitation and earlier melt of snow imply changes of landslide seasonality. Changes in sediment supply can furthermore strongly condition debris flow frequency and magnitude as recent studies have shown. We conclude this chapter with a case study, based on a model of a landslide early warning system, that outlines the potential and limitations of adaptation to future changes in precipitation.

The recent and continuing reduction in glacier ice cover in high mountains and thaw of alpine permafrost may have an impact on many potentially hazardous processes. As glaciers thin and retreat, existing ice- and moraine-dammed lakes can catastrophically empty, generating large and destructive downstream floods and debris flows. New ice-dammed lakes will form higher in mountain catchments, posing additional hazards in the future. The magnitude or frequency of shallow landslides and debris flows in some areas will increase because of the greater availability of unconsolidated sediment in new deglaciated terrain. Continued permafrost degradation and glacier retreat probably will decrease the stability of rock slopes. Cambio Climático y peligros naturales en altas montañas. La reciente y continua reducción de la cobertura glaciaria en alta montaña y el deshielo del permafrost pueden tener un impacto negativo en muchos procesos potencialmente peligrosos. A medida que los glaciares reducen su espesor y retroceden, los lagos formados por diques de hielo o morenas pueden vaciarse catastróficamente, resultando en grandes y destructivas inundaciones o flujos detríticos río abajo. Nuevos diques de hielo van a formarse en zonas más altas de las cuencas montañosas, generando peligros adicionales en el futuro. La magnitud o frecuencia de movimientos en masa superficiales y flujos detríticos va a aumentar en algunas áreas debido a la mayor disponibilidad de materiales no consolidados en nuevos terrenos desglasados. La degradación continua del permafrost y el retiro de glaciares probablemente va a disminuir la estabilidad de laderas rocosas.

Exposure durations of glacial landforms in widely separated areas of central Yukon Territory affected bythe northern sector of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) and alpine glaciers have been determined usingcosmogenic 10Be in quartz. The aim of our research is to test previous reconstructions of glacial historyand to begin to address the paucity of chronological control for the lateral and vertical extent of thenorthern CIS. Chronological evidence for CIS expansion predating the Last Glacial Maximum comes fromminimum surface exposure durations of c 100 ka for two bedrock samples within the Reid glacial limit,indicating a possible marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 6 age for this event, and from minimumexposure durations of about 40 ka for boulders on moraines constructed by alpine glaciers on a nunatakwithin the McConnell glacial limit (OIS 2), indicating a possible OIS 4 age. High elevation minimumsurface exposure durations within the McConnell limit indicate that some areas formerly mapped asnunataks were covered by cold-based ice prior to 30 ka. Montane glaciation in the Mackenzie Mountains,outside the McConnell glacial limit, was contemporaneous with nearby CIS advance at 17 ka, with CISretreat by 15 ka. Deglaciation of the Tintina Trench, a major ice discharge route, was completed by 12 ka.At this time ice in an adjacent discharge route to the south was still entering higher-elevation valleys inthe Pelly Mountains. A Lateglacial readvance may have peaked at ca 10 ka in the Ogilvie Mountains.Considerable variation in ages from individual landforms, and possible complex histories, requireadditional cosmogenic nuclide measurements to confirm interpretations., Our research was funded by Swedish Research Council grant VR 2005-4972 to APS and benefited from post-doctoral employment of ATC by the Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology,Stockholm University, through APS

Exposure durations of glacial landforms in widely separated areas of central Yukon Territory affected by the northern sector of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) and alpine glaciers have been determined using cosmogenic 10Be in quartz. The aim of our research is to test previous reconstructions of glacial history and to begin to address the paucity of chronological control for the lateral and vertical extent of the northern CIS. Chronological evidence for CIS expansion predating the Last Glacial Maximum comes from minimum surface exposure durations of c 100 ka for two bedrock samples within the Reid glacial limit, indicating a possible marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 6 age for this event, and from minimum exposure durations of about 40 ka for boulders on moraines constructed by alpine glaciers on a nunatak within the McConnell glacial limit (OIS 2), indicating a possible OIS 4 age. High elevation minimum surface exposure durations within the McConnell limit indicate that some areas formerly mapped as nunataks were covered by cold-based ice prior to 30 ka. Montane glaciation in the Mackenzie Mountains, outside the McConnell glacial limit, was contemporaneous with nearby CIS advance at 17 ka, with CIS retreat by 15 ka. Deglaciation of the Tintina Trench, a major ice discharge route, was completed by 12 ka. At this time ice in an adjacent discharge route to the south was still entering higher-elevation valleys in the Pelly Mountains. A Lateglacial readvance may have peaked at ca 10 ka in the Ogilvie Mountains. Considerable variation in ages from individual landforms, and possible complex histories, require additional cosmogenic nuclide measurements to confirm interpretations.

The history of the Cordilleran ice sheet (CIS) of western North Amer¬ica is relatively poorly understood despite over one hundred years of field studies. In contrast to other ice sheets, except for the West Antarc¬tic ice sheet, the CIS was largely resting on mountainous terrain. Due to its physiographic characteristics, of having been fed by confluent flow from both the Coast Range and the Rocky Mountains, it appears to have been one of the most dynamic ice age features on Earth. There is a reasonably good understanding of the timing of maximum glacia¬tion for the last glacial cycle (LGM) and for the almost instantaneous onset of postglacial conditions, based on radiocarbon dates. This gen¬eralized picture is better-documented for the southern than for the northern CIS. We focus on the succession of flow patterns of the CIS by mapping glacial lineation systems and ribbed moraine. These land¬forms define the spatial flow organisation, and give insight into the subglacial thermal regime. In addition to the dominating Late Wiscon¬sinan flow pattern, we discovered numerous fragments of older, over¬ridden and partially destroyed lineation systems. These shed light on older, albeit undated, ice sheet configurations with more easterly ice divide locations than during the late Wisconsinan ice sheet configura¬tion. Mapping in the Pelly Mountains region, Yukon Territory, shows remnant relict glacial lineation systems, relict upland surfaces, well-defined end- and lateral moraine systems and abundant LGM lineation systems in the major glacial troughs. We test the hypothesis that sub¬glacial preservation of relict lineation systems and relict uplands define the subglacial temperature distribution of subsequent ice sheets (i.e LGM), particularly the potential occurrence of frozen bed conditions. We will present cosmogenic 10Be ages on end- and lateral moraines that define the upper/distal limit of the CIS in this region, to test wheth¬er mountain summits were likely overridden

The history of the Cordilleran ice sheet (CIS) of western North America is relatively poorly understood despite over one hundred years of field studies. In contrast to other ice sheets, except for the West Antarctic ice sheet, the CIS was largely resting on mountainous terrain. Due to its physiographic characteristics, of having been fed by confluent flow from both the Coast Range and the Rocky Mountains, it appears to have been one of the most dynamic ice age features on Earth. There is a reasonably good understanding of the timing of maximum glaciation for the last glacial cycle (LGM) and for the almost instantaneous onset of postglacial conditions, based on radiocarbon dates. This generalized picture is better-documented for the southern than for the northern CIS. We focus on the succession of flow patterns of the CIS by mapping glacial lineation systems and ribbed moraine. These landforms define the spatial flow organisation, and give insight into the subglacial thermal regime. In addition to the dominating Late Wisconsinan flow pattern, we discovered numerous fragments of older, overridden and partially destroyed lineation systems. These shed light on older, albeit undated, ice sheet configurations with more easterly ice divide locations than during the late Wisconsinan ice sheet configuration. Mapping in the Pelly Mountains region, Yukon Territory, shows remnant relict glacial lineation systems, relict upland surfaces, well-defined end- and lateral moraine systems and abundant LGM lineation systems in the major glacial troughs. We test the hypothesis that subglacial preservation of relict lineation systems and relict uplands define the subglacial temperature distribution of subsequent ice sheets (i.e. LGM), particularly the potential occurrence of frozen bed conditions. We will present cosmogenic beryllium ages on end- and lateral moraines that define the upper/distal limit of the CIS in this region, to test whether mountain summits were likely overridden (and

The Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) covered much of the mountainous northwestern part of North America during Pleistocene glaciations. In contrast to other ephemeral Pleistocene ice sheets, the pattern and timing of growth and decay of the CIS are poorly understood. Here, we present a reconstruction of the pattern of late-glacial ice sheet retreat in central British Columbia based on a palaeoglaciological interpretation of ice-marginal meltwater channels, eskers, and deltas mapped from satellite imagery and digital elevation models. A consistent spatial pattern of high-elevation ice-marginal meltwater channels (1600-2400 m a.s.l.) occurs across central British Columbia. They indicate the presence of ice domes over the Skeena Mountains and the central Coast Mountains early during deglaciation. Ice sourced in the Coast Mountains remained dominant over the southern and east-central parts of the Interior Plateau during late-glacial time. Our reconstruction shows a successive westward retreat of the ice margin away from the western foot of the Rocky Mountains, accompanied by the formation and rapid evolution of a glacial lake in the upper Fraser River basin. Final stages of deglaciation were characterized by the frontal retreat of ice lobes through the valleys of the Skeena and Omineca mountains and by the formation of large esker systems in the most prominent topographic lows of the Interior Plateau. We conclude that the CIS underwent a large-scale reconfiguration early during deglaciation and subsequently diminished by thinning and complex frontal retreat towards the Coast Mountains.