Cosmogenic age constraints on post-LGM catastrophic rock slope failures in the Tatra Mountains (Western Carpathians)
Abstract
Here we provide the first cosmogenic (10Be) age constraints on prominent rock avalanches and rockfalls(collectively termed ?rock slope failures? - RSFs) from the Tatra Mountains, the highest mountain range with the most pronounced glacier morphology within the Carpathians. Six representative RSFs were selected for surface exposure dating in the mountain range.
Our results suggest that smaller, structurally predisposed failures (mainly rockfalls) in the steepest parts of the mountains reacted immediately (i.e. a few hundred years) to deglaciation, whereas more complex slope deformations in terrain with lower local relief, involving the largest rock avalanche in the Tatra Mountains, experienced a substantial time lag(i.e. several millennia) in respect to ice retreat.