The paleolake Stifter Hollow and signs of the last stage of Quaternary glaciation in the Plešné Lake cirque
Abstract
During the last glacial period, the highest parts of the Bohemian Forest were subjected to a local mountain glaciation. The Last Glacial Maximum extent of the small glaciers is roughly known, but less attention has been paid to the last phase of their activity.
Here, we present the existence of depositional landforms that were likely associated with the last advance and final retreat of a glacier in the cirque of Plešné Lake. Based on a high-resolution digital elevation model and a field survey, two discrete debris accumulations were identified at elevations of 1140 and 1190 m a.s.l.
The lower accumulation dams Stifter Hollow, a small paleolake with a surface area of 0.1 ha. Coring at this former lake found a maximum thickness of lake and peat deposits of 3.5 m.
Radiocarbon dating of the retrieved sediments revealed a minimum age of sedimentation onset of ⁓12 300 calibrated years BP, which represents the minimum age of the latest retreat of the glacier in this part of the cirque. We believe that further investigations of these landforms have great potential to provide important contributions to knowledge of the deglaciation in Central European low mountains between the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet and glaciated Alps.