A note on rock glaciers in the Albanian Alps

Abstract

Abstract In the Albanian Alps, above 1700 m a.s.1., sixteen inactive rock glaciers have been identified, all colonized by herbaceous vegetation. Assuming a −2°C isotherm for the activity of rock glaciers, and after calculating the atmospheric lapse rate, it is estimated that thermal conditions must have been 6.4°C lower than the present mean annual temperature. Because rock glaciers occupied surfaces covered by ice during the periglacial Würm period, they cannot be older than 14,000‐17,000 years; so they are probably referable to the Dryas. Such a temperature drop took place probably during the Dryas.