Rock glaciers in the Western and High Tatra Mountains, Western Carpathians

Abstract

A detailed map of rock glaciers at a scale of 1 : 40 000 is produced for the Western and High Tatra Mts., Western Carpathians, based on remotely sensed mapping. We inventoried a total of 383 rock glaciers, covering a total area of 13.84 km2. Most rock glaciers (85 %) are considered relict (without permafrost). These landforms have an average lower limit of 1684 m asl and occupy a total area of 12.50 km2. In contrast, intact rock glaciers (containing permafrost) cover a total area of 1.34 km2 and their average lower limit is located at 1986 m asl, which is 56 m above the previously suggested lower limit of discontinuous permafrost. The inventory adds new information about rock-glacier occurrence in the European high-mountain areas and improves the understanding of present and past environmental conditions in the region.