Refining the mapping of cirques and moraines in the central and northern Black Forest, south-west Germany, with remote sensing data and cirque metrics extraction

Previous studies conclude that the central and northern Black Forest temporarily hosted numerous cirque glaciers and a plateau icefield during the Late Pleistocene. However, this region is largely understudied with regard to extent and chronology of glaciation. As a first step towards the establishment of a regional glacier chronology and glacier-based climate reconstruction, this study re investigates the glacial record around the boundary between the central and northern Black Forest through the combination of the interpretation of high resolution remote sensing data and field mapping, supplemented by cirque metrics extraction for palaeoclimatic inferences. Whilst geomorphological mapping confirmed most of the previously identified cirques and ice-marginal moraines, we found numerous moraines and cirques which have hitherto not been described in the literature. The latter have a predominantly north-eastern to south-eastern aspect and cirque minimum elevation decreases from the west to the east. A predominant advection of humid air masses from the west best explains these cirque attributes, but other factors could also account for these trends. Although this study represents a decisive step forward with regard to the reconstruction of the extent of glaciation, glacier variations in the study region are still far from being understood. As the next step, future work should apply 10Be exposure dating to moraine-boulder surfaces, providing minimum ages for glacier recession from moraines.