Mid-Latitude Slope Deposits (Cover Beds)

2nd Edition - April 24, 2024
Imprint: Elsevier Science
Editors: Arno Kleber, Birgit Terhorst
Language: English
Hardback ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 6 0 0 3 - 8
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 6 0 0 4 - 5

Mid-Latitude Slope Deposits (Cover Beds), Second Edition focuses on widespread deposits and discusses their properties, genesis and age in subdued mountains of Central Europe, w… Read more

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Mid-Latitude Slope Deposits (Cover Beds), Second Edition focuses on widespread deposits and discusses their properties, genesis and age in subdued mountains of Central Europe, where to date most research on the matter has been conducted. The ecological consequences of such slope deposits on soils, slope water dynamics, and slope failures are addressed. Finally, transfer of the cover-bed concept to other mid-latitude regions is attempted for the reconstruction of landscape evolution. This unique compilation, covering several decades of a facies-oriented approach to slope-deposit research delivers deep insights into the wide field of research on cover beds and encourages researchers all over the world.

This is a valuable resource for students, academics and researchers in geomorphology, quaternary sciences, pedology, hydrology, and sedimentology.

1 Introduction 1.1 Scope of the book 1.2 Structure of the book 1.3 Terminology 1.4 History of ideas 1.5 Cover beds in the context of the “Earth’s critical zone” concept 2.Subdued mountains of Central Europe 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Sedimentary properties of layers 2.2.1 The basal layer 2.2.2 The intermediate layer 2.2.3 The upper layer 2.2.4 Laser granulometry of cover beds2.3 Distribution and thickness of layers 2.3.1 The basal layer 2.3.2 The intermediate layer 2.3.3 The upper layer 2.3.4 Overview of the distribution of periglacial cover-beds 2.4 Classification issues 2.4.1 Discrimination among Pleistocene cover beds 2.4.2 Anthropogenic layers 2.4.2.1 Genesis and classification of anthropogenic layers 2.4.2.2 Properties of anthropogenic layers 2.4.2.3 Discrimination of anthropogenic layers from periglacial cover beds 2.5 Statistical approach to layer properties and distribution 2.5.1 Approach 2.5.2 Basal layer properties 2.5.3 Intermediate layer properties 2.5.4 Upper layer properties 2.5.5 Overall view on statistical results 2.6 Genesis of cover beds 2.6.1 The basal layer 2.6.2 The intermediate layer 2.6.3 The upper layer 2.6.4 Incorporation of substrates 2.6.4.1 Incorporation processes 2.6.4.2 Case study I: Sandreuth, north-eastern Bavaria 2.6.4.3 Case study II: Spessart Mountains, south-eastern Hesse 2.7 Chronology of periglacial cover beds 2.7.1 Relative-age criteria 2.7.1.1 Introduction 2.7.1.2 Age of the basal layer 2.7.1.3 Age of the intermediate layer 2.7.1.4 Age of the upper layer 2.7.2 Numerical dating of periglacial cover beds 2.7.2.1 Introduction 2.7.2.2 Methodical difficulties in dating cover beds 2.7.2.3 Luminescence-dating results from basal layers 2.7.2.4 Luminescence-dating results from intermediate layers 2.7.2.5 Luminescence-dating results from upper layers 2.7.2.6 Conclusions 2.8 Regional differences in cover-bed properties and distribution 2.8.1 Highest altitudes of subdued mountains 2.8.2 Rhenish Massif 2.8.3 Carbonate rocks of the eastern Thuringian Basin 2.8.3.1 Introduction 2.8.3.2 Properties and distribution of cover beds 2.8.3.3 Conclusions 3 Cover beds with interbedded/intercalated loess-like slope deposits 4 Influence of cover beds on soils 4.1 Introduction 4.2 An integrated soil-evolution model for lithologically discontinuous soil 4.3 Pedogenesis in cover beds 4.4 Consequences for soil properties 4.4.1 Theory of soil properties in lithologically discontinuous soil 4.4.2 Physical Soil Properties 4.4.2.1 Texture in lithologically discontinuous soil 4.4.2.2 Soil water in lithologically discontinuous soil 4.4.3 Chemical soil properties 4.4.3.1 Geochemical composition of cover beds 4.4.3.2 Heavy metals 4.4.3.3 Oxalate and dithionite-extractable iron 4.4.3.4 pH-value and acidification 4.4.3.5 Stratigraphic approach to alteration in soils from cover beds 4.5 Conclusions 5 Influence of cover beds on slope hydrology 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Basic hypotheses 5.3 Case studies 5.3.1 Overview 5.3.2 Frankenwald Mountains 5.3.2.1 Introduction 5.3.2.2 Results 5.3.2.3 Conclusions 5.3.3 Sauerland 5.3.4 Erzgebirge 5.4 Conclusions 6 Geotechnical properties of periglacial cover beds 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Internal stability of cover beds derived from the 'infinite mechanical slope model' 6.3 Case studies 6.3.1 Stability of cover beds in the flysch zone of the Vienna Forest (Austria) 6.3.1.1 Study area 6.3.1.2 Distribution and composition of slope deposits in the Hagenbach Valley 6.3.1.3 Soil-mechanical stability of cover beds and bedrock 6.3.2 Stability of cover beds on Early Triassic sandstones of southern Lower Saxony (Germany) 6.3.2.1 Study area 6.3.2.2 Distribution and composition of slope deposits 6.3.2.3 Soil mechanic characteristics and stability of slope deposits 6.3.2.4 Calculation of soil-mechanic stability of slope deposits 6.4 Perspectives 7 Transferring the concept of cover beds 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Basins and lowlands of the mid-latitudes 7.2.1 Northern Russian Plain 7.2.1.1 Successions of cover beds 7.2.1.2 Sequence-stratigraphic approach 7.2.1.3 Comparison to Central European successions 7.2.2 Northern Great Basin, USA 7.2.2.1 Buried cover beds 7.2.2.2 Surficial cover beds 8 Laser granulometry of cover beds and separating process regimes by end-member modelling 8.2.2.3 Genesis and paleoenvironmental implications of Great Basin cover beds 8.2.3 Konya Basin of South-Central Turkey 8.3 High mountains of the mid-latitudes 8.3.1 European Alps 8.3.1.1 Cover beds below modern timberline 8.3.1.2 Cover beds above timberline 8.3.2 Mountains of the western U.S.A. 8.3.2.1 Cover beds below timberline 8.3.2.2 Cover beds in the Colorado Front Range above timberline 8.4 Conclusions 8.4.1 Significance of cover-beds 8.4.2 Cover-beds in humid areas 8.4.3 Cover-beds in semiarid areas 8.4.4 Cover beds and elevation 9 Relative dating with cover beds 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Case study at the Swabian Jurassic escarpment 9.2.1 Study area 9.2.2 Geomorphological setting in landslide areas 9.2.3 Pedological and sedimentological setting in landslide areas 9.2.3.1 Unstable, active slope areas of the Swabian Alb 9.2.3.2 Stable slope areas of the Swabian Alb 9.2.4 Model of the distribution of periglacial layers and soils in landslide areas 9.3 Case studies in the western U.S.A. 9.3.1 Introduction 9.3.2 River terraces of Castle Valley, South-East Utah 9.3.3 A case of misleading tephrochronology? 9.3.4 Ice-wedge casts in South-Central Wyoming 9.3.5 Moraines in the Ruby Mountains, North-East Nevada 9.4 Cover beds of Early Quaternary age 9.5 Conclusions 10 Provenance of cover-bed eolian matter using U-Pb dating of detrital zircons 11 Conclusions 11.1 Takeouts of this book 11.2 Future research demands on cover beds

Arno Kleber

Arno Kleber is a Professor and Chair of Physical Geography at the Technical University of Dresden. After completing his doctorate, Arno Kleber focused his research on top layers, making the German cover layer concept internationally known and transferring the concept to other areas of the temperate zone, placing a focus on the possibilities of reconstructing past climate changes and the quantification of environmentally significant processes that are controlled by surface layers. Dr Kleber is a member of various scientific societies such as the German Soil Science Society, DEUQUA and INQUA, Geological Society of America, Soil Science Society of America and American Association for the Advancement of Science. From 2006 to 2012, Arno Kleber was spokesman for the geosciences department at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at TU Dresden. He was also Dean of Studies for Geography from 2006 to 2016 and was therefore largely responsible for the development of geographic courses.

Affiliations and expertise

Professor and Chair of Physical Geography, Technical University of Dresden, Germany

Birgit Terhorst

Dr Birgit Terhorst is Professor of Physical Geography and Soil Science at the Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany. She has held various lecturing and professorship positions in institutions in soil science and geography. Dr Terhorst conducts research on geography, natural hazards and landslides, geoinformatics (GIS), geoarcheology, soil science, and quaternary research. She has over 150 publications in international journals and is supervising numerous research projects. Her completed research projects include geophysical methods for the analysis of mass movements; gravitational mass movements in Mexico under the influence of climate change and anthropogenic use; slope stability and danger zones in northern Bavaria: a study on causes, process and risk; and monitoring procedures in active landslide areas, among many others.

Affiliations and expertise

University of Wuerzburg/Germany, Institute of Geography and Geology

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