TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ... 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... 7
1. INTRODUCTION ... 13
1.1. Research objectives and structure of the dissertation ... 13
1.2. Glacial history of the Tatra Mts. in the context of previous studies ... 16
1.2.1. The oldest glaciations and the LGM ... 20
1.2.2. The youngest glacial readvances and the deglaciation - the Lateglacial and the Younger Dryas (YD) ... 35
1.2.3. The question of the Little Ice Age (LIA) and the Holocene ... 47
2. STUDY AREA ... 49
2.1. Geography of the study area ... 50
a. Veľká Studená Valley (VS) ... 54
b. Päť Spišských plies Valley (PS) ... 58
c. Litvorová Valley (Lv) ... 61
d. Rovienky Valley (Rv) ... 65
2.2. Geological setting ... 67
2.3. Modern climate ... 69
3. METHODOLOGY ... 75
3.1. Geomorphological mapping and fieldwork... 75
3.2. Surface exposure dating using cosmogenic nuclide beryllium-10 ... 78
3.2.1. Short history of exposure dating and principles of the method ... 78
3.2.2. Sampling strategy ... 81
3.2.3. Laboratory preparation ... 87
3.2.4. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) measurement ... 89
3.2.5. Production rate and age determination ... 92
3.2.6. Exposure ages ... 96
4. GEOMORPHOLOGY AND AGE ... 101
4.1. Detailed description of geomorphology ... 101
o VS summary ... 116
b. Päť Spišských Plies Valley (SP) ... 119
o SP summary ... 129
c. Litvorová Valley (Lt) ... 131
o Lt summary ... 138
d. Rovienky Valley (Rv) ... 140
o Rv summary ... 145
4.2. Synthesis of the results ... 148
5. RECONSTRUCTED GLACIERS AND THE YD PALEOCLIMATE ... 155
5.1. Glaciers reconstructions ... 155
5.2. Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) ... 168
5.3. ELA methodology and results for the YD ... 174
5.4. Modelling the paleoclimate of the YD ... 181
6. THE FINAL DEGLACIATION ... 185
7. DISCUSSION ... 191
7.1. From moraines to rockglaciers – spatial pattern and time constraints of the last glaciation in the High Tatra Mts. ... 191
7.2. Other studies in Carpathians regarding the YD glaciation ... 205
7.3. Reconstructed climate in the High Tatra Mts. during the YD cooling ... 209
8. CONCLUSIONS ... 214 REFERENCES ... 217 INDEX OF FIGURES ... 232 INDEX OF TABLES ... 239 ABBREVIATIONS ... 241 INDEX OF APPENDICES... 242 APPENDIX A ... 244 APPENDIX B ... 249 APPENDIX C ... 253