Paraglacial landform assemblages in the Hindukush and Karakoram Mountains

The paper focuses on the evolution of debris landforms in subtropical high-mountain areas. The Karakoram and Hindukush Mountains are characterized by their high volume and variety of debris accumulations. The valley flanks are coated by unconsolidated debris slopes up to 1000 m in height. The valley floors are occupied by expansive debris-flow cones and alluvial fans with escarpment heights of over 100 m. The field investigations in over twenty valleys showed that the major part of those landforms is governed by the late and post-glacial glaciation history. A key role in this glacially-controlled landscape system is played by the slope moraines, which cover the valley flanks up to several hundred meters above the valley floor. The secondary debris supply by resedimentation processes of moraine material and glacially-induced rock failures exceed by far the primary debris production due to weathering processes. Landforms which have been formerly classified as periglacial talus cones rather can be considered as glacial or glacially-controlled-landforms. The identified paraglacial landforms can serve as useful palaeoclimatic indicators for the ice-age reconstruction. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.