ABSTRACTS / RESUMES - Comitato Glaciologico Italiano

has to ensure the existence of beaches and safe paths to access
to the sea. Catastrophic events (rock falls, slides) must
be prevented. Some houses are exposed to mass movements.
Long term management is different, as it is more
concern with a general infill of the harbours and an excess
of sediment. One important and badly known point is the
actual importance of sea level rise. In this site it approaches
1 mm a year. It may change the sediment cells to such
an extend that management policies have to be totally reconsidered.
EMMANUEL REYNARD & LAURENT WENKER
Permafrost mapping in two regions of the western
Swiss Alps: Les Diablerets and Verbier
Institut de Gcographie, Universite de Lausanne, BFSH 2,
1015 Lausanne, Suisse
Two regions have been selected in two different climatic
and geomorphologic regions of the western Swiss Alps.
The site «Cabane des Diablerets» is situated in the Hautes
Alpes Calcaires (Helvetic Nappes) (altitude: 2200-3100 m)
and is caracterized by a transitional climate between the
wet Prealpes (precipitation = 1500 mm/year at 1000 m)
and the central part of Valais (precipitation = 750
mm/year at 1000 m) and a contrasted morphology, with
high limestone cliffs alternating with schists. The second
site, the «Mont Gele», is situated in the south part of Valais
(altitude: 2200-3000 m) and has dry climatic conditions
(precipitation = 800 mm/year at 1000 rn) and a relatively
opened morphology developped in metamorphic
rocks of the Penninic Nappes.
The two sites present the same topographic conditions: a
mount with slopes of different orientations with parts affected
by permafrost. Some orientations present active periglacial
forms as gelifluction lobes and rock glaciers.
Two databases of BTS measurements have been created.
The field observations and the permafrost distribution
mapped with BTS measurements are compared within a
GIS with computer mapping based on an empirical topoclimatic
permafrost distribution based on field datas of the
Grisons (Eastern Switzerland).
MOHAMMAD HaSSEl REZAEl MOGHADDAM
The alluvial fans evolution at the southern piedemonts of
Mishow Dagh Mount, in the NW of Iran
Department of Geography, University of Tabriz,
p.o. box 3567, Tabriz 51335, Iran
The southern slope of Mishov Dagh, located at the center
of Azarbaijan of Iran, can be considered as a geomorphological
laboratory for the study of alluvial fans in a semi
arid region. In this region three different kinds of alluvial
fans have been recognized on the base field studies. The
first kind of these typical forms is paleofans of early Pleistocene.
The second is the old fans of late Pleistocene. Pinally
the third is young alluvial fans which can be classified
in two different types: a) the early Holocene fans and, b)
the contemporary (historical) alluvial fans.
The paleofans and old alluvial fans were abandoned such
as alluvial terraces because of down cutting by the Quaternary
streams. The young alluvial fans activities which currently
are being formed, may be related to some factors such
as climatic factors, human activities, Urumiyeh Lake's
fluctuations and neotectonics. The later was found to be
the most important and conductive factor. The field observations
showed the site changing of alluvial fans due to climatic
change and morphotectonics activities. Geological
logging from the young alluvial fans confirmed these fluctuation
in the Holocene epoch. Theorically, the regression
analysis shows the best relationship between the areas of
drainage basins and associated alluvial fans with r = 0.99.
On the base of this study it can be concluded that morphotectonics
and fluctuations of Urumiyeh Lake have important
role on the evolution of the alluvial fans of the
southern slope of Mishow Dagh.
ADRIANO RIBOLlNl
The rock glaciers of the Argentera Crystalline Massif,
Italian side, Maritime Alps
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita di Pisa,
via Santa Maria 53,56126 Pisa, Italy
The Italian side of the Crystalline Massif of the Argentera
presents numerous examples of periglacial geomorphology,
among which the most frequent and significant are
the rock glaciers. 37 rock glaciers have been identified,
varying in form and position in the alpine morphological
context. 23 are on the floor of the cirques and valleys modelled
by the Pleistocene and Holocene glaciation. Of this
group 14 are at the foot of slopes fed by gravitational and
freeze-thaw detritus, influenced by avalanche cone phenomena
and debris flows. Morphometric analysis of all the
forms identified shows in general how there is no preferential
exposure, with the exception of the protalus rock glaciers
which show tendentially a position on N -facing slopes.
The analysis of the heights of the fronts allowed identification
of some groups of values, which suggest that the
formation and reactivization of the rock glaciers studied
occurred at various times in the Lateglacial. In the Italian
Maritime Alps the maximum altitude (July) of thermic zero
is 4.190 m.This value attributes total inactivity to the
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