The Nature of Mountain Geomorphology
Author(s): Dietrich Barsch and Nel Caine
Source: Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 4, No. 4, High Mountain Research.
Proceedings of a Workshop of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Vergleichende
Hochgebirgsforschung in December 1982 in Munich (Nov., 1984), pp. 287-298
Published by: International Mountain Society
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Mountain Researchand Development,Vol. 4, No. 4, 1984, pp. 287-298
THE NATUREOF MOUNTAINGEOMORPHOLOGY
DIETRICH BARSCH1AND NEL CAINE2
ABSTRACT A century of study suggests many common characteristics in the geomorphic nature of high mountain areas. These
include important structural influences in the landscape, usually on a variety of spatial scales, and contrasting climatic conditions
(often confounded with vegetation distributions) which also exhibit a wide spatial variability. Most high mountain terrain also shows
evidence of ancient erosion surfaces as well as that of past glacial action and other, less direct, consequences of late-Pleistocene
environmental changes. The resulting landscape is one of high relief and highly variable potential energy. This is reflected in a history
of recent erosion by large catastrophic events and a high potential for accelerated erosion where mountain terrain is impacted by
man's activity. Such common characteristics suggest that mountain geomorphology be considered as a "regional" component within
geomorphology.
RESUMELa naturede la geomorphologiemontagnarde.Pendant un siecle de nombreuses analogies de formes et de processus geomorphologiques ont ete mis en evidence. Ce sont les influences et les donn6es structurales (Tektovarianz) et les variations des conditions
climatiques avec l'altitude, qui sont les plus importantes. Les 6tages climatiques sont visibles dans la repartition de la v6g6tation,
qui montre une enorme variabilit6 spatiale. A c6te de la dynamique r6cente, les stades anciens de I'&volution du, relief (Reliefgenerationen), par example les restes d'anciennes surfaces d'6rosion, les formes glaciaires du Pleistocene et les temoins tardiglaciaires,
moins visibles, de l'6volution du paysage, ont une grande influence sur le physionomie des hautes montagnes. La dynamique r6cente
est aussi fonction de la raideur de pente. C'est pour cela qu'on trouve ici des ev6nements g6omorphologiques catastrophiques et aussi
une tendance vers une erosion acc6l6r6e caus6e souvent par l'homme. La g6omorphologie des hautes montagnes peut etre consid6r6e
comme une composante rigionale de la g6omorphologie g6nerale.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
Die Beschaffenheitder Geomorphologieim Hochgebirge.In mehr als einem Jahrhundert Hochgebirgsforschung sind
viele Gemeinsamkeiten in der Gestalt und in der geomorphologischen Formung der Hochgebirge der Erde erkannt und bearbeitet
worden. Dazu geh6ren neben den wichtigen strukturellen Einflfissen und Gegebenheiten (Tektovarianz) vor allem die recht wechselhaften
klimatischen Bedingungen, die sich meist im Vegetationsmuster widerspiegeln und die Ausdruck einer enormen raiumlichen Variabilitit
sind. Von grogem Einfluf auf die heutige Gestalt der Hochgebirge sind auBerdem die frfiheren Reliefzustande (Reliefgenerationen).
Hierher geh6ren neben den meist hochliegenden Relikten alter Erosionsflichen vor allem der fossile pleistozdine glazigene Formenschatz wie auch die meist weniger aufflilligen Zeugen des spditpleistozdinen Landschaftwandels. Das Hochgebirgsrelief is so durch
Steilheit und durch eine hohe, von Punkt zu Punkt jedoch hdiufig schnell wechselnde potentielle Energie gekennzeichnet. Ausdruck
dieser Verhiiltnisse ist das Auftreten gr6i3erer, katastrophaler geomorphologischer Ereignisse und eine hohe Bereitschaft zu akzelerierter
Erosion bei unsachgemdiien anthropogenen Eingriffen. Alle diese gemeinsamen Charakteristika bestditigen, datf die Hochgebirgsgeomorphologie als eine regionale Komponente der Allgemeinen Geomorphologie anzusehen ist.
INTRODUCTION
Recent decades have witnessed an exponential growth
of scientific research in mountain environments at a time
when man's impacts on them has also accelerated. Such
growth in scientific interest in mountains is clearly indicated by the publication of texts such as Ives and Barry,
1974; Barry, 1981; and Price, 1981; in the appearance of
entire journals (not just special issues) devoted to mountain environments (e.g., Arctic and Alpine Research;Mountain Researchand Development;Revuede Gdographie
Alpine; Studia
Geomorphologica
Carpatho-Balcanica;
ZeitschriftfiirGletscherkunde
und Glazialgeologie)and in the growth of other publications
'Geographisches Institut, Universitiit Heidelberg,
Heidelberg, Federal Republic of Germany.
D-6900
2Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of
Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
in environmental science. This paper is intended to be a
statement on the nature of mountain geomorphology,
which is considered as a special theme of general interest
within geomorphology, with broad regional aspects. The
authors intend it to be a pragmatic definition of mountain
geomorphology, emphasizing the research themes which
have been pursued and their significance, rather than a
prescription of what this subject should be.
The geomorphically important characteristics of the
mountain environment define many of the concerns and
concepts basic to mountain geomorphology and so are the
first to be discussed here. They lead to the main themes
followed and discussed in previous work on mountain geomorphology. Here the dichotomous nature of geomorphology itself provides the basic distinction between work concerning the landforms of mountains and that involving the
288 /
MOUNTAIN
RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT
study of land-forming processes in the same environments.
These two may be further subdivided in the tree-form of
Figure 1 to give the four recurrent themes in mountain geomorphology described elsewhere (Caine, 1983). In the conclusion to this paper, three general statements are put forth:
(1) an empirical evaluation of the aims of mountain
geomorphology; (2) a statement of future needs and research in the subject; and (3) a rationalization of it in terms
of its applicability to environmental management.
GEOMORPHOLOGY
MOUNTAIN
GEOMORPHOLOGY
IN
FORM MORPHODYNAM
MOUNTAIN
MOUNTAINS
MORPHOMETRY
a
STRUCTURE
RELIEF
GENERATION
a HISTORY
MORPHOCLIMATIC PROCESS DYNAMICS
MODELS
a
ACTIVITY
1. Research themes in Mountain Geomorphology. This
figure emphasizes dichotomous branching among broad topics
of research and ignores, for simplicity, the (horizontal) interaction between these topics.
FIGURE
MOUNTAINS
AND MOUNTAIN
Any attempt to define mountain geomorphology confronts two problems at the outset, both evident in the name
of the subject. First, as part of the broader science of geomorphology, mountain geomorphology must seek to
accommodate itself to the dichotomous nature of geomorphology. Recent work in geomorphology has strongly
emphasized the study of geomorphic processes, occasionally
with the pious expectation that this would lead to an understanding of landforms, but more usually as an end in itself
(Chorley, 1978). In contrast, classical views of geomorphology emphasize the study of landforms, the history of
the landscape in which they are set, and the search for
models of relief development. Landforms are rarely the
products of the processes which now act upon them (Anderson and Burt, 1981), and then only at the smaller spatial
scales, in pico-, nano- and micro-forms. The disparity between present landforms and contemporary processes is
especially evident in mountain areas: it was, after all, in
these areas that the evidence of Pleistocene glacial advances
was first recognized, evidence that is everywhere an important part of mountain scenery.
A second problem of definition to be faced in an evaluation of mountain geomorphology is that due to the term
"mountain". In many respects, this is the problem which
confronts any attempt to define a regional boundary which
is not based on administrative convenience. For mountains,
the problem of definition has been approached many times
in the past century (e.g., Penck, 1894; Krebs, 1922; Troll,
1941, 1972; Ives and Barry, 1974; Price, 1981). Here, this
question is considered briefly but with the view that the
definition of the approaches and topics central to mountain geomorphology is more important than the demarcation of boundaries. The latter will always be diffuse and
will often be redefined in terms which are most apposite
to the particular problem faced by individual researchers.
Even the most commonplace definition of "mountain"
is one that has significance to the geomorphologist. It is
likely to include reference to at least four characteristics
of mountain terrain that are important in describing landforms or the processes acting upon them. These are: (1)
elevation, often in absolute terms; (2) steep, even precipi-
GEOMORPHOLOGY
tous, gradients; (3) rocky terrain; and (4) the presence of
snow and ice.
Some of these characteristics have been used to differentiate between mountain environments in a semi-quantitative manner (Table 1). In this case, change in elevation or relative relief is used to define successively more
mountainous environments. Other characteristics, controlled by elevation, relief, and topography, have also been
suggested in definitions of mountain terrain. Thus, Troll
in a series of papers (1941, 1954, 1972, 1973) suggested
that climatic-vegetative
belts are diagnostic. In this
scheme, a high-mountain system is one which extends
above timberline whilst a mountain system is one which
encompasses more than one vegetation belt but does not
extend to an alpine elevation. Although it is defined in
terms of vegetation (Zech and Feuerer, this issue, pp.
331-338), this is clearly consonant with a morphoclimatic
approach to mountain geomorphology. It has, however,
some shortcomings, especially in environments where
"timberline" is not easily defined (for example, in polar
[Stiiblein, this issue, pp. 319-330] and arid regions and
on high tropical mountains).
Other features of the mountain environment are not
recognized explicitly in these statements, although they
may be vital to a geomorphic understanding of mountains.
Four of these are worth noting here. First, mountain areas
are internally diverse and variable - a variability that
derives from their elevation, relief, and exposure. Second,
most mountain systems show clear evidence of late-PleistoTABLE 1
Relief contrastsin differenttypes of mountainsystems
Type
High mountain system
Mountain system
Mountainous terrain
Hilly terrain
Altitudinal
difference
(over 5 km distance)
Relative
relief
> 1000 m
500-1000 m
100-500 m
50-100 m
500 m/km2
200 m/km2
100 m/km2
50 m/km2
D. BARSCHAND N. CAINE/ 289
These characteristics combine to define a geomorphic
environment which has attracted much attention. This
work has been directed, on the one hand, to the evolution
of landforms and their associations or, on the other hand,
to the controls of geomorphic processes and their magnitude and interaction. The scientific problems of mountain
areas remain as challenging as the terrain itself.
cene glaciation. Third, many mountain areas, and especially the highest of them, remain tectonically active today
and in some cases rates of tectonic uplift exceed those of
degradation and erosion (Schumm, 1963). Finally, many
mountain environments appear to exist in a metastable
state such that they are particularly vulnerable to disturbance.
RELIEF AND LANDFORMS
HIGH MOUNTAIN
tralia; (2) uniform plains and table lands with approximately horizontal sedimentary rock structures; (3) large
alluvial plains such as the lower Amazon basin; (4) the
mountain and high mountain systems. Because of their size
and their influence on life and climate, mountain systems
are among the megaforms of the earth's surface (Barsch
and Stfiblein, 1978), with a special relief that reflects a long
development. For
period of tectonic-geologic-geomorphic
this reason, high mountains are usually characterized by
complex geologic structures associated with intense folding and faulting; by tectonic activity during Tertiary and
Mountain and high mountain systems like the Alps, the
Rocky Mountains, and the Himalaya have landscapes
dominated by vertical relief. Even though the absolute difference in elevation (about 20 km) between ocean trenches
and the highest summits is slight in comparison to the
earth's diameter, mountains and their relief have always
been important to human use of the earth.
In a geomorphic context, mountainous terrain forms one
of the main relief elements on the earth's surface (Figure 2).
Dongus (1980: 136) defines four relief elements: (1) old
shield lands such as the Canadian Shield and most of Aus-
1800
1200
15o0
900
B~ii~i~l
iiiiii
i0
600
300
00
6o
900
0o "
1'500
1200
......~~,
1800
1500
............i~ii.i~i~i~iii
30
300
oo.. .
s d
so00.....
15 0?
continental
0
. .
. .
..
.
. .
.
. .
.
. .
. .
.
. . . .
shields
tablelands
•
mountain
systems
mountain
:mountain
-/high
-systems
FIGURE2. The major relief elements of the earth's terrestrial surface (Dongus, 1980).
.
. .
.
. . . . . . . ..
.......... ...
290 /
MOUNTAIN
RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT
even Quaternary times (Fairbridge, 1968; Rathjens, 1982),
and by high erosion rates which are a consequence of recent
uplift (Garner, 1959; Young, 1969). Further, this erosional
intensity has been augmented during the Pleistocene by
increased glacial activity in nearly all high mountain areas.
In many high mountains, the balance between erosion and
tectonic uplift is often resolved in favour of the latter
(Schumm, 1963). For example, the Bergell granite of the
southeastern Swiss Alps which was formed only 30 million
years ago at a depth of about 30 km (Chessex, 1962) is
now exposed at the surface. This suggests a mean erosion
rate of 1 mm/yr for a geologic time scale, a rate generated
by an even greater magnitude of tectonic uplift.
HIGH
MOUNTAIN
SYSTEMS
In high mountain systems, the elevation range between
summits and valley floors is normally more than 1,000 m
(Penck, 1894; Krebs, 1922; Hammond, 1964; H6llermann, 1973; Barsch and Stfiblein, 1978). Often, more than
2,000 m of relief occurs across horizontal distances of only
a few kilometres. Ford et al. (1981) show a mean relief of
1,340 m (with standard deviation of 400 m) in 200 randomly selected 10 x 10 km quadrangles in the southern
Canadian Rocky Mountains. In the Alps, Hormann (1965)
lists 11 passes which are more than 2,000 m lower than
the summits on the drainage divide crossed by the pass.
He uses these deeply incised passes to subdivide the Alps
into major mountain groups (Figure 3) which form clear
geomorphic units, even if they are not genetically distinct.
High mountain areas, therefore, are characterized by
a steep topography, dominated by rock walls (of more than
60') and steep slopes (between 35 and 600), even where
flat valley bottoms and high plateaus occur. Apart from
the work of Evans (1972) and that of Ford et al. (1981),
there have been few statistical analyses of relative elevation and slope (the first derivative of elevation) in mountain areas, although the continued development of data
bases and sources (Finsterwalder, this issue, pp. 315-318)
suggests that quantitative comparisons on a wide scale may
soon be possible. However, it is not yet possible to distinguish unequivocally between high mountain systems and
mountain systems on morphometric grounds (Figure 2).
Qualitatively, it is suggested that steep rock walls are diagnostic of high mountains whereas slopes steeper than 350
are relatively infrequent in mountain systems. This, with
a relative relief of more than 1,000 m for the former, allows
a morphographic distinction between the two.
In the Alps and other high mountain systems, rock walls
and steep slopes are normally due to.glacial erosion which
has also produced a set of bedrock forms (such as horns,
aretes, cirques, and glacial troughs) characteristic of almost
all high mountains (Figure 4). In addition, post-glacial talus
slopes and fans of debris from the rock walls usually dominate the valley floor scenery. Except for a few high-level
surfaces (usually on limestone in the Alps) areas of low relief
exist only on the "shoulders"of glacial troughs (Trogschulter)
as remnants of Tertiary terraces (Annaheim, 1946) and on
the floors of valleys filled with fluvial sediments. Not all
high mountain areas conform to this model: in the southern Rocky Mountains, for example, sharp bedrock ridges
and horns occur alongside wide, rounded interfluves and
flat-topped mountains (Figure 5) which are usually ex-
/Dachstein
Hochkon.
,A
/ Mt.Blanc
.Mt.Rosa
hi
200km
,0
3. The mountain groups of the Alps. Major drainage divides are shown by the broken line and the most important peak
in each group is identified (Hormann, 1965).
FIGURE
D.
horn
rockwall
+cirque
trough-shoulder
+
+.
+
+
+
+
trough
rockwall
\rb.
+r
.
.DL
'--
-..
--
BARSCH AND N. CAINE /
291
In polar regions, mountains which carry all the landform
evidence of intense glaciation are common, although the
local relief is often less than 1,000 m. This case, too, is
an exception for there can be little question of the "high
mountain" nature of such landscapes.
Thus, the dominant morphologic characteristics of a high
mountain system are its steepness and its altitudinal range.
Both of these are important influences on geomorphic processes. Within this classification, two relief types are distinguished: the "Alp Type" and the "Rocky Mountain
Type". The first of these is associated with an overriding
impact of glacial ice and very marked effects of glacial erosion. The second involves a less pervasive impact of glacial
erosion and includes important areas of low relief on flat
summits and rounded interfluves. Further, also included
as high mountain areas are two situations which may not
have more than 1,000 m of local relief or may not rise above
timberline: polar mountains and desert mountains, respectively.
FIGURE
4. The basic elements of Alp-type relief.
RELIEF DEVELOPMENT
(some) horns
interfluve
+,
rockwall
+
e
cirques
cirqooues
volley floov
FIGURE
5. The basic elements of Rocky Mountain-type relief.
plained as the remnants of former erosion surfaces (Scott,
1975).
Other high mountain areas which do not fit the model
of Figure 4 include those of semi-arid and arid regions
(H61lermann, 1973). Hd11ermann concludes that the mountain ranges of the Great Basin, for example, are high mountains in the true sense, despite the fact that they do not
reach timberline and were only lightly glaciated during the
Pleistocene. On the other hand, they are remarkably steep,
with more than 1,000 m of local relief, because of recent
tectonism and deep dissection which has created steepwalled gorges. Similar landscapes are found in other mountain systems of the arid zone, e.g., in the Tibesti (Hovermann, 1963). In these landscapes, the Richter denudation
slope (at 30 to 350) is an important form (H611ermann,
1973), and one that contributes to a different assemblage
of landforms than those shown in Figures 4 and 5. This
assemblage lacks glacial features almost entirely but nevertheless forms a high mountain landscape.
IN HIGH
MOUNTAINS
In addition to the larger landform associations described
above, the relief of high mountain systems often shows
smaller internal regularities. Thus, the major valleys often
follow lines of structural weakness which can be traced over
long distances, as for example the line of the Rhone-ReussVorderrhein in the Alps. Such regularities have featured
in many discussions of relief development in high mountains and it is not possible to quote more than a few cases
here.
Dissection of the landscape has long been considered
important in the development of a high mountain system
and much effort has been expended in attempts to distinguish the fluvial and glacial contributions to this (S61ch,
1935). Accordant surfaces and elevations which might mark
different stages in the development of high mountain terrain have been recognized. Four such levels have been
identified in many high mountain systems:
1. the alpine summit accordance or gipfelflur
2. the alpine crest and summit accordance
3. the timberline and alp slope accordance
4. the benches along major valleys.
The accordant elevation of most summits in a mountain
group has long been recognized (Penck, 1919; Heim, 1927;
Pannekoek, 1967). The summit accordance in the western
U.S.A. lies about 600 m above present timberline (Thompson, 1968) and, like some of the lower accordances, has
been explained by one of two alternative hypotheses. First,
there is the view that the gipfelflur consists of remnants of
an old erosion surface, either a peneplain (Willis, 1903)
or a pediplain (Bradley, 1936). In the Alps, similar surfaces have been explained as relics of a landscape which
was only slightly dissected, perhaps similar to a middle
mountain system (Mittelgebirge) such as the Black Forest
(Annaheim, 1946; Annaheim and Schwabe, 1959).
In contrast, the same accordances have been explained
by other workers as the product of regular patterns (in space
and depth) of dissection which constrain summits to approximately the same elevation. These opposed views
appear in many discussions of mountain landscapes pub-
292
/ MOUNTAIN
RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT
ilne of tectonic uplift
N
(M
Cm)---
-------
urnmrrlt
3000G
2000
A...
,
Reuss
S
-
PCccorce)CC
.
summit
Tessin
R
-
'
-"???r
?.
,.,-
,.•
.
..
*-Pu
..1000-..
.. ...
300
0? 0Be
.
.
.
7
...
: .....::
............. ..
...............
..
Locarno
Flueten Amsteg Andermatt
AriotoFaido
6. Cross-section through the Swiss Alps along the line Tessin-St. Gotthard-Reuss (Annaheim, 1946). The alpine summit accordance (Gipfelflur)is shown. Pe-Pettanetto Terrace System;
Be - Bedretto Terrace System; Pu - Pura Terrace System; G - St. Gotthard region.
FIGURE
lished in the last 100 years such as the discussion between
Russell (1933) and Atwood and Atwood (1938).
A variant of the erosion surface hypothesis is the view
of Thompson (1968) that the summit level represents an
interglacial alp slope associated with a higher timberline
than the present one, and the contrasting intensities of erosion processes above and below it. According to this model,
the crest and summit accordance, which Thompson identifies at elevations about 300 m above present timberline,
reflects the position of Pleistocene timberlines.
Benches along the sides of major valleys and the timberline and alp-slope accordance (at the elevation of present
timberline) pose serious problems. They are readily recognized and are often explained in part by local geological
structures, though structure cannot be the only explanation of their development. Unfortunately, none of these
benches carries sediments older than the last glaciation.
Three explanations of such benches have been suggested
by earlier workers:
1. That they are the relics of fluvial valley floors, representing a stage in a long history of valley deepening and
dating from the Tertiary.
2. That they are erosional forms produced by Pleistocene
valley glaciation which has been partly controlled by
older terraces and geologic structure.
3. That the timberline bench, at least, is a response to the
contrast in the intensity of mass wasting and erosion
above and below timberline (Thompson, 1968).
A choice among these three is not possible, and they may
not be mutually exclusive. However, the general problem
from which they derive, that of valley deepening, is a crucial one in work on the development of mountain relief,
and one which has attracted much attention (S61ch, 1935).
Annaheim (1946) used the heights of tributaries above the
MOUNTAIN
main valley and the elevation of cirques to reconstruct three
major benches along the Ticino valley, southern Swiss Alps
(Figure 6). These three levels (the Pettanetto, Bedretto,
and Pura terraces) are thought to be of early, middle, and
late Pliocene age (from highest to lowest). In addition,
Annaheim demonstrates that the Pleistocene glacial trough
of the Ticino, which approximates the elevation of the
valley glacier of the last glaciation, cuts across all three
terrace systems. The bench above the "trough-shoulder"
(Figure 4), which has often been considered to be the
youngest pre-Pleistocene terrace, is shown by this analysis
to be much older and to reflect a variety of stages in relief
development, rather than a single one. It is unlikely that
the Pleistocene trough and its upper limit (the "troughshoulder") should correspond to the same terrace in all parts
of the Alps. Annaheim's study suggests that it might be
possible to recognize benches of Pliocene age in the valleys
of high mountain systems and that some of the relief elements in the mountain scenery are of much greater antiquity than is commonly thought. A more recent indication of this antiquity, and one which is supported by absolute dating, is found in the work of Ford et al. (1981) in
the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains. These workers
suggest that the age of the present relief is between 6M
and 12M years, i.e., of Pliocene age. Some relief elements
in the present landscape may be even older than the Pliocene, although it may be difficult to demonstrate such an
age conclusively (Caine [1983] suggests that the general
form of some Tasmanian mountains has not changed since
the Eocene). Nevertheless, despite the antiquity of major
relief forms in high mountain terrain, it is safe to assume
that most of the landscape is no older than the Pliocene,
and almost all of that which is of interest in geomorphology is much younger than this.
GEOMORPHIC
Few of the geomorphic processes presently acting in the
mountain landscape are restricted to that environment;
PROCESSES
most of them are found in other environments as well.
However, the combination of morphodynamic processes
D. BARSCH AND N. CAINE / 293
and the intensity and rate at which they act may be clearly
different from those found elsewhere. This difference has
provided a reason for scientific research in all mountain
ranges of the world in the last few decades (Price, 1981).
This discussion consists of two parts. First, the general
nature of the morphodynamic system in mountain areas
is considered. Following this, three case studies of contemporary geomorphic activity in different mountain systems are summarized.
THE
MORPHODYNAMIC
MOUNTAIN
SYSTEMS OF HIGH
AREAS
The high relief and steep slopes which are the distinguishing characteristics of mountain terrain provide much
potential energy for erosion and sediment transport. This
potential is translated in turn into the rapid erosion rates
which have long been recognized as typical of mountain
regions (Fournier, 1960; Schumm, 1963; Young, 1969).
In addition to local relief, other environmental factors contribute to the high rates of denudation in mountain areas.
These include low temperatures and increased precipitation
amounts, and the associated hydrologic and vegetational
contrasts with lowland areas. They also include a common
correspondence with tectonic activity in the form of volcanic and seismic disturbances. A Pleistocene history of
environmental change, most obviously in the glacial influences which account for many precipitous slopes, provides
a further common characteristic of almost all high mountain areas.
It is also important to recognize the great morphodynamic variability of mountain systems. A high mean rate
of erosion is the product of events that are episodic in time
and discontinuous in space. Some part of the temporal variability is predictable through its association with the diurnal
temperature cycle (Fahey, 1973; Luckman, 1976) or with
the seasonal cycles of freeze-thaw and streamflow (Benedict, 1970; Caine, 1976; Thorn, 1976). Apart from these
periodic regularities in the temporal pattern of geomorphic
activity, much of the geomorphic work performed in alpine
and mountain environments seems to be infrequent and
essentially random in its timing. The resulting pulsed
impacts on the erosional and sediment transport systems
dominate most records of contemporary slope development
in mountains (Rapp, 1960; Grove, 1972; Caine, 1976).
They are often associated with intense rain from unusual
meteorologic conditions (Tricart et al., 1961; Starkel, 1972;
Balog, 1978) or with seismic events (Sharma, 1974: Chapter 6; Hadley, 1978; Plafker and Ericksen, 1978; Whitehouse, 1981). In both cases, recurrence intervals on the
order of 102 to 104 years suggest that the systems are
strongly controlled by transient behaviour like that described by Brunsden and Thornes (1979).
This temporal variability is matched by an equivalent
spatial one which is most evident in high mountain systems of the Rocky Mountain type. In this terrain type,
enclaves of low relief, on which there has been little landscape modification for millenia, are interposed with steeper
slopes on which rapid, contemporary change occurs. Even
in high mountains of the Alpine type, most of the geomorphic work of sediment movement is achieved within
small parts of the total area (Caine and Mool, 1982). Commonly these partial areas of greatest activity are steep
slopes, sites where the winter snow cover is concentrated
and areas of glacier activity. Increasingly, they are those
parts of the landscape in which human impact on soil and
vegetation is greatest. For whatever reason, the spatial variability of mountain erosion and sediment transport is frequently reflected in the vegetation and soil distributions,
which in turn feed back to the variability in erosion
(Summer, 1982).
The process systems which operate in alpine environments have been described by Caine (1974) as a cascade
of sediment fluxes involving a variety of materials and controls. Some of these fluxes have received much attention
from researchers while others have been almost ignored.
They, too, are variably distributed in the mountain landscape although it may be possible to define general patterns
in their relative significance (for example, with respect to
elevation: Caine, 1984). A four-way classification of
mountain process systems is suggested, with different controls, responses, and levels of activity. This distinguishes
the mountain glacial system, the coarse debris system, the
fine clastic sediment system, and the geochemical system.
This distinction is not intended to suggest that these four
fluxes do not interact, nor that material does not move
between them during landscape development. Of the four,
the mountain glacier and the coarse debris systems are most
characteristic of high mountain terrain for they tend to be
restricted to areas of greatest elevation and relief.
The Glacial System
The distribution of mountain glaciers clearly reflects
their control by elevation and climate which influence the
mass balance and thus the equilibrium line altitude and
the glaciation limit (Ostrem, 1974). In general, this system
is found at the highest elevations, where the movement of
water in the solid phase is important in the transport of
debris derived from rockfall as well as from erosion at the
ice-rock surface. This is a physical system with relatively
high power (Andrews, 1972) and one which is effective in
debris transport, at least to the glacier margin where depositional forms that are diagnostic of this system, and its
interaction with the fluvial system, are found. In presently
glacierized mountain areas, the glacial system is a dominant influence on erosional activity (Embleton and King,
1975: Chapter 11), though great changes in the intensity
of that activity reflect lesser changes in the glacier mass
(Reheis, 1975).
The CoarseDebris System
This system also includes many of the landscape components that are characteristic of high mountain terrain.
It involves the transfer of coarse detritus between cliffs and
the talus and associated deposits beneath them as well as
the large-scale failure of rock slopes (Heuberger, this issue,
pp. 345-362). In maritime mountain ranges, the working
of this system may be tributary to the glacial one, i.e., rockfalls are fed into the glacial transport system. In more continental environments, it may be considered as a closed
system with down-valley extensions in the form of rock gla-
294 / MOUNTAIN
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
ciers (Barsch, 1977a). Opening of the system by climatic
changes which produce glaciation allows the intermittent
removal of accumulated talus as part of glacial tills. An
elevational-temporal continuum of deposits associated with
Holocene climatic fluctuations has been suggested on a
number of occasions from the deposits of this system (e.g.,
Richmond, 1962; Madole, 1972; Dowdeswell, 1982).
Most studies have emphasized the dynamics of the talus
and rock glacier components of this system. Talus accumulation and shift rates have been estimated by workers in
many of the world's mountain ranges (Rapp, 1960; Caine,
1969; Luckman, 1971; Barsch, 1977b; Gardner, 1979;
Soderman, 1980). Many of these studies emphasize the
great variability of talus accumulation and movement in
both time and space. Even over a few metres, changes by
more than an order of magnitude are common. Measurements in a variety of environments show that rock glacier
motion is more uniform in time, though it may vary across
two orders of magnitude according to local geologic and
climatic conditions (Wahrhaftig and Cox, 1959; Barsch,
1969; White, 1981). In contrast, the morphodynamic evolution of the source area of coarse debris, the alpine cliffs,
has received little attention, perhaps because it appears
intuitively simple (Embleton and Whalley, 1979). There
are, however, great contrasts in the development of bedrock cliffs, most obviously between those which are influenced by rare, large-scale failures and those on which more
regular particle falls dominate (Caine, 1983). This contrast may even be propagated into the slope form and the
deposits beneath the cliffs.
The Fine SedimentSystem
In contrast, the cascade of fine sediments through the
mountain system may be considered as an open system.
Some of the sediment in this system is derived from aeolian
dustfall, in additon to bedrock weathering, and much of
it may be exported through the fluvial system to lower elevations. This cascade has received much attention from
researchers concerned with mass wasting on alpine slopes
(Benedict, 1970; Jahn, 1981). In addition, applied research
on the cascade has important implications in areas influenced by accelerated soil erosion or where reservoir sedimentation is a concern (Costin et al., 1960; Summer, 1982).
In landscapes of the Rocky Mountain type, this system
involves mass wasting and surface erosion on the interfluves, as well as on the valley floors, and fluvial transport
along stream channels. It responds most clearly to environmental controls involving the hydrologic cycle: to freezing and thawing of the ground; to the form and intensity
of precipitation and to the distribution of snow on the
ground. In wet sites, the resulting rates of mass wasting,
by frost creep and solifluction, are much greater than those
at lower elevations. However, such rapid rates are not the
norm over most of the alpine area with a soil and vegetation cover.
The GeochemicalSystem
Except in areas of alpine karst (Bdgli, 1978; Ford, 1971,
1983), there has been relatively little work done on the geochemical exchanges of high mountains. The high quality
of the waters draining from such areas suggests only slight
chemical activity and so supports the classical view of the
relative insignificance of chemical weathering in alpine systems. However, recent studies support the observations of
Rapp (1960) which suggested that solution weathering in
high mountains is quantitatively important (Thorn, 1976;
Vitek et al., 1981; Caine, 1984). In comparison to the
mass of material involved in clastic sediment transfers
within the high mountain system, the mass in solute transport remains relatively slight. Its importance derives from
the efficiency with which solutes are transported and the
great flux of water through the environment. This is clearly
a system which is responsive to hydrologic controls and
reaches its greatest effectiveness in sites that are sources
of runoff water, hence its importance in nivation processes
where snowdrifts accumulate (Thorn, 1976).
AnthropogenicInfluences
The influence of man on these sediment transport
systems could be very significant, reflecting the potential
energy of the high mountain environment. In many tropical mountains, some of that potential has been realized by
agriculture, leading to the acceleration of erosion rates by
orders of magnitude (Ives and Messerli, 1981; Caine and
Mool, 1982; Hurni, 1982). In mid-latitude mountains, the
anthropogenic impact today is most often derived from recreational use of the landscape (Bryan, 1977) and so is frequently concentrated along travel routes, on ski runs, and
at camping sites which then become point sources of eroded
sediments. In general, these anthropogenic impacts do not
produce erosion by themselves, rather they accelerate
natural processes or allow their introduction by changing
soil, vegetation, and drainage conditions. Further, they
greatly augment the variability in erosion rates and so
increase the difficulty of defining trends and changes in
activity.
GEOMORPHIC
ACTIVITY IN HIGH
MOUNTAINS
Three studies of contemporary activity in high mountain catchments are summarized in Figure 7 (Jiickli, 1956;
Rapp, 1960; Caine, 1976). These results clearly differ,
reflecting contrasts in catchment size across three orders
of magnitude, climate, and geologic structure, and lithology. Despite these contrasts and their influence on estimated levels of activity, some important common features
are evident in Figure 7 and worth emphasizing for they
may be common to many high mountain areas. For the
present, only the average estimates shown in Figure 7 are
used and questions of any temporal variability associated
with them are ignored.
In all three areas, two components dominate in the geomorphic mass fluxes. First, there is the coarse debris system involving internal transfers of large clastic material by
rockfall, avalanches, and debris flows which accounts for
between 10 and 60 percent of all the geomorphic work done
in the three catchments (Table 2). Contrasts between the
three field areas are inversely related to catchment size and
relative relief, most likely through the proportion of the
total area in cliffs and taluses. Second, the influence of
solute transport is almost equivalent to this (from 12 to 50
D.
BARSCH AND N. CAINE/
295
The Upper Rhine Catchment
(a)
Sediment
System
Morphologic
Units
Sediment
Glacial
Transport
(62.8)
Glacierized
Valleys
Glacial
Sa
Coarse
I
Steep
Bedrock
Slopes 8
Talus
Debris
Systems.
Fluxes
Snow
Avalanches
(104-6)
Rockfall
(554.2)
I
Mudflows
(70-35)
A
Talus Creep
Rock
Flow
Glacier
/
(3.0)
f,
r
Fine
Waste
Sediment
Mantled
System
Slopes.
/'
I
Solifluction and
I
4
Soil Creep
/
I
(53.5)
II
Fluvial
Fluvial
Transport a
Stream
Channels;
8
Geochemical Valley
Solute
Deposition
Transport
(2781)
(86
(3386)
Systems
Floors-
Lake Sedimentation
(10412)
Lakes,
(b.)
Karkevagge,
Sediment
System
Morphologic
Units
Glacierized
Glacial
(C)
Scandinavia
Valleys
Sediment
Fluxes
Glacial
Transport
Glacial
Coarse
Debris
Systems
Slopes
a Trace
(1.8)
Waste
Soluction
SedimentMantled
System
Mudflows
(64.25)
Debris
Systems
Creep
Talus
Tolus
Fine
Avalanches
(14.6)
Rocky Mountains
Glacierized
Volleys
Sediment
Glacial
Transport
(0.0)
Rockfall
(4.1)
Steep
Bedrock
Slopes
Talus
Fine
and
SedimentMantled
I7
System
I
(3.53
Solifluction
Slopes.
(339)
Wash
Slope
(4-54)
I
Geochemical
Systems
Volley
Floors;
Fans
Lakes.
/
Fluvial
Fluvial
and
SoilCreep
(00.0)
Stream
Channels;
Mudflows
(11.2)
(0 .0)
Waste
I
Snow
Avalanches
(0.04)
Talus
Creep
8
Slope Wash
Fluvial
8
Fluxes
1
SoilCreep
Slopes.
Lake Basin
Morphologic
Units
Coarse
Snow
Rockafoll
(13.0)
Steep
Bedrock
Williams
Sediment
System
Solute
Sediments
(not studied)
Geochemical
Systems
-
8
/
Solute
Channels
Transport
(91.0)
Stream
Volley
Lake
Sedimentation
Transport
(3 24)
Floors;
Fansa
"
.
Lakes.
=,
FIGURE
7. Sediment fluxes in three high mountain areas. a) the Upper Rhine Basin (Jiickli, 1956); b) Karkevagge, Northern Scandinavia (Rapp, 1960); c) Williams Lake Basin, Colorado (Caine, 1976). All fluxes are based on vertical transport (106 J/km2/yr).
296 /
MOUNTAIN
RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT
TABLE 2
Sedimentfluxes in threehigh mountain basins
Catchment
Upper Rhine
Area (km2)
4307
Relief (m)
2800
Coarse debris
and bedrock
729.2 (4.2%)
slopes
Soil and fine
sediment
mantled
53.5 (0.3%)
slopes
Channel transport and lake
sedimentation 13798 (79.5%)
Solute flux
2781 (16.0%)
(output)
17362
Total
Source
Jickli (1956)
Units: 106 J/km2/yr.
Karkevagge Williams Lake
15
930
0.98
275
15.7 (58.4%) 93.65 (49.8%)
7.93 (29.5%)
3.53 (1.9%)
Not reported Not reported
3.24 (12.1%)
26.87
Rapp (1960)
91.0 (48.3%)
188.18
Caine (1976)
percent of the work) and is related directly to catchment
size. The area control on the geochemical system derives
from many sources: the residence times of water within
the catchments; the biomass associated with the lower elevations of large catchments; the thickness and extent of
waste mantles; variations in lithology; and the importance
of anthropogenic influences all increase with catchment
size. In the upper Rhine basin, Jiickli's records suggest that
most of the geomorphic work (80 percent) is done by the
fluvial transport and deposition of clastic sediments. Although this is not estimated for the smaller catchments
(Table 2), it is unlikely that fluvial processes have an
equivalent significance in most high alpine areas that are
not presently glacierized (Caine, 1974).
The summaries of Figure 7 and Table 2 also suggest the
relative insignificance in the total sediment budget of alpine
areas of some components which have received much attention previously. Talus shift, solifluction, soil creep, and
other processes of slow mass wasting account for less than
15 percent of the geomorphic work done in all three areas
and their relative importance decreases as the basin size
increases. Furthermore, except at the largest spatial scale,
erosion and transport through the fluvial channel appears
slight, although difficult to evaluate, perhaps an indication of the lack of coupling between hillslope systems (especially that of the cliff-talus) and the fluvial system in high
mountain areas. This does not minimize the importance
of these components in the landscape, nor their significance
in catastrophic slope failure, flooding, and other hazards.
CONCLUSION
This review suggests that there are sufficient common
characteristics in past landscape evolution, in landform
associations, and in present erosional activity in mountain
areas for mountain geomorphology to be considered a
"regional" emphasis within geomorphology. The recognition of such common characteristics should not be allowed
to mask the variations and contrasts within and between
high mountain areas, which remain a basic problem in
much research. Nevertheless, general statements are more
useful and needed than ideographic or "unique" cases.
As a subset of modern geomorphology, mountain geomorphology confronts one overriding problem: that of linking process and form in a meaningful way (Thornes, 1983).
In high mountain areas, this need is made more serious
by the significance of catastrophic events in landscape
development and by the fact that global environmental
changes may occur on a shorter time-scale than the relaxation times and "characteristic form times" (Thornes, 1983)
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