THE EARLY AND MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE GLACIATIONS IN THE ALPS

The Alps experienced extensive glaciations during many Pleistocene cold stages. New stratigraphic and geochronologicaldata gathered in the last decade depict the Early Pleistocene glaciations and their record is continuously updated. Theonset of major glaciations since the late Matuyama Chron (MIS 22-20) is better recognized in many end moraine systems alongthe southern side of the Alps. The updated chronology of the Middle Pleistocene phases indicates an improvement of theknowledge about the penultimate glaciation (MIS 6) and the evidence that every sector has had its own most extensive glaciationin a different time span. The dissimilar architecture of the end moraine systems suggests a different behavior of the glaciers fromone cold stage to the others. The development of the largest glacier networks with associated piedmont lobes (i.e., Adige, Addaand likely Inn) required abundant snow supply promoted by the southerly circulation, like in the LGM. For the systems with thehighest accumulation areas (i.e., Valais, Dora Baltea, Rhine-Reuss and Ticino-Toce) a larger number of glacial units was recordedlikely because these were more sensitive to every circulation regime impacting the Alps, whether northwest or south dominated.The Alps remain the most studied mountain range with respect to Quaternary glaciations, thereby providing a unique and valuableresource.