Tracking the LGM glaciers across the Adige and Astico valleys (European Alps, Northern Italy)

The Adige glacier during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) spread into different branches downstream of Trento. Here, reliefs exceeding 2000 m in elevation are present, which hosted local plateau glaciers, namely: Pasubio, Vigolana, Campoluzzo and Fiorentini. The present Adige valley was filled by one of the major Alpine glaciers with an ice-thickness exceeding 1500 m, as testified by well-expressed lateral moraines. On the southern Vigolana, the Adige lateral moraine cuts those belonging to the local glacier, suggesting an early advance of the plateau glacier before the maximum spreading of the Adige glacier. This branch flowed into the left tributary valleys, which were dammed and acted as local depocenter for glaciofluvial and slope deposition. Another minor branch of the Adige glacier overflowed the Carbonare saddle towards the Astico valley, which in his middle sector was filled by a 600-m-thick tongue, as documented by the lateral moraines of Tonezza. This glacier dammed the Posina valley, which was filled by glaciofluvial deposits related to Pasubio and Campoluzzo glaciers. Field observations and remote sensing analyses allowed for the modeling of the Equilibrium Line Altitudes for both valley and plateau glaciers.