Transferring the concept of cover beds

A. Kleber, M. Leopold, J. Richter-Krautz, C. Vonlanthen, J. Völkel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Slope deposits, which veil entire slopes or large parts of them in a rather uniform manner (cover beds), are ubiquitous in the subdued mountains of Central Europe (e.g., Kleber, 1992a). Here we show that successions of cover beds are not restricted to this area but occur in many other regions of rather different natural inventories, such as the European Alps, the Russian Plain, south-central Turkey, and the western USA (Great Basin and Rocky Mountains). Cover beds usually form sequences of two or more distinct layers, and their distribution depends on the geomorphic, climate-driven processes of their formation. As they influence pedogenesis, they contribute to the understanding of soil properties and soil distribution: Horizon boundaries occur at depths where cover-bed properties change. The properties of the layers and of the soils developed in them are different per region: in humid areas layers free of admixed loess components, thus being solely influenced by weathered local materials, are frequent, whereas in dry regions such layers have not yet been reported. In several areas studied in this chapter paleosols either occur within cover-bed successions or have been reallocated and incorporated into the cover beds. This provides handles to the ages of layers. The layer successions slowly change with elevation but show a drastic break at around the timberline where Holocene rather than Pleistocene periglacial slope processes gained supremacy.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMid-Latitude Slope Deposits (Cover Beds), Second Edition
PublisherElsevier
Pages201-253
Number of pages53
ISBN (Electronic)9780323960038
ISBN (Print)9780323960045
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2024

Keywords

  • Cover beds
  • High mountains
  • Loess
  • Midlatitudes
  • Paleosols
  • Slope deposits

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