Temporal evolution of headwall erosion rates derived from cosmogenic nuclide concentrations in the medial moraines of Glacier d'Otemma, Switzerland

Abstract

Climate change affects the stability and erosion of high‐alpine rock walls above glaciers (headwalls) that deliver debris to glacier surfaces. Since supraglacial debris in the ablation zone alters the melt behaviour of the underlying ice, the responses of debris‐covered glaciers and of headwalls to climate change may be coupled. In this study, we analyse the beryllium‐10 (10Be)‐cosmogenic nuclide concentration history of glacial headwalls delivering debris to the Glacier d'Otemma in Switzerland. By systematic downglacier‐profile‐sampling of two parallel medial moraines, we assess changes in headwall erosion through time for small, well‐defined debris source areas. We compute apparent headwall erosion rates from 10Be concentrations ([10Be]), measured in 15 amalgamated medial moraine debris samples. To estimate both the additional 10Be production during glacial debris transport and the age of our samples we combine our field‐based data with a simple model that simulates downglacier debris trajectories. Furthermore, we evaluate additional grain size fractions for eight samples to test for stochastic mass wasting effects on [10Be]. Our results indicate that [10Be] along the medial moraines vary systematically with time and consistently for different grain sizes. [10Be] are higher for older debris, closer to the glacier terminus, and lower for younger debris, closer to the glacier head. Computed apparent headwall erosion rates vary between ~0.6 and 10.8 mm yr−1, increasing over a maximum time span of ~200 years towards the present. As ice cover retreats, newly exposed headwall surfaces may become susceptible to enhanced weathering and erosion, expand to lower elevations, and contribute formerly shielded bedrock of likely different [10Be]. Hence, we suggest that recently lower [10Be] reflect the deglaciation of the debris source areas since the end of the Little Ice Age.

In glacial landscapes, systematic downglacier‐sampling of medial moraine debris holds the potential to assess changes in headwall erosion through time. Cosmogenic beryllium‐10 (10Be) concentrations within the medial moraines of Glacier d'Otemma, Switzerland, broadly increase downglacier and translate into increasing headwall erosion rates towards the present. These trends may reflect processes associated with the exposure of new bedrock surfaces across recently deglaciating source headwalls.