FORMER AND ACTIVE GLACIATION PROCESS IN PROKLETIJE MT. / ALBANIAN ALPS (BALKAN PENINSULA, SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE)

The contribution presents the main traces and phases of the Pleistocene glaciation in Prokletije Mts. (also known as Albanian Alps), situated in the Balkans, SE Europe. The exact position of the research area lies at the border between the eastern parts of Montenegro and northern parts of Albania, at 42.5° N and the elevation span between 990 and 2100 m a.s.l, while the highest peak Maja e Jezerces reaches 2694 m a.s.l. Detailed geomorphological mapping revealed the existence of three series of moraines: the lowest at an average altitude of 990 m (average ELA 1750 m, approximately referring to pre-LGM glaciation), the middle series at 1350 m (ELA 1942 m, approximately referring to LGM), and the highest at 1900 m (ELA 2123 m, associated with Younger Dryas). Apart from the morphological indicators of the former glacial process in the area, the fieldwork revealed a small-scale recent glaciation process in the northern foothill of the Maja e Jezerces peak, at the elevation span of 1980–2100 m a.s.l. Three glaciers of up to 5 hectares areas have been annually monitored for size changes dynamics during the last 17 years, with both decreasing and increasing phases, depending on snowfall amounts.