CARTOGRAPHY OF THE GLACIAL PAST OF THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS

The Vosges are a mid latitude (48°N, 7°E) small relief, this mountain range is situated between the former Scandinavian and alpine ice caps regions and, therefore, represents a more common geomorphological position in the 48-53°N corridor during the Quaternary. Main results show that an autochthonous ice cap cover this area during the last glaciation. This general ice cap was divided in three before the (Last Glacial Maximum). On the basis of detailed geomorphological analysis and on some 10Be sampling sites, the deglaciation process is discussed and the related chronostratigraphy of landform evolution is established. For the Vosges mountains 4 areas are described : 1) in the south western part: it's the unique area we find the 4 limits; during the Maximum Glacial Extent older than 127 000 BP, extension of ice cap exceeded 70 km for the summit. 2) in the south eastern part: we have no arguments to map the MGEv nor the middle Würm, but in this part we can retrace very precisely the deglaciation of the Vosges. Permanent ice disappear from the main ridge and from eastern cirques at about 6.0 ka BP. 3) "Champ du Feu" area is an individual part covered by an ice cap during LGM and by periglacial process during YD. 4) the northern part, with low altitude, located in triassic sandstone, presents only the more younger glacial deposits.