Upslope migration of snow avalanches in a warming climate

Snow is highly sensitive to atmospheric warming. However, because of the lack of sufficiently long snow avalanche time series and statistical techniques capable of accounting for the numerous biases inherent to sparse and incomplete avalanche records, the evolution of process activity in a warming climate remains little known. Filling this gap requires innovative approaches that put avalanche activity into a long-term context. Here, we combine extensive historical records and Bayesian techniques to construct a 240-y chronicle of snow avalanching in the Vosges Mountains (France). We show evidence that the transition from the late Little Ice Age to the early twentieth century (i.e., 1850 to 1920 CE) was not only characterized by local winter warming in the order of +1.35 °C but that this warming also resulted in a more than sevenfold reduction in yearly avalanche numbers, a severe shrinkage of avalanche size, and shorter avalanche seasons as well as in a reduction of the extent of avalanche-prone terrain. Using a substantial corpus of snow and climate proxy sources, we explain this abrupt shift with increasingly scarcer snow conditions with the low-to-medium elevations of the Vosges Mountains (600 to 1,200 m above sea level [a.s.l.]). As a result, avalanches migrated upslope, with only a relict activity persisting at the highest elevations (release areas >1,200 m a.s.l.). This abrupt, unambiguous response of snow avalanche activity to warming provides valuable information to anticipate likely changes in avalanche behavior in higher mountain environments under ongoing and future warming.

Estimating Migration of Gonioctena quinquepunctata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Inside a Mountain Range in a Spatially Explicit Context

The cold-tolerant leaf beetle Gonioctena quinquepunctata displays a large but fragmented European distribution and is restricted to mountain regions in the southern part of its range. Using a RAD-seq-generated large single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data set (> 10,000 loci), we investigated the geographic distribution of genetic variation within the Vosges mountains (eastern France), where the species is common. To translate this pattern of variation into an estimate of its capacity to disperse, we simulated SNP data under a spatially explicit model of population evolution (essentially a grid overlapping a map, in which each cell is considered a different population) and compared the simulated and real data with an approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) approach. For this purpose, we assessed a new SNP statistic, the DSVSF (distribution of spatial variation in SNP frequencies) that summarizes genetic variation in a spatially explicit context, and compared its usefulness to standard statistics often used in population genetic analyses. A test of our overall strategy was conducted with simulated data and showed that it can provide a good estimate of the level of dispersal of an organism over its geographic range. The results of our analyses suggested that this insect disperses well within the Vosges mountains, much more than was initially expected given the current and probably past fragmentation of its habitat and given the results of previous studies on genetic variation in other mountain leaf beetles.

Massif-wide denudation of the Vosges Mountains (NE France) inferred from in situ 10Be concentrations in stream sediments

<p><span>The Vosges Mountains in NE France belong to the belt of Variscan massifs located in the foreland of the Alps. Despite its rather limited extension barely reaching 6000 km², this range of low mountains peaking at ~1425 m presents three contrasting primary characteristics. Firstly, a bipartite N-S subdivision can be achieved based on the geological basement: whereas the southern part, traditionally referred to as the crystalline Vosges, is composed of a mosaic of Palaeozoic rocks, including igneous (mostly intrusive and secondarily extrusive), metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, the northern part is much more homogeneous given its Triassic sandstone cover (“sandstone Vosges”). Secondly, a clear E-W topographic gradient characterises the mountain range. By contrast to the steep hillslopes and elevation drops regularly exceeding 600 m (sometimes reaching 900-1000 m) between the summits and the valley floors on the eastern side (Alsace; south-western border of the Upper Rhine Graben, URG), the western side exhibits more gently-sloping hillslopes along with a longer extension (Lorraine; eastern border of the Parisian Basin). This results from the sharp E-W contrast in Late Cenozoic tectonic activity between sustained subsidence in the URG to the east and weak rock uplift characterising the Parisian Basin to the west. Finally, the imprint left by Quaternary climatic fluctuations yielded a N-S gradient: whereas the southern part (roughly covering 80-90% of the crystalline Vosges) hosted abundant valley glaciers and still bears traces of significant glacial erosion (cirques and U-shaped valleys), the northern part (mostly the sandstone Vosges) was void of ice cover.</span></p><p><span>In spite of these advantageous characteristics, very little is known about the Quaternary evolution of the massif, in particular regarding the long-term interactions between denudation</span><span>, lithological control, climatic forcing and tectonic activity. </span><span>Against this background, this contribution aims to present the first data of long-term, massif-wide denudation. Modern stream sediments from 21 river catchments of different size draining the whole massif were thus sampled for </span><span><em>in situ</em></span> <sup><span>10</span></sup><span>Be concentration measurements at the outlet of their mountainous reach. Catchment-wide denudation rates inferred from cosmogenic </span><sup><span>10</span></sup><span>Be will be combined with the analysis of morphometric parameters and structural connectivity resulting from the processing of a high-resolution DEM (5 m). Catchment selection was operated according to the threefold subdivision above: i.e. heterogeneous vs homogenous petrography, tectonically-active eastern side vs “quiescent” western side and glaciated vs unglaciated catchments. We thus test the main hypothesis that the four NE, NW, SE, SW quarters of the Vosges massif shall be characterised by contrasting denudation rates, reflecting the respective role played by the controlling factors on long-term denudation. To our knowledge, this contribution is the first attempt to quantify denudation at the massif scale of a European low mountain range. This is especially relevant as long-term landscape evolution in the Variscan belt, by contrast to the numerous works focusing on denudation in high-mountains ranges (e.g. the Alps), has been regularly disregarded in recent geomorphological studies.</span></p><p><span>*Georges Aumaître, Didier L. Bourlès and Karim Keddadouche</span></p>

4D GIS FOR MONITORING RIVER BANK EROSION AT MEANDER BEND SCALE: CASE OF MOSELLE RIVER

The "Wild Moselle" regional nature reserve extends over 13 km at the western foothills of the Vosges Mountains (France). The hydrological regime of the river is characterized by high flow in winter and spring and low flow in summer. Its average slope is 0.12 % and its average bankfull width is 60 m. The coarse sediment load comes mainly from bank erosion. Although this sector is relatively less affected by past or present human activities, the propagation of morphodynamic adjustments initiated by actions carried out both upstream and downstream of this sector impacts the current functioning of the river. These erosion waves converge today towards the central part of the reserve, which led to the collapse of the central pier of the Bainville-aux-Miroirs bridge during a 2-year flood in 2011, and could induce potential risks of defluviation which may destabilize infrastructures. In this context, the study carried out aims to characterize and anticipate the morphodynamic evolutions of the Moselle to be able to propose scenarios of management and restoration of the lateral mobility of the river. For this purpose, a 2D hydro-sedimentary model is being built over the entire reserve, combined with a detailed morpho-sedimentary monitoring. In order to improve the understanding of the lateral migration of the Moselle River, a photogrammetric monitoring was carried out along the concave bank of the most active meander of the studied sector. To follow this morphological evolution more closely, it was decided to establish a 4D GIS. The objective of this monitoring is to compare the rate of bank retreat with hydrodynamic parameters in order to estimate the geotechnical properties of the bank. Comparison of the observed and modelled bank retreat must thus allow these different parameters to be calibrated in the hydro-sedimentary model. As part of this work, this paper aims to highlight the use of 4D GIS to monitor bank retreat at the scale of a meander bend and is divided into three different parts: (i) a state of art to situate the study into the current knowledge and technologies, (ii) a presentation of the study area and the measurements carried out and (iii) a description of the different 3D or 4D data produced and the consequent spatial analyses.

Holocene vegetation history in the Northern Vosges Mountains (NE France): Palynological, geochemical and sedimentological data

Palynological data from the Northern Vosges Mountains (NVM) are very rare, unlike for the Southern and Central Vosges Mountains, where the past vegetation history is relatively well known. As a consequence, the beginning of human activities has never been clearly identified and dated in the NVM. In order to reconstruct the evolution of vegetation in this region, multiproxy studies (pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, sedimentological and geochemical analyses) were conducted in two peatlands. Overall, the results, extending from about 9500 cal. BP to recent times, show a classical vegetation succession with local particularities resulting from human activities. In the La Horn peatland, a strong human impact related to pastoralism is attested from the late Bronze Age onwards. The second phase of human occupation, mainly characterized by crop cultures, begins during the Hallstatt period. The geochemical results (x-ray fluorescence) also highlight the presence of metallic elements, which, combined with significant quantities of carbonized particles, point to potential metal working. In the Kobert-Haut peatland, human occupation began much later (1500 cal. BP), but lasted from the Gallo-Roman period to the beginning of the Modern Period. Unlike for the vegetation history of the rest of the Vosges, Pinus remains a prevailing taxon throughout the Holocene in the NVM. Another particularity is the early establishment of Picea, long before the 18th to 19th century plantations.

Variability of Water Transit Time Distributions at the Strengbach Catchment (Vosges Mountains, France) Inferred Through Integrated Hydrological Modeling and Particle Tracking Algorithms

The temporal variability of transit-time distributions (TTDs) and residence-time distributions (RTDs) has received particular attention recently, but such variability has barely been studied using distributed hydrological modeling. In this study, a low-dimensional integrated hydrological model is run in combination with particle-tracking algorithms to investigate the temporal variability of TTDs, RTDs, and StorAge Selection (SAS) functions in the small, mountainous Strengbach watershed belonging to the French network of critical-zone observatories. The particle-tracking algorithms employed rely upon both forward and backward formulations that are specifically developed to handle time-variable velocity fields and evaluate TTDs and RTDs under transient hydrological conditions. The model is calibrated using both traditional streamflow measurements and magnetic resonance sounding (MRS)—which is sensitive to the subsurface water content—and then verified over a ten-year period. The results show that the mean transit time is rather short, at 150–200 days, and that the TTDs and RTDs are not greatly influenced by water storage within the catchment. This specific behavior is mainly explained by the small size of the catchment and its small storage capacity, a rapid flow mainly controlled by gravity along steep slopes, and climatic features that keep the contributive zone around the stream wet all year long.