The puzzle of the outer limits of the Garda Glacier during the Last Glacial Maximum

Abstract

The many studies of the Garda morainic amphitheater have led to different interpretations about its history and age. The state of the art of the open debate evidences how the problem is worth to be faced through a multi- and interdisciplinary approach. The results of a preliminary examination of some environmental aspects never taken into account, considered as a whole together with the already known data, allow to sketch the scenery of the last glacial advance (LGM: Last Glacial Maximum). The position reached by the glacial front nearly agrees with the conclusions of both Penck & Brückner and of Habbe: the maximum extension approximately coincides with the Penck and Brückner limits; the main rest location of the front corresponds with the Habbe extent. Anyway, the glacial tongue occupied an area with a preexisting hilly relief, modifying it only for some characteristics. So, the Garda main morainic amphitheater was not built during the LGM only, it is a very complex structure resulting from several glacial advances.