Les glaciers rocheux de la Manzina (Valfurva, Parc National du Stelvio, Italie). Prospection électrique

The rock glaciers of the Manzina (Valfurva, Stelvio National Park, Italy). Geoelectrical soundings

Abstract

In the Manzina Valley (Upper Valtellina, Italy) are located three rock glaciers; their fronts reach about 3.000 m a.s.l. In the summers of 1991 and 1992 an Italian-French team performed some electrical resistivity surveys on two of these features with the main objectives of detecting ice and determining its nature. The surveys, often hardly interpretable because of the open work structure of their surface, shown that in the upper rock glacier the debris is moderately rich in ice; otherwise the ice in the lower one seems to be totally absent. That agrees both with the southern aspect of the valley and the recent climatic amelioration.