The northern flank of the Walgau
Situated to the north of the village of Thüringen, the Montiola-Quadra terrace (seen from the northwest; altitude 695 m) was formed by an ice-marginal stream in Late Glacial times. Local streamlets made minimal changes to the landscape after the glaciers disappeared. The formation of peat (Grossried) suggests the presence of fine-grained sediments near the surface. See also Excursion 8 in Tiefenthaler & de Graaff (2016).
The brownish meadow in the centre of the view is part of Biotope 12604 (‘Aggregiertes Lebensraumtyp 35 – Hochstauden- Hochgrasfluren’) of the Vorarlberg Biotope Inventory.
Highlights of the glacial landscape of the northern Walgau, formed during the period of deglaciation following the last major Pleistocene ice advance, are presented in a recent popular-scientific publication by Tiefenthaler & de Graaff. Suggestions for wandering excursions are included. A digital copy can be made available upon request (info@rfase.org).
When they became free of ice, the lows between the glacially eroded ridges of Vorarberger-Flysch bedrock were used by ice-marginal streams. The streams deposited sediments in these lows. Terraces and dry valleys are witness of this activity. See photos below.
View to the southwest of the Turbaried dry valley. The ice-marginal stream that deposited the sediments of the Montiola-Quadra terrace (photo on the left) continued its course to the west between the glacially eroded ridges of Tschanisa and Letschkopf. The flat bottom of the valley indicates the presence of sediments. Peat growth (Turbaried) indicates that these sediments are fine-grained. See also Excursion 8 in Tiefenthaler & de Graaff (2016).
Recent literature
TIEFENTHALER, H. & L.W.S. DE GRAAFF (2016): Wege zur eiszeitlichen Landschaftsgeschichte auf der Walgau-Nordseite. Bludenzer Geschichtsblätter 113, 23-44.
Further reading
HAAGSMA, K. (1974): Geomorfologische en glaciaal-geologische onderzoekingen in de Walgau. Dissertatie Geologisch Instituut Universiteit Leiden, 165 pp.
RUPKE, J. & M.G.G. DE JONG (1983): Slope collapse destroying ice‑marginal topography in theWalgau (Vorarlberg, Austria). Materialien zur Physiogeographie, Heft 5, 33‑41.
SIMONS, A.L. (1985): Geomorphologische und glazialgeologische Untersuchungen in Vorarlberg, Österreich. Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz, 165 pp.
