Evidence of Quaternary glacial deposits around Passo della Raticosa (Tuscan–Emilian Apennines)

Few kilometres south of Passo della Raticosa, at the edge of the great landslide on the eastern slope of Monte Beni, few outcrops of nival and glacial deposits have been recognized. According to their morphologies and internal structures they may be compared to glacial contact deposits and referred to the iced morphologies of kame terraces or moraine terraces. According to the features of the analysed glacial sequence and to stratigraphic contacts with overlying covers, these accumulations are quite recent and considered Würmian in age. The discovery of the glacial traces described here is of some importance, primarily for their location in an area of low ridge elevation and quite far from the Western Apenninic areas, affected by extensive and typical moraine coverage. Surprisingly, the relatively modest heights of these outcrops (between 900 and 1000 metres) indicate the presence of rather thick ice covers even in mountainous areas of relative modest elevation.