Developments in Quaternary Science. Vol. 15, doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53447-7.00010-6

ISSN: 1571-0866, # 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chapter 10

Quaternary Glaciations inthe French Alps and Jura

Jean-Francois Buoncristiani* and Michel CampyLaboratoire Biogeosciences, Universite de Bourgogne, UMR CNRS 5561, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France

*Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to Jean-Francois Buoncristiani. E-mail: jfbuon@u-bourgogne.fr

10.1. INTRODUCTION

Today in France the large glaciated areas are only present in

the Alps, and they represent approximately 600 km2 of gla-

ciers (Vivian, 1975). However, during the past two cold

periods of the Quaternary, both the Jura and the Alps were

covered by major ice sheets. Since Penck and Bruckner

(1909–1911), two morainic complexes have been recognised

in the marginal zone around the Alpine chain and the Jura

Mountains (Bourdier, 1961;Monjuvent, 1978, 1984; Campy,

1982; Mandier, 1984). The sedimentary record of the glacial

advances is discontinuous. The complexity of the readvance

phases caused only the most extensive to be preserved, and

there are problems to date these phase. Thus, it was decided

to present here the palaeogeography that corresponds to the

maximum of the glaciation during each stage. The ‘external

moraine complex’ (EMC; Fig. 10.1) indicates the maximum

glacial extension during the Middle Pleistocene from the

west and northwest where it reaches the western margin of

the Jura, the Lyon region and where it covers the region from

the Dombes between Bourg-en-Bresse and Lyon (i.e. the

riss s.l. after Penck and Bruckner, 1909–1911). The ‘internalmoraine complex’ (IMC; Fig. 10.3) can be traced 10–40 km

inwards of the preceding limits and has been correlated with

the Late Pleistocene glaciations (i.e. Wurmian after Penck

and Bruckner, 1909–1911). The original interpretation was

that the glacial advances that laid down the deposits of these

two complexes were both derived from inside the Alps. This

interpretation is evident for the southern half of the region (as

far as approximately the latitude of Geneva) because in this

zone there is no mountainous massif separating the Alps

from the piedmont. However, further north, the situation is

more complex because the Jura formed an obstacle to the

advance of the Alpine glaciers.

Nowhere in the Alps have Quaternary deposits been

completely preserved. Therefore, the basic stratigraphical

subdivision is combined from various regional stratigraphies,

though, in many cases, the determination is difficult because

age control is lacking. Indications of Early Quaternary cold

stages have been reported from the Italian and French Alps.

In both areas, an abrupt change from fine-grained sedimenta-

tion to the deposition of coarse gravel and conglomerates is

manifested in what was regarded as the ‘Upper Pliocene’.

However, the evidence is ambiguous, because change in sed-

imentary environment might either be explained by tectonic

causes or by climatic changes (Billard and Orombelli, 1986).

On the Chambaran Plateau, west of Grenoble, in a

sequence of strata thought to be older than 1.6 million years,

a clayey sediment with striated boulders has been found.

Bourdier (1961) could not determine with certainty whether

this diamicton represented a slope deposit or a till. On the

western Chambaran Plateau, the coarse gravels are overlain

by strongly cemented loess layers that contain, apart from a

fossil soil, a rich mammal fauna (Viret, 1954). The faunal

composition suggests that the age of the loess is ca. 2.2

million years (Guerin, 1980).

10.2. MIDDLE PLEISTOCENEGLACIATIONS, THE EXTERNALMORAINE COMPLEX

10.2.1. Glacial Limits

TheMiddlePleistoceneglaciation is recognisedall around the

peripheral Alpine piedmont by a line of end moraines (EMC

fromPenck andBruckner, 1909–1911) and can be traced over

a distanceof200 kmfromthenorthern Jura to theLyon region

(Fig. 10.1).BetweenOrnans in thenorth andBourg-en-Bresse

in thesouth, it followsthewesternslopesof theJuraataltitudes

ofaround500 ma.s.l. In theextremenorthoftheJura,outcrops

are much less common, so the deposits’ limit is much less

precise. In keeping with the work by Hantke (1978), it can

be shown that the ice limit occurred at heights of about

117

FIGURE 10.1 Middle Pleistocene glacial deposits from the Alps and from the Jura: internal morainic complexes (ICM).

Quaternary Glaciations-Extent and Chronology118

800 m a.s.l., bending towards the east. In the central area,

betweenBourg-en-BresseandLyon, theEMCglacialdeposits

are very common. There, they have been mapped and recog-

nised by many previous authors, for example, Falsan and

Chantre (1879), Delafond and Deperet (1893), Penck and

Bruckner (1909–1911) and classically termed Glaciaire delaDombes. These deposits consist of sediment severalmetres

thick overlying Pliocene alluviumof the River Bresse (Fleury

and Monjuvent, 1984). Studies of these deposits have shown

that they were laid down by a vast ice lobe from the Alps

(Fleury and Monjuvent, 1984; Mandier, 1984; Monjuvent,

1984). In the south, theDuranceglacier advancedas far asSis-

teron (Tiercelin, 1974). In the Alpes provencales, the glaciersfailed to leave verywell-developed frontal morainic systems.

The main valleys were glaciated, and traces of this glaciation

are found in the valleys of theVar, theBleone and theVerdon.

Chapter 10 Quaternary Glaciations in the French Alps and Jura 119

10.2.2. Morphological Features

In the northwest of the Alps (Fig. 10.2), the Middle Pleis-

tocene glaciation is represented by lines of strongly eroded

end moraines sufficiently well preserved to indicate a max-

imum glacial limit. The main deposits of these moraines are

basal tills, ablation tills and glacio-lacustrine deltas identi-

fied from outcrops and borehole information (Campy,

1982). The results of field mapping and the petrography

of the EMC from the northern Jura to the Lyon region

are shown schematically in Fig. 10.2. In the northern and

southern zones, where Alpine ice deposited the EMC, it

must have crossed the Jura. The central Jura, between Salins

in the north and Bourg-en-Bresse in the south, was not over-

ridden by Alpine ice. However, the occurrence of clear

frontal moraines in this zone demonstrates that local gla-

ciers from the Jura glaciers were present here.

The limit of these glacial deposits occurs as lobes devel-

oped towards the west opposite the main outer Jura valleys,

in the Ornans, Salins, Poligny, Voiteur and Lons-le-Saunier

regions. Reconstruction of the EMC is sometimes difficult

because the moraines are eroded and degraded. However,

the available information allows a coherent reconstruction

of the Middle Pleistocene glaciation that formed the EMC

deposits (Fig. 10.2). In the Geneva basin, the upper limit of

the Middle Pleistocene glaciation ice indicates that the gla-

cier was able to partially override the Jura in the relatively

lower areas, that is, to the north towards the Ornans and in

the south as far as Bourg-en-Bresse and as far as Lyon

(Monjuvent, 1984). However, in the central part of the Jura,

the petrography of the EMC deposits indicates that this sec-

tor had only been occupied by Jura ice (Fig. 10.2).

A large development of the glaciers during the Middle

Pleistocene are related to the influence of the mountain bar-

rier witch decrease and allowed convergence between Isere

glacier, Arc glacier and Rhone glacier. This increase in the

watershed of the Rhone glacier would thus imply an addi-

tional alimentation, which could explain the expansion of

the lobe of Piedmont resulting from these glaciers conflu-

ence during the Middle Pleistocene.

10.2.3. Key Sites

The petrography of the EMC deposits varies from north to

south. In the north, in the Ornans and Pontarlier regions, a

dozenoutcropshavebeenstudied.Theyexpose thatbasal till,

ablation till and glacio-lacustrine delta deposits contain all

limestone material from the Jura (40–90%), associated with

boulders of Alpine origin (10–60%). In the central zone

between Salins and Bourg-en-Bresse, over a distance of

about 100 km, the EMC contains onlymaterial derived from

the Jura (Campy, 1982). South of Bourg-en-Bresse, the

Dombes glacial deposits contain Jura limestone material

with or without an admixture of Alpine material (20–60%;

Fleury and Monjuvent, 1984; Mandier, 1984). The topogra-

phy of the Jura does explain this separation of glacier flows

(Fig. 10.2): In the central zone of the Jura, the eastern slope

rises to a height of 1250 mwhichmust have formed a barrier

to theAlpine glaciers.However, in the southern and northern

zones, the altitudes are lower. Some peaks are over 1250 m

high, but there aremanycols between themat altitudesof less

than 1000 m. In these zones, the Jura would not represent a

significant barrier to the advance of the Alpine ice.

10.2.4. Problems

Until the 1980s, most authors, for example, Tricart (1961,

1965) and Jackli (1962, 1970), considered that also the

two morainic complexes present west of the Jura were

emplaced under the dominant influence of Alpine glaciers.

This hypothesis was based upon the occurrence of erratic

boulders of Alpine origin (granite, gneiss, etc.) in certain

moraine deposits in the Jura. It was also thought that the

Jura Mountains were too small to have supported their

own ice-cap. Thus, it was thought that the Alpine glaciers

overrode the entire Swiss plain, occupied the Lake Geneva

basin and penetrated the Jura through depressions on their

eastern side. This question has been partly re-examined in

the course of precise mapping and detailed investigation of

the glacial deposits on the margin of the Jura massif: The

morainic complexes of the western slopes (Campy, 1982,

1992), the glacial deposits of the Geneva Basin and the east-

ern slope (Arn, 1984; Campy and Arn, 1991) and the

moraines south of the Jura (Sbaı, 1986; Monjuvent, 1988).

The palaeogeographic reconstruction shown in the maps

is largely based on the EMC (from Penck and Bruckner,

1909–1911). However, each morainic complex corresponds

to several glacial advances out of the mountain (Billard and

Derbyshire, 1985) and has been rearranged each time in the

course of numerous climatic fluctuations. Consequently,

the maps represent a synthesis of various climatic oscilla-

tions during the cold periods. Also, it must be taken into

account that the maxima of the glacial advances may not

necessarily have been synchronous in all the valleys.

According to palynological studies, most of the deposits

date from the period immediately before Eemian intergla-

cial (Beaulieu de, 1984; Beaulieu de and Reille, 1989). It

therefore seems that the classic ‘Complexe des MorainesExternes’ is of Middle Pleistocene (¼ riss s.l.) age.

10.3. LATE PLEISTOCENE GLACIATIONS,THE INTERNAL MORAINE COMPLEX

10.3.1. Glacial Limits

From south of the Alps to the extreme northeast of the Jura

Mountains, the IMC has been traced with great precision for

over 400 km. It comprises a series of frontal moraines,

FIGURE 10.2 Middle Pleistocene Alpine and Jura ice sheet extension and ice flow directions.

Quaternary Glaciations-Extent and Chronology120

particularly north of Grenoble. The limit of glacier deposits

marking the maximum position of the associated glacial

advance is clearly defined (Fig. 10.3). The configuration

of the Alpine glacier in the Geneva Basin at the maximum

of the Pleistocene was investigated by Swiss geologists

since the end of the nineteenth century. The size and surface

level of the ice were clearly determined by Jackli (1962),

and his interpretation is still valid today and confirmed

FIGURE 10.3 Late Pleistocene glacial deposits from the Alps and from the Jura: external morainic complexes (ECM).

Chapter 10 Quaternary Glaciations in the French Alps and Jura 121

by recent work in the Valais area valleys (Kelly et al.,

2004). The maximum height reached by the Alpine ice at

its contact with the Jura during the Pleistocene was about

1200 m a.s.l. It descended gradually from this maximum

to ca. 400 m a.s.l. at the terminal moraines in the Rhone val-

ley in the southern Jura. In the north and northeast, the ice

thinned towards the terminal moraines in the Soleure region

to an altitude of about 600 m a.s.l. The level of the Alpine

ice-surface only very rarely exceeded that of the Jura mas-

sif. Only the valleys were lower than the ice-surface. How-

ever, their entrance was blocked by morainic deposits

which prevented the Alpine ice from penetrating the Jura.

Quaternary Glaciations-Extent and Chronology122

It was never able to gain sufficient strength to supply sed-

iment to the CMI on the western side of the Jura.

On the inner part of theAlps in theMont-Blanc area, ero-

sion features allow to reconstruct the palaeogeography of the

Late Pleistocene glaciation. The method used here consists

to define and map the limit between glacial erosion and

atmospheric processes erosion forms, which correspond to

the ‘trimline’. The cartography of these trimlines and then

the interpolation of these data allow the reconstitution of

the maximum ice-surface about 2000–2300 m a.s.l. in this

area (Coutterand and Buoncristiani, 2006).

10.3.2. Morphological Features

The Pleistocene glacial maximum is well defined by termi-

nal moraines. In North Alps, all the valleys and trans-

fluences were filled by glaciers which receive flow from

local glaciers, forming a continuous network (Fig. 10.4).

At the glacial maximum, the ice flows from the central

Alpine zone and forms a vast piedmont glacier when it

entered the Swiss plain. This lobe collided with the Jura

at the latitude of Lake Geneva and was forced to flow

towards both to the north and south. The southern glacial

front stabilised as a piedmont lobe (Lyonnais ice lobe)

about 20 km from Lyon.

At the maximum advance of the Late Pleistocene, the

Alpine ice did not enter the Jura Mountains, which were

covered by a local ice-cap (Fig. 10.4). The assumption of

a discrete Jura ice-cap is based on the following evidence.

The presence of exclusively local material in the morainic

complex on the western slope of the Jura demonstrates that

the associated ice flow originated only in the Jura. This

morainic complex is particularly developed in the central

zone of the western slopes right behind the highest parts

of the Jura massif. This is the region where the Alpine

ice would have met the greatest obstacle to crossing the

mountains. The stratigraphical relationships of the Alpine

and Jura tills at the eastern border of the mountains

(Fig. 10.3) clearly show that two opposing ice flows

occurred in this zone. And finally, the surface level of the

ice that overrode the Swiss Basin during the glacial maxi-

mum did not allow it to advance far into the Jura massif,

even though the Jura was not buried by ice at the same time.

It must be considered, however, that the general form of

the Jura ice-cap shown in Fig. 10.4 is more certain in the cen-

tral zone than further to the north and south. In the latter

regions, themoraines are not sufficiently clear to allow a reli-

able reconstruction but there is no evidence conflicting with

the general outline shown in the maps (Campy, 1982; Sbaı,

1986). In the Isere valley, the IMC corresponds to the Bank

moraines which result from the confluent glacier of Isere gla-

cier andArc glacier, in the external area, these glaciersmerge

together and form a large piedmont glacier. While progres-

sing towards the south, only the valleys become gradually

ice field and we find little glaciers: the Bleone glacier, the

Verdon glacier and the Var glacier (Fig. 10.4).

10.3.3. Key Sites

Examination of the Combe d’Ain Lake (Fig.10.4) infilling

provides insight into the history of the Jura Mountains dur-

ing the last glacial maximum (Campy, 1982; Buoncristiani

and Campy, 2004). By mapping glacial and proglacial

deposits on the western slopes and, more particularly, in this

area, it has been possible to reconstruct the palaeogeogra-

phy of the glacial front. Sediments were transported by gla-

cial meltwater and were deposited as different sedimentary

complexes in the lake filling. A number of coarse delta-type

deposits are in contact with the moraines on the eastern edge

of Combe d’A in area, and these form a topographic marker

level at 525 m a.s.l. and indicate the former lake level. Lam-

inated fine sediments ranging between 466 and 509 m a.s.l

occupy the remainder of Combe d’Ain.

The synthetic section from the Nozon valley (Arn and

Aubert, 1984) shows the relations of the two complexes

(Fig. 10.5). Resting on tectonised Upper Jurassic and Cre-

taceous bedrock, the glacial formations reach from an alti-

tude of 650–1000 m a.s.l. In stratigraphical order from the

base upwards, four main formations can be described. At

the base, horizontally bedded clayey silts with rare stones

are present, which are interpreted as glacio-lacustrine sed-

iments. This is overlain by a basal till of essentially Alpine

material, very thick in the central part of the section (over

50 m) and thinning up-valley. In the upper part of the sec-

tion from 950 to 1000 m a.s.l., this Alpine till is overlain by

a basal till of exclusively Jura material, 20 m thick, ending

in a small morainic ridge at Plan de la Sagne. A number of

terraces composed of mixed Jura and Alpine material

spread between 950 and 700 m a.s.l. They are interpreted

as ice-contact landforms (kame terraces) emplaced during

the progressive retreat of the Alpine glacier (Arn, 1984).

This sequence is repeatedly found on the eastern side of

the Jura and demonstrates that during the Late Pleistocene

glaciation the two ice flows were in contact. Alpine ice occu-

pied the Swiss plain, and a second ice flow from the Jura

brought materials that were deposited onto the Alpine sedi-

ments. However, the Jura ice sheet did not pass beyond the

foot of the Jura chain. The stratigraphical relationship of the

two till types shows that the Jura Mountain did support their

own ice-cap independent from Alpine glaciers during the

Late Pleistocene glaciation, confirming the views of Agassiz

(1843), Nussbaum and Gygax (1935) and Aubert (1965).

10.3.4. Problems

The palaeogeographical reconstruction shown in the map

(Fig. 10.4) is largely based on IMCs (cf. Penck and

Bruckner, 1909–1911). However, each morainic complex

FIGURE 10.4 Late Pleistocene Alpine and Jura ice sheet

extension and ice flow directions.

Chapter 10 Quaternary Glaciations in the French Alps and Jura 123

corresponds to several glacial advances out of the mountain

massifs and has been rearranged each time in the course of

numerous climatic fluctuations. Consequently, the maps

represent a synthesis of various climatic oscillations during

the Late Pleistocene cold periods. Also, it must be taken into

account that the maxima of the glacial advances may not

necessarily have been synchronous in all the valleys.

Because of the ‘freshness’ of the deposits and the large

number of exposures available, identification of the Late

Pleistocene ice advance is easily achieved. On the basis

FIGURE 10.5 Relationship between Jura and Alpine glacial deposits along the Nozon valley.

Quaternary Glaciations-Extent and Chronology124

of the ocean core sediments and the ice-core sequences, it is

now known that the last cold stage includes twomajor glacial

advances: the first during the Early Pleniglacial (60 ka¼MIS

4) and the second in the Late Pleniglacial (20 ka¼MIS 2).

The problem of the apparent diachroneity of the maximum

ice advance is still unsolved. In the Jura, it occurred at

20 ka (Campy and Richard, 1988), in the Isere Glacier region

of Lyon prior to 26 ka, with a readvance in the Northern Alps

at 20 ka (Monjuvent and Nicoud, 1988). In the Southern

Alps, the morainic deposits in the middle Durance valley

belonging to the IMC have yielded two samples of fossil

wood that have been dated using 14C: 18.6�0.2 14C ka

BP (LY 6338) and 17.68�0.18 14C ka BP (LY 6387). These

indicate that the IMC dates to the Weichselian Upper Pleni-

glacial (MIS 2) in this region (Jorda et al., 2000).

Initially, some authors correlated the Late Pleistocene

glacier maximum with MIS 4, based only on comparison

with the ocean isotope curve (Blavoux, 1988; Monjuvent

and Nicoud, 1988). However, resolution of the oceanic sig-

nal is not sufficiently fine enough to distinguish the weak

influence of the Alpine Glaciation in the geochemistry of

the oceans. It is therefore preferable to correlate with the

temperature curve from the Greenland ice-cap (Grootes

et al., 1993). Regarding the ages for the last glacial maxi-

mum of the principle Alpine glaciers (Rhone, Linth and

Rhine), two series of results available give different ages.

Therefore, there are two solutions possible: a long record

with the Late Pleistocene maximum glaciation before

27 ka and a short solution with the Late Pleistocene maxi-

mum glaciation near 22 ka (Schoeineich, 1998). The shorter

variant is in accord with the chronology proposed for the

Jura by Campy and Richard (1988) and with that proposed

for the Southern Alps by Jorda et al. (2000). And whichever

solution may be correct, there can be no doubt that the Late

Pleistocene glacier maximum correlates with MIS 2.

However, in all correlation attempts, the erosional

effects of the glaciations must be taken into account. Com-

plete sequences of all ice advances are seldom preserved,

often only traces of the most extensive phases are found.

This is especially true for the older, pre-Late Pleistocene

glaciations. Once the glaciers completely retreat, the rivers

of the large Alpine valleys continue to erode and remove

some or all of the evidence. This implies that the strati-

graphical sequences in the large Alpine valleys are very

incomplete. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the

preserved traces of glacial advances will not always be syn-

chronous for each reconstructed advance phase in both the

Alps and the Jura.

10.4. CONCLUSIONS

In the northwest of the Alps (Figs. 10.1 and 10.3), the two

morainic complexes (ICM and ECM) were not entirely

formed by ice of Alpine origin. The Jura Mountains had

a determining influence on glacial flows and the contents

of the Morainic Complexes. It may seem surprising that

small mountains like the Jura would be capped during the

Late Pleistocene glaciation by a thick ice sheet. In reality,

only a few peaks of the mountain chain are over 1500 m

high and the elevations over 1000 m are concentrated in a

narrow zone 15–30 km wide and 120 km long (Fig. 10.1).

There are two reasons for this important glacial build-up

in this area: climate and morphology.

The Jura is a particularly cold region; even nowadays,

the lowest temperatures in France are always found there.

This is because the orientation of the major landforms

leaves the Jura open to winds from the northeast derived

from the Central European anticyclone. It is also a region

of very heavy precipitation. Today, there is about

1800 mm of precipitation annually in the zone above

Chapter 10 Quaternary Glaciations in the French Alps and Jura 125

1000 m a.s.l. which falls as snow between September and

June. It seems reasonable to assume that these characteris-

tics also applied during the recent last glacial periods.

The central part of the Jura Mountains is not incised by

deep valleys, and the highest zone is characterised by long,

synclinal valleys at heights of 900–1000 m a.s.l., flanked by

smooth higher ground at altitudes of 1200–1600 m a.s.l. As

a result of this morphology, the Jura Mountains can retain

snow because of inhibited melting (Aubert, 1965). The

poorly drained valley forms efficient traps in which great

thicknesses of snow can accumulate and then spring melt-

ing is considerably slowed in these closed areas. During full

glacial times, the balance between accumulation and abla-

tion would have been positive here and an ice sheet could

have formed. From this ice sheet, outlet glaciers formed

and flowed down the western and eastern flanks of the Jura

chain.

In the Alps, a topographic gradient exists between the

north and the south whereby the highest mountains in North

Alps sustain glaciers today (Mont Blanc, Vanoise) whilst

the lower mountains in the South Alps are cut by steep-

sided valleys (the Verdon, Var, Bleone). This north–south

topographic gradient can partly explain the limit of the

glaciers in the North Alps during Pleistocene ice ages. How-

ever, the different positions of the glacier in the North Alps

between the Late and the Middle Pleistocene are also

functions of the variations of the palaeo-glacial watershed

between these glacial periods. During the last cold period

of the Late Pleistocene, the Alpine glaciers were less

developed than for the cold periods of Middle Pleistocene

as illustrated by the theoretical calculation of the Isere

glacial topography in Grenoble which was 1100 m a.s.l.

during Late Pleistocene and 1500 m a.s.l. during Middle

Pleistocene (Monjuvent, 1978). Therefore, the topographic

barrier formed by the Western Alps—the Chartreuse, the

Bauges, the Bornes and the Aravis—probably controls

the configuration of ice masses during Pleistocene

glaciations.

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