Tree growth at the beginning of the Holocene at an elevation of 2150 m in the Engadin Valley, Switzerland
Tree growth at the beginning of the Holocene at an elevation of 2150 m in the Engadin Valley, Switzerland
Christian Schlüchter, Leo Hösli, Kurt Nicolussi, Christoph Korte, and Irka Hajdas
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 75, 163–167, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-75-163-2026, 2026
We found Larix decidua at 2156 m altitude in front of the Morteratschgletscher (Engadin, CH) liberated recently from the ice. This tree stopped growing ~10 350 years ago. Another tree started to grow ~10 800 years ago (early Preboreal), which was ~800 years after the end of the Younger Dryas. At this time the glacier did not cover the sampling site. Thus, in the early Preboreal the terminus of the Morteratschgletscher was at much higher elevation in comparison to the present-day situation.