Rock walls distribution and Holocene evolution in a mid-latitude mountain range (the Romanian Carpathians)

Rock walls in high mountain areas are the expression of long–term slopes response (103–105 years) to tectonics, weathering and denudation and a major source of sediment and hazard. Controls of mountain rock walls (RW) distribution and the response to post-glacial evolution are rarely discussed in the literature at the scale of mountain ranges. Using a database of 791 RW mapped in the Romanian Carpathians, we present their distribution and morphometry in respect to lithological classes, structural features and topography and relate their exposure to post–Younger Dryas (Holocene) rock slope failure chronology. Statistical analysis results show the high significance of structural and tectonic control on RW distribution, which prevails in sedimentary units where it imposed the predominance of West and North orientations and led to the formation of RW with dimensions up to a degree higher compared to other lithologies. Morphometric data indicate that metamorphic and igneous RW (linked to a great extent to glacial valleys and cirques headwalls) are usually restricted to the highest sectors of the mountain slopes, being characterized by reduced relative heights, asymmetrically distributed, common on the North-exposed slopes and extremely rare on the South. Based on 38 10Be surface exposure ages obtained on meter-sized boulders from the Southern and Eastern Carpathians, we hypothesise that metamorphic and igneous RW in the formerly glaciated Carpathian valleys were significantly shaped during Early Holocene (before 9 ka) by rock slope failures events that followed the deglaciation of the highest cirques and intense RW permafrost degradation, which also affected some of the highest sedimentary units. We associate the long–term imprints of frost weathering to the significant North/South RW and rock glaciers distribution asymmetry, also identified in other mid-latitude mountain sites with similar topographic constraints. •Metamorphic and igneous rock walls are restricted to glacial cirques headwalls.•North-exposed rock walls prevail, missing on South due to differential weathering.•Sedimentary rock walls large coverage is controlled by geological structure.•10Be boulder ages similar to intense rock slope failures dated in European ranges.•Intense rock slope degradation in the Carpathian highest magnitudes 11.6–9 ka ago.