QUATERNARY GLACIAL HISTORY OF MOUNT-OLYMPUS, GREECE

Erosional and depositional evidence on Mount Olympus, Greece, and acro ss the adjacent piedmont pro,ides clear indication that the mountain w as more extensively glaciated over a longer period of time than has be en previously reported, The stratigraphic record of Pleistocene-Holoce ne events on Mount Olympus is most clearly documented on the eastern p iedmont, where three discrete sedimentary packages (units 1-3), each c apped by a distinctive soil, reflect glacial and nonglacial activity i n the Mount Olympus region, A working stratigraphic framework for sedi ments and soils is proposed and is tentatively correlated with a dated alluvial succession south of Mount Olympus, We suggest that the oldes t sedimentary package (unit 1) predates 200 ka (isotope stage 8?). Lit hologic and pedologic equivalents of the piedmont stratigraphy are fou nd within major valleys draining Mount Olympus, as well as within cirq ue basins and on the summit plateau surface, These deposits can be cle arly tied to three stages of cirque development on the upland and at v alley heads. Taken together, upland and piedmont glacial features and deposits indicate the following general scenario: (1) earliest glaciat ion (isotope stage 8?) produced upland ice and valley glaciers that ex tended as piedmont lobes east, north, and west of Mount Olympus; (2) n onglacial (interglacial) conditions (isotope stage 7?) were accompanie d by extensive erosion and subsequent pedogenesis; (3) a second glacia tion (isotope stage 6?) involved production of upland ice and valley g laciers that did not reach the piedmont; (4) interglacial (interstadia l) conditions (isotope stage 5?) provided time for stream erasion and substantial pedogenesis; (5) final(?) glaciation (isotope stages 1?) w as restricted to valley heads (no upland ice) and glaciers that extend ed to mid-valley positions; (6) nonglacial conditions (isotope stage 1 ?) were associated with additional pedogenesis and stream incision, Th e largest cirque on the mountain (Megali Kazania) mag contain depositi onal evidence for neoglaciation, Study of the neotectonic history of t he Mount Olympus region indicates that uplift has persisted throughout the mid-Pleistocene and Holocene at a rate of about 1.6 m/k.y.; the t otal uplift since deposition of unit 2 is approximately 200 m.