Early stages of weathering of glacially - abraded limestone surfaces as determined by various Schmidt hammer tests : Biferten glacier forefield, Glarner Alps (Switzerland)

Abstract

The Schmidt hammer method was successfully used in determining early stages of weathering of glacially-abraded Jurassic limestone surfaces within the post-LIA forefield of the Biferten glacier (Switzerland).It was shown that the formerly glaciated landforms are differentiated in terms of mean and maximum R-values and when comparing between standard deviation of R-values from polished and non-polished surfaces.It is concluded that the most important factors in R-value differentiation within the young marginal zones are duration of weathering and rock structure.However, the first factor can only be detected on non-polished surfaces