Excursion of Thursday, 11 June 1959: Liège – Baraque de Fraiture – La Roche – Rochefort – Liège

Abstract

Article in French.

ORIGINAL TITLE: Excursion du jeudi 11 juin 1959: Liege-Baraque de Fraiture-Laroche-Rochefort-Liege

This report describes a geomorphological field excursion held on 11 June 1959 from Liège to Baraque de Fraiture, La Roche, and Rochefort, focused on the study of landforms developed under periglacial conditions. The participants examined a wide range of relief features shaped by cryogenic processes, including stepped planation surfaces, asymmetric valleys, solifluction deposits, frost cracks, and cryoturbated sediments. Particular attention was given to relict pingos on the Ardennes plateau, Quaternary planation surfaces in the Condroz and Famenne regions, and periglacial valley evolution in the Ourthe and Lesse basins. Detailed observations in the Wanlin brickyard revealed stratified slope deposits formed by diffuse runoff, solifluction, and repeated climatic fluctuations, with interbedded palaeosols indicating temperate phases. Overall, the excursion demonstrated the dominant role of periglacial processes in shaping the Quaternary relief of southern Belgium and highlighted the complex interaction between erosion, mass movement, and climatic change