Transformation of Fragile Environments in the Alps and in the Sahel

In the previous publication «Geography in Switzerland» in Geographica Helvetica 1980, Vol. 35, No 5, we summarised the results of research on the paleogeographical reconstruction of late glacial stages in the Valais Alps (Winistörfer 1980). This field of research was the main thrust of physical geography at the University of Lausanne at the end of the 1970s and supported by «Les amis du quaternaire lemanique», a group of researchers who informally worked during ten years under the direction of Prof. emeritus M. Burri. Research in this area dominated over two decades, resulting in two important regional studies. Dorthe-Monachon (1993) and Schoeneich (1998) reconstructed the stages of the glacier retreat in the lateral Valleys on the right bank of the Rhone river and in the Ormonts, Etivaz and Hongrin Valleys, respectively. In addition, Aubert (1979) and Arn (1984) from the geology department of the University of Lausanne completed the studies of the upper and lower Rhone basin.