Early maximum extent of paleoglaciers from Mediterranean mountains during the last glaciation

Type Article
Date 2013-06
Language English
Author(s) Dominguez-Villar D.1, 2, Carrasco R. M.3, Pedraza J.4, Cheng H.5, 6, Edwards R. L.6, Willenbring J. K.7
Affiliation(s) 1 : Ctr Nacl Invest Evoluc Humana CENIEH, Burgos 09002, Spain.
2 : Univ Birmingham, Sch Earth & Environm Sci, Birmingham, W Midlands, England.
3 : Univ Castilla La Mancha, Dpt Ingn Geol & Minera, Toledo 45071, Spain.
4 : Univ Complutense Madrid, Dpt Geodinam, E-28040 Madrid, Spain.
5 : Xi An Jiao Tong Univ, Inst Global Environm Changes, Xian 710049, Peoples R China.
6 : Univ Minnesota, Dpt Geol & Geophys, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA.
7 : Univ Penn, Dpt Earth & Environm Sci, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA.
Source Scientific Reports (2045-2322) (Nature Publishing Group), 2013-06 , Vol. 3 , N. 2034 , P. 1-6
DOI 10.1038/srep02034
WOS© Times Cited 65
Abstract Mountain glaciers respond directly to changes in precipitation and temperature, thus their margin extent is a high-sensitivity climate proxy. Here, we present a robust Be-10 chronology for the glacier maximum areal extent of central Spain paleoglaciers dated at 26.1 +/- 1.3 ka BP. These glaciers reached their maximum extent several thousand years earlier than those from central Europe due to the increased precipitation within a cold period between 25 to 29 ka BP, as confirmed by a local speleothem record. These paleoclimate conditions impacted the maximum extent of mountain glaciers along the western and central Mediterranean region. The cause and timing of the enhanced precipitation implies a southward shift of the North Atlantic Polar Front followed by storm tracks in response to changes in insolation via orbital parameters modulation. Thus, these mountain paleoglaciers from the Mediterranean region record an ocean-continent climate interaction triggered by external forcing.
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