On the ice age glaciation of the Tibetan highlands and its transformation into a 3-D model

We present an interdisciplinary study on data and modeling intercomparison, concerning the possible existence of a Tibetan ice sheet and its climatological implications during the ice age. In the ice sheet model the fields of ice flow and temperature are calculated, and a highly parameterized formulation of the yearly snow balance is used, defining the forcing at the surface of the ice sheet. The data set used, supplies the height of the equilibrium line of the glaciers (=ELA) and documents the maximum extension of the glaciated areas. With prescribed snow accumulation above the ELA and melting below, the model is integrated for 10 000 model years and the model glaciation is then compared with the data.The main results are: Provided the height of the glacial equilibrium line has been reconstructed correctly, a Tibetan ice sheet can be bult up within 10 000 model years, using moderate rates of precipitation (maximum snow fall: 100 mm/year). Comparison of data and model glaciation suggests an increase of precipitation from the NW to the E of Tibet and from the S to the NE, which reflects the presently observed pattern of the monsoon circulation.     

New Findings concerning the Ice Age (Last Glacial Maximum) Glacier Cover of the East-Pamir, of the Nanga Parbat up to the Central Himalaya and of Tibet, as well as the Age of the Tibetan Inland Ice

The results presented on the glacio-geomorphological reconstruction of a maximum Ice Age (LGM = Last Glacial Maximum) glaciation in High-Asia concern five test-areas in and around Tibet (Figure 1, Nos. 14, 6, 17, 2, 9, 18, 16). For the E-Pamir plateau and its mountains a covering ice cap is proved; a snow-line (ELA)-depression of 820–1250 m in relation to the present relief has been calculated. The Ice Age snow-line ran at 3750–3950 m asl. In the Nanga Parbat-massif a glacial (LGM) ice-stream network with a snow-line altitude (ELA) at c. 3400– 3600 m has been reconstructed. This corresponds to an ELA-depression of at least 1200 m. The lowest ice margin site of the connected 1800–1900 m-thick Indus glacier flowed down to c. 800 m asl. From N-Tibet the author introduces further observations of ground moraines and erratics from a high plateau area he had already investigated in 1981. They provide evidence of a complete inland ice sheet in Tibet. From the S edge of Tibet six large outlet glacier systems i.e. lowest High Glacial ice margin sites of the Himalaya ice-stream network are reconstructed. This is a continuation of the investigations in 1977, 1978, 1982, 1984, 1988 and 1989 between Kangchendzönga in the E and Nanda Devi in the W. In this place probably the lowest glacial glacier end of the Himalaya-S-slope was found at c. 460 m asl at the Dumre settlement, S of the Manaslu. C14-datings from the Tsangpo valley on the S edge of Central Tibet classify the reconstructed Tibetan ice as being from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) between older than 48580 ± 4660–2930 and 9820 ± 350 YBP. From this empirical findings and inductive results on the Ice Age Tibetan glaciation are derived deductive conclusions on the interaction of the relief and the snow-line altitude with concern to the ice cover. Modelling by means of those snow-line depressions and estimations of the precipitation provide ideas about surface heights, ice thicknesses and flow behaviour of the ice sheet. The hypothesis of a global triggering of the ice age by the uplift of the subtropical Tibet up to above the snow-line motivates the investigations presented here.     

Glacial geomorphology and ice ages in Tibet and the surrounding mountains

Abstract   Since 1973 new data have been obtained on the maximum extent of glaciation in High Asia. Evidence for an ice sheet covering Tibet during the last glacial period means a radical rethinking about glaciation in the northern hemisphere. The ice sheet's subtropical latitude, vast size (2.4 million km²) and high elevation (6000 m a.s.l.) are supposed to have resulted in a substantial, albedo-induced cooling of the Earth's atmosphere and the disruption of summer monsoon circulation. Moraines were found to reach down to 460 m a.s.l. on the southern flank of the Himalayas and to 2300 m a.s.l. on the northern slope of the Tibetan Plateau, in the Qilian Shan region. On the northern slopes of the Karakoram, Aghil and Kuen-Lun Mountains, moraines occur as far down as 1900 m a.s.l. In southern Tibet, radiographic analyses of erratics suggest a former ice thickness of at least 1200 m. Glacial polish and roches moutonnées in the Himalayas and Karakoram suggest former glaciers as thick as 1200–2700 m. On the basis of this evidence, a 1100–1600-m lower equilibrium line has been reconstructed, resulting in an ice sheet of 2.4 million km², covering almost all of Tibet. Radiometric ages, obtained by different methods, classify this glaciation as isotope stage 3–2 in age (Würmian, the last glacial period, ca  60 000–18 000 years ago).