Late Quaternary glaciation and equilibrium-line altitudes of the Mayan Ice Cap, Guatemala, Central America

The Sierra los Cuchumatanes (3837 m), Guatemala, supported a plateau ice cap and valley glaciers around Montaña San Juan (3784 m) that totaled ∼ 43 km² in area during the last local glacial maximum. Former ice limits are defined by sharp-crested lateral and terminal moraines that extend to elevations of ∼ 3450 m along the ice cap margin, and to ca. 3000-3300 m for the valley glaciers. Equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) estimated using the area-altitude balance ratio method for the maximum late Quaternary glaciation reached as low as 3470 m for the valley glaciers and 3670 m for the Mayan Ice Cap. Relative to the modern altitude of the 0°C isotherm of ∼ 4840 m, we determined ELA depressions of 1110-1436 m. If interpreted in terms of a depression of the freezing level during maximal glaciation along the modern lapse rate of − 5.3°C km^− 1, this ΔELA indicates tropical highland cooling of ∼ 5.9 to 7.6 ± 1.2°C. Our data support greater glacial highland cooling than at sea level, implying a high tropical sensitivity to global climate changes. The large magnitude of ELA depression in Guatemala may have been partially forced by enhanced wetness associated with southward excursions of the boreal winter polar air mass.     

一个晚元古代水下冰足刻蚀作用的记录——水下冰推垄

在现代高纬陆棚冰海区的海底底床上,有大量由海冰形成的水下冰足机械刻蚀迹,但在古代冰期地层中却极少报道。笔者在湖南省石门县中岭乡杨家坪的震旦系剖面上发现一丘状构造,经分析,推断为一水下冰足刻蚀记录(图1)。该构造出露于南华大冰期的下冰期地层东山峰组底界以下约60m,在渫水河组上部。     

Vines 1 revisited: are older Neoproterozoic glacial deposits preserved in Western Australia?

The stratigraphy in Vines 1, a 2017.5 m-deep cored stratigraphic hole drilled by the Geological Survey of Western Australia in 2001 near the Western Australian – South Australian border, has been reinterpreted with implications for the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian geological history of the Officer Basin. A previous interpretation considered the intersected succession as a conformable stratigraphic package, the Vines Formation. An assemblage of palynomorphs, found throughout the hole and previously used to infer an age of no older than earliest Cambrian, is now thought to consist of contaminants. An older assemblage, which is considered to be reworked and inherited from underlying rocks, provides a new maximum age constraint of mid-Neoproterozoic. Based on sedimentological interpretations and comparisons with other drillholes in the western Officer Basin, and the succession in the eastern Officer Basin, the Vines 1 succession is reinterpreted as four discrete sedimentary packages, the Pirrilyungka (new name), Wahlgu, Lungkarta and Vines (redefined) Formations, in ascending order. The Pirrilyungka and Wahlgu Formations include glacigenic sediments and may correlate with similar glacial successions in Supersequences 2 and 3 (mid to late Cryogenian) of the Centralian Superbasin, and the Sturt Tillite and Elatina Formation and their equivalents in the Adelaide Rift Complex of South Australia, respectively. The eolian Lungkarta Formation and fluvial Vines Formation are considered, on regional evidence, to be most likely of Ediacaran to earliest Cambrian age.     

OBSERVATIONS ON THE QUATERNARY GEOLOGY OF THE LADAKH RANGE, NORTHWEST INDIAN HIMALAYA

OBSERVATIONS ON THE QUATERNARY GEOLOGY OF THE LADAKH RANGE, NORTHWEST INDIAN HIMALAYA     

A quantitative assessment of snow shielding effects on surface exposure dating from a western North American 10Be data compilation

To better assess the spatiotemporal variations of the snow shielding effect on surface exposure dating, we compiled a dataset of 1341 ¹⁰Be ages from alpine moraines and glacially eroded valleys across western North America, and conducted a sensitivity test with both modern and time-integrated snow data covering the same region. Our analyses reveal significant differences in snow shielding both across our geographic domain and through time. In our time-integrated experiments we find snow-based exposure age corrections as low as 3.5% in the Great Basin region and high as 28.4% in the Pacific Northwest for samples dating to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) when no wind-sweeping is assumed. As demonstrated with our time-varying snow conditions with a global climate model and a positive degree day model, modern snow conditions across western North America cannot account for the varying snow patterns under large scale climate shifts since the LGM. The snow-based exposure age corrections from the modern data differ from those calculated by our time-varying model by up to 17% across our model domain. In addition, we find that the ¹⁰Be ages calculated under two end-member scenarios regarding wind-sweeping effects, specifically whether boulders were shielded only when the total snow accumulation exceeded boulder heights or were always shielded when the snow was present, can differ by ∼7.6% on average for LGM aged samples. Our analyses provide a model-based estimates of the spatiotemporal variability and complexity of snow shielding effects on surface exposure dates across western North America and highlight the need to consider snow depth variations both spatially and temporally when conducting surface exposure dating in terrains where snowfall accumulation is significant.     

Testing a proposed new chronology for the Jasmund Glacitectonic Complex (SW Baltic Sea): No indication of incipient deformation during MIS 3

Weichselian advances of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet have generated several glacitectonically deformed structures in the southwestern Baltic Sea area. One example is the 100 km² large Jasmund Glacitectonic Complex (JGC), which was formed proglacially and consists of two subparallel-orientated sets of composite ridges that represent a northern and southern structural complex. The two-part morphological structure of the JGC suggests a formation by two ice advances, one approaching from NE and one from SE direction. So far, this divided structure has been assumed to have been formed by short-time ice-front oscillations during an MIS 2 ice advance. However, based on their recently published ice dynamic model for MIS 3 and the available age data from Jasmund, lüthgens et al. (2020) propose a chronological reinterpretation of the JGC development, according to which two distinct ice advances during early and late MIS 3 formed the JGC. In order to test this novel stratigraphical model for the JGC formation, five OSL samples were taken from fluvial and lacustrine deposits at a key section near Glowe (NW Jasmund). The investigated succession is divided into pre-kinematic sediments, deposited before the glacitectonic deformation, and post-kinematic sediments, deposited after the deformation. Our results show that the youngest dated pre-tectonic sediment has a burial age between ∼40 and 34 ka, which rules out a glacitectonic deformation during an early MIS 3 ice advance (∼60–50 ka). In addition, by reviewing the existing age data set, a development of the JGC during an early and late MIS 3 advance of the SIS must be rejected. Instead, our data confirm the genesis of the JGC during MIS 2.     

How charophytes (Streptophyta,Charales) survive in severe conditions of the permafrost area in Far North-East Asia

Eight species of charophytes have been found in the vast area of the ubiquitous permafrost in Far North-East Asia (i.e. the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Magadan Region, and the Chukotka Autonomous Area, Russia): Chara contraria, C. globularis, C. strigosa, C. virgata, Nitella flexilis, N. opaca, N. wahlbergiana and Tolypella canadensis.Charophytes are found in a variety of water bodies and watercourses in areas with various thicknesses of permafrost, within the boreal and subarctic climate zones. Charophyte habitats are mostly associated with the distribution of carbonate rocks. The number of species and their records decrease towards north and east mainly due to shortening of the vegetation period. The highest density of records of charophytes and their most northern records are in river valleys, where the topography and heating effect of the river mitigate the influence of climate and permafrost. This association can be used to model and predict charophyte distribution in periglacial areas during glaciation.Widespread eurytopic species with a flexible life cycle, Chara contraria and C. globularis, are found in valley water bodies due to their ability to withstand environmental variation associated with marked changes in water temperature and flood disturbance. Rare perennial species such as C. strigosa and Tolypella canadensis are represented in deep lakes with less variation in environmental conditions.This paper discusses the distribution, habitat and life history strategies of charophytes that exist in the severe conditions of the permafrost area in Far North-East Asia based on previously published and new data.     

Variations of near-surface atmospheric CO2 and H2O concentrations during summer on Muztagata

Expeditions during the summers of 2002 and 2003 implemented continuous monitoring of near-surface (2 m height) atmospheric CO₂ and H₂O concentrations at the 4500 m elevation on Muztagata. The resultant data sets reveal a slight decrease of CO₂ concentrations (of about 5 μmol·mol^-1) and changes in the diurnal variations from the end of June to the middle August. The daily maximum CO₂ concentrations occur between 02:30-05:30 AM (local time) and the minimum levels occur between 12:00-15:30 PM. The atmospheric CO₂ concentrations in the summer of 2002 were around 5 μmol·mol^-1 lower than those during the same period of 2003, whereas the diurnal amplitude was higher. In contrast, we found that the daily mean atmospheric H₂O content in 2003 was much lower than that in 2002 and there exists a striking negative correlation between CO₂ and H₂O concentrations. We therefore suggest that the near-surface atmospheric CO₂ concentration is affected not only by photosynthesis and respiration, but also by the air H₂O content in the glaciated region around Muztagata.     

Meltwater discharge through the subglacial bed and its land‐forming consequences from numerical experiments in the Polish lowland during the last glaciation

Numerical experiments suggest that the last glaciation severely affected the upper lithosphere groundwater system in NW Poland: primarily its flow pattern, velocities and fluxes. We have simulated subglacial groundwater flow in two and three spatial dimensions using finite difference codes for steady‐state and transient conditions. The results show how profoundly the ice sheet modifies groundwater pressure heads beneath and some distance beyond the ice margin. All model runs show water discharge at the ice forefield driven by ice‐sheet‐thickness‐modulated, down‐ice‐decreasing hydraulic heads. In relation to non‐glacial times, the transient 3D model shows significant changes in the groundwater flow directions in a regionally extensive aquifer ca. 90 m below the ice–bed interface and up to 40 km in front of the glacier. Comparison with empirical data suggests that, depending on the model run, only between 5 and 24% of the meltwater formed at the ice sole drained through the bed as groundwater. This is consistent with field observations documenting abundant occurrence of tunnel valleys, indicating that the remaining portion of basal meltwater was evacuated through a channelized subglacial drainage system. Groundwater flow simulation suggests that in areas of very low hydraulic conductivity and adverse subglacial slopes water ponding at the ice sole was likely. In these areas the relief shows distinct palaeo‐ice lobes, indicating fast ice flow, possibly triggered by the undrained water at the ice–bed interface. Owing to the abundance of low‐permeability strata in the bed, the simulated groundwater flow depth is less than ca. 200 m. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

云南东北部拱王山末次冰期

1 Introduction The Gongwang mountains constitute one of the few high m ountains of irrefutable late Pleistocene glaciation in eastern China. This area is one of the m ost extensively studied Quaternary geologicallocationsin eastern China and the interpret…