Wetter or colder during the Last Glacial Maximum? Revisiting the pluvial lake question in southwestern North America

Well-preserved shorelines in Estancia basin and a relatively simple hydrologic setting have prompted several inquiries into the basin's hydrologic balance for the purpose of estimating regional precipitation during the late Pleistocene. Estimates have ranged from 86% to 150% of modern, the disparity largely the result of assumptions about past temperatures. In this study, we use an array of models for surface-water runoff, groundwater flow, and lake energy balance to examine previously proposed scenarios for late Pleistocene climate. Constraints imposed by geologic evidence of past lake levels indicate that precipitation for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) may have doubled relative to modern values during brief episodes of colder and wetter climate and that annual runoff was as much as 15% of annual precipitation during these episodes.     

冰川零平衡线处的物质平衡及其应用

论证了在稳定状态时的冰川平衡线即零平衡线ＥＬＡ０）处的比净平衡大致等于整个冰川的平均净平衡。提出了ＥＬＡ０的直接测定方法、误差范围以及利用冰川中值高度计算ＥＬＡ０的公式。认为可以利用ＥＬＡ０的特征简化冰川物质平衡的观测及计算，以及利用冰川编目资料大面积估算冰川物质平衡状况的可能性。     

Ecological stability during the LGM and the mid-Holocene in the Alpine Steppes of Tibet?

Arid and Alpine ecosystems are known for extreme environmental changes during the Late Quaternary. We hypothesize that the world's largest Alpine arid ecosystem however, the Alpine Steppes of the Tibetan highlands, remained ecologically stable during the LGM and the mid-Holocene. This hypothesis is tested by distributional range of plant species, plant life forms and rate of endemism. The set of character species has a precipitation gradient between 50 and 350 mm/a, testifying for resilience to precipitation changes. 83% of the species have a wider vertical range than 1000 m used as a proxy for resilience to temperature changes. 30% of the species are endemic with 10 endemic genera, including plate-shaped cushions as a unique plant life form. These findings are in line with palaeo-ecological proxies (δ¹⁸O, pollen) allowing the assumption that Alpine Steppes persisted during the LGM with 3 to 4 K lower summer temperatures.During the mid-Holocene, forests could have replaced Alpine Steppes in the upper catchments of the Huang He, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween and Yarlung Zhangbo, but not in the interior basins of the north-western highlands, because the basins were then flooded, suppressing forests and supporting the environmental stability of this arid Alpine grassland biome.     

Cirque glacier activity in arctic Norway during the last deglaciation

Numerous cirques of the Lofoten–Vesterålen archipelago in northern Norway have distinct moraine sequences that previously have been assigned to the Allerød-Younger Dryas ( 13,400 to 11,700 yr BP) interval, constraining the regional distribution of the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) of cirque and valley glaciers. Here we present evidence from a once glacier-fed lake on southern Andøya that contests this view. Analyses of radiocarbon dated lacustrine sediments including rock magnetic parameters, grain size, organic matter, dry bulk density and visual interpretation suggest that no glacier was present in the low-lying cirque during the Younger Dryas-Allerød. The initiation of the glacial retreat commenced with the onset of the Bølling warming ( 14,700 yr BP) and was completed by the onset of Allerød Interstade ( 13,400 yr BP). The reconstructed glacier stages of the investigated cirque coincide with a cool and dry period from  17,500 to 14,700 yr BP and a somewhat larger Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) advance possibly occurring between  21,050 and 19,100 yr BP.     

Exploitation of Landsat data for snow zonation mapping in the Hindukush,Karakoram and Himalaya (HKH) region of Pakistan

Abstract

In the Hindukush, Karakoram and Himalaya (HKH) region of Pakistan, many glaciological variables are still not known due to the remoteness and harsh weather conditions of the area. A remote sensing technique is therefore applied to map the snow zonation in the HKH region. Landsat 7 ETM+ data for the year 2003 are used in this study. Image classification and image processing techniques are applied to map, for the first time, the major snow zones in the HKH region. Six classes are identified: the results show that the area covered by the highest-altitude snow (Snow I), lower-altitude snow (Snow II), bare ice, debris-covered ice, wet snow and shadow is 21 529.42, 22 472.58, 8696.41, 8038.75, 12 159.37 and 7322.30 km², respectively. The study also indicates that the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) lies between 5000 and 5500 m above sea level, with an accumulation area ratio (AAR) of 0.60.

Citation Butt, M.J., 2013. Exploitation of Landsat data for snow zonation mapping in the Hindukush, Karakoram and Himalaya (HKH) region of Pakistan. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (5), 1088–1096.     

A simple model for reconstructing geomagnetic field intensity with (10)~Be production rate and its application in Loess studies

A simple model for reconstructing the paleomagnetic field intensity with (10)~Be production rate was used for the first time in Loess (10)~Be studies of Luochuan profile. Using the LGM (Last Glacial Maxmium) method, the climatic effects and geomagnetic modulation effects on loess (10)~Be was separated and in turn the 80 ka geomagnetic excursion sequence reconstructed, of which the globally remarkable geomagnetic excursion events such as the Laschamp (42 ka), Mono Lake (32 ka) during the Last Glacial period were revealed and the paleo-geomagnetic intensity curve from Loess (10)~Be over the past 80 ka was quantitatively reconstructed. The reconstructed paleo-intensity fits well with the paleo-intensity curves (SINT200 and NAPIS75), which indicates the significance of global criterion of the (10)~Be paleo- intensity curve and the future direction of loess (10)~Be tracing studies. Results show the irregular vari-ability of the East Asian monsoon precipitation in Loess Plateau is the main cause that has resulted in the ambiguity of the geomagnetic modulation of the (10)~Be record in the loess, and the intrinsic source component of the loess (10)~Be and inherited fraction of magnetic susceptibility (SUS) are characterized by the "quasi-homogeneous distribution" manner.     

青藏高原及毗邻山地利用冰川地貌重建古气候的研究综述

利用冰川地貌定量重建冰期时的古气候特征是探讨冰川驱动机制的关键.利用冰川地貌反演古气候的模型主要有两类:基于物质平衡线高度变化和基于估算古冰川表面物质平衡的气候重建模型,因其原理、所需数据量的不同,适用性存在着差异,应用时需根据冰川区的具体特征选取多种模型重建古气候,提高模拟的精度.青藏高原及毗邻山地已有的基于古冰川的...     

MM5 Simulations of the China Regional Climate During the LGM.Ⅱ: Influence of Change of Land Area, Vegetation, and Large-scale Circulation Background

Using a regional climate model MM5 nested to an atmospheric global climate model CCM3, a series of simulations and sensitivity experiments have been performed to investigate the relative LGM climate response to changes of land-sea distribution, vegetation, and large-scale circulation background over China.Model results show that compared with the present climate, the fluctuations of sea-land distribution in eastern Asia during the LGM result in the temperature decrease in winter and increase in summer. It has significant impact on the temperature and precipitation in the east coastal region of China. The impact on precipitation in the east coastal region of China is the most significant one, with 25%-50% decrease in the total precipitation change during the LGM. On the other hand, the changes in sea-land distribution have less influence on the climate of inland and western part of China. During the LGM, significant changes in vegetation result in temperature alternating with winter increase and summer decrease, but differences in the annual mean temperature are minor. During the LGM, the global climate, i.e., the large-scale circulation background has changed significantly. These changes have significant influences on temperature and precipitation over China. They result in considerable temperature decreases in this area, and direct the primary patterns and characteristics of temperature changes. Results display that, northeastern China has the greatest temperature decrease, and the temperature decrease in the Tibetan Plateau is larger than in the eastern part of China located at the same latitude. Moreover, the change of large-scale circulation background also controls the pattern of precipitation change. Results also show that, most of the changes in precipitation over western and northeastern parts of China are the consequences of changing large-scale circulation background, of which 50%-75% of precipitation changes over northern and eastern China are the results of changes in large-scale circulation background. Over China, the LGM climate responses to different mechanisms in order of strength from strong to weak are, the large-scale circulation pattern, sea-land distribution, vegetation, CO2 concentration, and earth orbital parameters.     

青藏高原中部扎当冰川物质平衡研究

最新观测表明,青藏高原扎当冰川2005/2006年度物质平衡量为-306.42×10⁴m³,相当于-1547.57 mm水当量,冰面出现显著的减薄.扎当冰川出现如此大的负平衡在青藏高原中部地区实属罕见,这可能与影响冰川物质平衡过程的区域气候状况和局地气候因素的差异有关系.物质平衡出现较大的负值和零平衡线位置升高的状况,强烈反映了扎当冰川对气候变暖过程的响应.     

1984—2019年念青唐古拉山中段冰川ELA变化估算及特征分析

平衡线高度（equilibrium line altitude,ELA）是冰川响应气候变化的直接反映,分析其变化特征对于了解现在和过去的气候具有重要意义。念青唐古拉山中段作为西南季风通道以及怒江与雅鲁藏布江的分水岭,ELA变化及特征研究可为不同流域冰川变化与气候相互关系提供参考。基于遥感影像及气候数据,结合模型计算的冰川ELA数据作为输入参数,建立多元线性回归方程,重建并分析了1984—2019年间念青唐古拉山中段冰川ELA变化。结果表明：研究时段内平均ELA为5 360 m a.s.l.,总体呈上升趋势,上升速率为1.57 m?a^-1。ELA年变化量显示出波动变化特征,波动范围为5 360~5 420 m a.s.l.,上升幅度为60 m。受印度季风、流域位置及冰川朝向等因素影响,各流域ELA变化具有差异性,霞曲流域、易贡藏布流域和麦曲流域多年平均ELA高程分别为5 335 m a.s.l.、4 987 m a.s.l.和5 317 m a.s.l.,平均上升幅度分别为265 m、314 m和335 m,上升速率分别7.57 m?a^-1、8.97 m?a^-1和9.57 m?a^-1。对冰川区多年ELA变化的气候响应分析显示,ELA变化主要受气温控制,随气温变化1 ℃,冰川ELA总体波动幅度为126.02 m。