New age constraints for the maximum extent of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet (NW sector)

This paper presents the first terrestrial age constraints from the outer continental shelf for the maximum extent of the NW sector of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet. Cosmogenic ¹⁰Be ages from eight glacially transported boulders on the island of North Rona show that the Late Devensian (Late Weichselian) British–Irish Ice Sheet overrode the island at its maximal stage and retreated c. 25 ka BP. These new dates, supported by other geological evidence, indicate that the north‐western part of the ice sheet was most extensive between 27 and 25 ka BP, reaching the outer continental shelf during the global eustatic sea‐level minimum at the Last Glacial Maximum. Copyright © 2012 British Geological Survey/Natural Environment Research Council copyright 2012. Reproduced with the permission of BGS/NERC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Timing and pace of ice-sheet withdrawal across the marine–terrestrial transition west of Ireland during the last glaciation

Understanding the pace and drivers of marine-based ice-sheet retreat relies upon the integration of numerical ice-sheet models with observations from contemporary polar ice sheets and well-constrained palaeo-glaciological reconstructions. This paper provides a reconstruction of the retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) from the Atlantic shelf west of Ireland during and following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). It uses marine-geophysical data and sediment cores dated by radiocarbon, combined with terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide and optically stimulated luminescence dating of onshore ice-marginal landforms, to reconstruct the timing and rate of ice-sheet retreat from the continental shelf and across the adjoining coastline of Ireland, thus including the switch from a marine- to a terrestrially-based ice-sheet margin. Seafloor bathymetric data in the form of moraines and grounding-zone wedges on the continental shelf record an extensive ice sheet west of Ireland during the LGM which advanced to the outer shelf. This interpretation is supported by the presence of dated subglacial tills and overridden glacimarine sediments from across the Porcupine Bank, a westwards extension of the Irish continental shelf. The ice sheet was grounded on the outer shelf at ~26.8 ka cal bp with initial retreat underway by 25.9 ka cal bp. Retreat was not a continuous process but was punctuated by marginal oscillations until ~24.3 ka cal bp. The ice sheet thereafter retreated to the mid-shelf where it formed a large grounding-zone complex at ~23.7 ka cal bp. This retreat occurred in a glacimarine environment. The Aran Islands on the inner continental shelf were ice-free by ~19.5 ka bp and the ice sheet had become largely terrestrially based by 17.3 ka bp. This suggests that the Aran Islands acted to stabilize and slow overall ice-sheet retreat once the BIIS margin had reached the inner shelf. Our results constrain the timing of initial retreat of the BIIS from the outer shelf west of Ireland to the period of minimum global eustatic sea level. Initial retreat was driven, at least in part, by glacio-isostatically induced, high relative sea level. Net rates of ice-sheet retreat across the shelf were slow (62–19 m a⁻¹) and reduced (8 m a⁻¹) as the ice sheet vacated the inner shelf and moved onshore. A picture therefore emerges of an extensive BIIS on the Atlantic shelf west of Ireland, in which early, oscillatory retreat was followed by slow episodic retreat which decelerated further as the ice margin became terrestrially based. More broadly, this demonstrates the importance of localized controls, in particular bed topography, on modulating the retreat of marine-based sectors of ice sheets.     

The East Asian monsoon during MIS 2 expressed in a speleothem δO record from Jintanwan Cave, Hunan, China

Stalagmite J1 from Jintanwan Cave, Hunan, China, provides a precisely dated, decadally resolved δ¹⁸O proxy record of paleoclimatic changes associated with the East Asian monsoon from ∼29.5 to 14.7 ka and from ∼12.9 to 11.0 ka. At the time of the last glacial maximum (LGM), the East Asian summer monsoon weakened and then strengthened in response to changes in Northern Hemisphere insolation. As the ice sheets retreated the East Asian summer monsoon weakened, especially during Heinrich event H1, when atmospheric and oceanic teleconnections transferred the climatic changes around the North Atlantic to the monsoonal regions of Eastern Asia. A depositional hiatus between ∼14.7 and 12.9 ka leaves the deglacial record incomplete, but an abrupt shift in δ¹⁸O values at ∼11.5 ka marks the end of the Younger Dryas and the transition into the Holocene. Comparisons of the J1 record to other Chinese speleothem records indicate synchronous climatic changes throughout monsoonal China. Further comparisons to a speleothem record from western Asia (Socotra Island) and to Greenland ice cores support hemispherical-scale paleoclimatic change. Spectral and wavelet analyses reveal centennial- and decadal-scale periodicities that correspond to solar frequencies and to oscillations in atmospheric and oceanic circulation.     

The DeKalb mounds of northeastern Illinois as archives of deglacial history and postglacial environments

The “type” DeKalb mounds of northeastern Illinois, USA (42.0°N, −88.7°W), are formed of basal sand and gravel overlain by rhythmically bedded fines, and weathered sand and gravel. Generally from 2 to 7 m thick, the fines include abundant fossils of ostracodes and uncommon leaves and stems of tundra plants. Rare chironomid head capsules, pillclam shells, and aquatic plant macrofossils also have been observed.Radiocarbon ages on the tundra plant fossils from the “type” region range from 20,420 to 18,560 cal yr BP. Comparison of radiocarbon ages of terrestrial plants from type area ice-walled lake plains and adjacent kettle basins indicate that the topographic inversion to ice-free conditions occurred from 18,560 and 16,650 cal yr BP. Outside the “type” area, the oldest reliable age of tundra plant fossils in DeKalb mound sediment is 21,680 cal yr BP; the mound occurs on the northern arm of the Ransom Moraine (−88.5436°W, 41.5028°N). The youngest age, 16,250 cal yr BP, is associated with a mound on the Deerfield Moraine (−87.9102°W, 42.4260°N) located about 9 km east of Lake Michigan. The chronology of individual successions indicates the lakes persisted on the periglacial landscape for about 300 to 1500 yr.     

The role of glacio-isostasy in the formation of post-glacial river terraces in relation to the MIS 2 ice limit: evidence from northern England

In recent years it has been demonstrated that the formation of long-timescale river terrace sequences, which are generally found in areas beyond the extent of most if not all of the Middle and Late Pleistocene ice sheets, has invariably been a response to uplift during the Late Cenozoic and especially the Quaternary. Climatic fluctuation at a Milankovitch timescale has driven the alternations of aggradation and incision recorded in such terraces. It has been widely observed, however, that fluvial terraces also occur in areas glaciated during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which coincides with marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 2. This paper, in seeking to compare records from inside and outside of the LGM ice limit, concentrates on a single English river system, that of the Humber. The Humber estuary is shared by the largely Pennine-derived drainage of the Yorkshire Ouse, to the north and entirely within the MIS 2 glacial limit, and, to the south, the Trent, which is almost wholly outside the LGM limit. Thus the Trent has a terrace sequence extending back to the Middle Pleistocene, whereas in the component rivers of the Ouse system, records begin with the melting of the last glacial ice. Importantly, there is considerable difference in the disposition of the post-LGM fluvial deposits in these two subsystems. In the Ouse system there are modest terrace staircases, commencing with full glacial deposits that stand up to 30 m above the modern floodplain. In the Trent, in contrast, last glacial gravels form the foundation of the modern floodplain, with Holocene sediments emplaced directly above them. Thus there is little or no post-LGM incision in the Trent, whereas in the Ouse several incision events are recorded, continuing into the later stages of the Holocene. Wider comparison reveals that the Ouse system is an exemplar for other sequences within the MIS 2 limit, whereas systems beyond this glaciation typically have last glacial sediments beneath their modern floodplains and show little evidence of Holocene incision. The various possible explanations of these differences are discussed, with emphasis placed on glacio-isostatic uplift of areas glaciated during MIS 2 as the main reason for the significant post-glacial incision that typifies valleys in such regions. A new approach to modelling glacio-isostatic adjustment is outlined, from which it is concluded that lower-crustal flow plays a significant role in this process in regions of relatively hot and dynamic crust, like northern England, in addition to the mantle flow that is considered in conventional analyses of glacio-isostasy. Lower-crustal flow has a significant effect due to the combination of the small spatial scale of the glaciated region of northern England and the high mobility of the lower-crustal layer beneath it, due to the heating effect of the widespread Palaeozoic granite in the area.     

10Be and 26Al exposure‐age dating of bedrock surfaces on the Aran ridge,Wales: evidence for a thick Welsh Ice Cap at the Last Glacial Maximum

This paper presents results of the analysis of paired cosmogenic isotopes (¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al) from eight quartz‐rich samples collected from ice‐moulded bedrock on the Aran ridge, the highest land in the British Isles south of Snowdon. On the Aran ridge, comprising the summits of Aran Fawddwy (905 m a.s.l.) and Aran Benllyn (885 m a.s.l.), ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be ages indicate complete ice coverage and glacial erosion at the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Six samples from the summit ridge above 750–800 m a.s.l. yielded paired ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al ages ranging from 17.2 to 34.4 ka, respectively. Four of these samples are very close in age (¹⁰Be ages of 17.5 ± 0.6, 17.5 ± 0.7, 19.7 ± 0.8 and 20.0 ± 0.7 ka) and are interpreted as representing the exposure age of the summit ridge. Two other summit samples are much older (¹⁰Be ages of 27.5 ± 1.0 and 33.9 ± 1.2 ka) and these results may indicate nuclide inheritance. The ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be ratios for all samples are indistinguishable within one‐sigma uncertainty from the production rate ratio line, indicating that there is no evidence for a complex exposure history. These results indicate that the last Welsh Ice Cap was thick enough to completely cover the Aran ridge and achieve glacial erosion at the LGM. However, between c. 20 and 17 ka ridge summits were exposed as nunataks at a time when glacial erosion at lower elevations (below 750–800 m a.s.l.) was achieved by large outlet glaciers in the valleys surrounding the mountains. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

末次冰期东亚季风气候的数值模拟研究

利用一个Ｔ４２全球大气环流谱模式模拟了现代及末次冰期极盛时期边界条件下的东亚季风气候，并与中国区域内古气候变化的地质证据了对比，综合分析表明，末次末期时东亚冬季风强盛，夏季风衰退，气候大陆度增加。年平均气温普遍下降，我国华南，西北东部至华北，东北地区分别比现代降温２－４℃、８－１０℃及１０℃以上；季风多降水明显减少，与现代相比，东南沿海，江淮至华北，东北地区年降水量分别减少７０－８０％，６０－７０     

Responses to climatic changes since the Little Ice Age on Maladeta Glacier (Central Pyrenees)

The evolution of Maladeta Glacier (Maladeta massif, central Spanish Pyrenees) since the Little Ice Age maximum is analyzed in this work. The extent of the glacier was mapped into 10 stages using morainic deposits and graphic documents. Climatic data (temperature and precipitation) were reconstructed by using dendroclimatic techniques complemented by recent instrumental records. The results thus obtained confirm the control of the above mentioned climatic factors, particularly annual temperature and winter precipitation, in the evolution of Maladeta Glacier, which has receded from an extent of 152.3 ha in 1820–1830 to 54.5 ha in 2000, a 35.7% reduction in size. The rate of ice wastage has varied during that period, defining several phases of glacial stabilization (1820–1830 to 1857; 1914–1920 to 1934–1935; 1957 to 1981), moderated glacial depletion (1901–1904 to 1914–1920; 1934–1935 to 1957) and marked glacial depletion (1857 to 1901–1904; 1981 to 2000). The evolution of Maladeta Glacier is also in keeping with trends observed from other alpine Mediterranean glaciers, which have experienced a consistent rise in their equilibrium line altitudes during the 19th and 20th centuries as well as associated and prolonged periods of negative mass balance.     

Southwest African climate independent of Atlantic sea surface temperatures during the Younger Dryas

To investigate land–sea interactions during deglaciation, we compared proxies for continental (pollen percentages and accumulation rates) and marine conditions (dinoflagellate cyst percentages and alkenone-derived sea surface temperatures). The proxies were from published data from an AMS-radiocarbon-dated sedimentary record of core GeoB 1023-5 encompassing the past 21,000 years. The site is located at ca. 2000 m water depth just north of the Walvis Ridge and in the vicinity of the Cunene River mouth. We infer that the parallelism between increasing sea surface temperatures and a southward shift of the savanna occurred only during the earliest part of the deglaciation. After the Antarctic Cold Reversal, southeast Atlantic sea surface temperatures no longer influenced the vegetation development in the Kalahari. Stronger trade winds during the Antarctic Cold Reversal and the Younger Dryas period probably caused increased upwelling off the coast of Angola. A southward shift of the Atlantic anti-cyclone could have resulted in both stronger trade winds and reduced impact of the Westerlies on the climate of southwestern Africa.