Asynchroneity of maximum glacier advances in the central Spanish Pyrenees

• Published in: Journal of Quaternary Science
• Main Authors: García-Ruiz, José María, Valero-Garcés, Blas L., Martí Bono, Carlos Enrique, González-Sampériz, Penélope
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2002
• Subjects: Last Glacial Maximum; Glaciers; Upper Gállego Valley; Central Pyrenees; Glacial Lake; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/47613; https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.715

31 páginas, 7 figuras, 1 tabla The deglaciation history of the Escarra and Lana Mayor glaciers (Upper Gállego valley, Central Spanish Pyrenees) was reconstructed on the basis of detailed geomorphological studies of glacier deposits, sedimentological and palynological analyses of glacial lakes sediments and an AMS chronology based on minimum ages from glacial lake deposits. The maximum extent of the Pyrenean glaciers during the last glaciation was before 30,000 years B.P. and predated the maximum advances of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and some Alpine glaciers. A later advance occurred during the coldest period (around 20,000 years B.P.) synchronous with the maximum global ice extent, but in the Pyrenees it was less extensive than the previous one. Later, there were minor advances followed by a stage of debris-covered glaciers and a phase of moraine formation near cirque backwalls. The deglaciation chronology of the Upper Gállego valley provides more examples of the general asynchroneity between mountain and continental glaciers. The asynchroneity of maximum advances may be explained by different regional responses to climatic forcing and by the southern latitudes of the Pyrenees. This work was part of the Project "Isotope sedimentology of 40 ka time-series from Iberian sites as a test for abrupt arid/humid switching within the Mediterranean climate zone" (EAR 941-8657), funded by the National Science Foundation, USA, and the Project "Arid periods in the Mediterranean area since the Last Glacial Maximum" (REN2000-1136/CLI), funded by the Spanish “Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología”. The authors thank Dr. Colin Ballantyne, Dr. Valérie Andrieu-Ponel and Dr. María Fernanda Sánchez-Goñi for their criticisms and suggestions that improved the manuscript. Peer reviewed