The onset of Neoglaciation 6000 years ago in western Mongolia revealed by an ice core from the Tsambagarav mountain range ...

• Main Authors: Herren, Pierre-Alain, Eichler, Anja, Machguth, Horst, Papina, Tatyana, Tobler, Leonhard, Zapf, Alexander, Schwikowski, Margit
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Pergamon 2013
• Subjects: 570 Life sciences; biology; 540 Chemistry; Ice cap; ice core
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.46229; https://boris.unibe.ch/46229/

Glacier highstands since the Last Glacial Maximum are well documented for many regions, but little is known about glacier fluctuations and lowstands during the Holocene. This is because the traces of minimum extents are difficult to identify and at many places are still ice covered, limiting the access to sample material. Here we report a new approach to assess minimal glacier extent, using a 72-m long surface-to-bedrock ice core drilled on Khukh Nuru Uul, a glacier in the Tsambagarav mountain range of the Mongolian Altai (4130 m asl, 48°39.338′N, 90°50.826′E). The small ice cap has low ice temperatures and flat bedrock topography at the drill site. This indicates minimal lateral glacier flow and thereby preserved climate signals. The upper two-thirds of the ice core contain 200 years of climate information with annual resolution, whereas the lower third is subject to strong thinning of the annual layers with a basal ice age of approximately 6000 years before present (BP). We interpret the basal ice age as ...