Last Glacial Maximum precipitation pattern in the Alps inferred from glacier modelling

• Published in: Geographica Helvetica
• Main Authors: P. Becker, J. Seguinot, G. Jouvet, M. Funk
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: German; English; French; Italian
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2016
• Subjects: Human ecology. Anthropogeography; GF1-900; Geography (General); G1-922; Cartography; GA101-1776; Ice cap; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-71-173-2016; https://doaj.org/article/82954dc7be964f30b5bfbbc6285258e5

During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), glaciers in the Alps reached a maximum extent, and broad sections of the foreland were covered by ice. In this study, we simulated the alpine ice cap using a glacier flow model to constrain the prevailing precipitation pattern with a geomorphological reconstruction of ice extent. For this purpose we forced the model using different temperature cooling and precipitation reduction factors. The use of the present-day precipitation pattern led to a systematic overestimation of the ice cover on the northern part of the Alps relative to the southern part. To reproduce the LGM ice cap, a more severe decrease in precipitation in the north than in the south was required. This result supports a southwesterly advection of atmospheric moisture to the Alps, sustained by a southward shift of the North Atlantic storm track during the LGM.