The case of a southern European glacier which survived Roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming
Mountain glaciers have generally experienced an accelerated retreat over the last 3 decades as a rapid response to current global warming. However, the response to previous warm periods in the Holocene is not well-described for glaciers of the southern Europe mountain ranges, such as the Pyrenees. T...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1157-2021 https://doaj.org/article/f94a3da0abcf4ea1915319166ac07dcf |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f94a3da0abcf4ea1915319166ac07dcf 2023-05-15T18:32:26+02:00 The case of a southern European glacier which survived Roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming A. Moreno M. Bartolomé J. I. López-Moreno J. Pey J. P. Corella J. García-Orellana C. Sancho M. Leunda G. Gil-Romera P. González-Sampériz C. Pérez-Mejías F. Navarro J. Otero-García J. Lapazaran E. Alonso-González C. Cid J. López-Martínez B. Oliva-Urcia S. H. Faria M. J. Sierra R. Millán X. Querol A. Alastuey J. M. García-Ruíz 2021-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1157-2021 https://doaj.org/article/f94a3da0abcf4ea1915319166ac07dcf EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/1157/2021/tc-15-1157-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-1157-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/f94a3da0abcf4ea1915319166ac07dcf The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 1157-1172 (2021) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1157-2021 2022-12-31T06:28:15Z Mountain glaciers have generally experienced an accelerated retreat over the last 3 decades as a rapid response to current global warming. However, the response to previous warm periods in the Holocene is not well-described for glaciers of the southern Europe mountain ranges, such as the Pyrenees. The situation during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (900–1300 CE) is particularly relevant since it is not certain whether the southern European glaciers just experienced significant ice loss or whether they actually disappeared. We present here the first chronological study of a glacier located in the Central Pyrenees (NE Spain), Monte Perdido Glacier (MPG), carried out by different radiochronological techniques and a comparison with geochemical proxies from neighbouring palaeoclimate records. The chronological model evidences that the glacier persisted during the Roman period and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. The apparent absence of ice in the past ∼ 600 years suggests that any ice accumulated during the Little Ice Age has since ablated. This interpretation is supported by measured concentrations of anthropogenic metals, including Zn, Se, Cd, Hg and Pb, which have concentrations well below those typical of industrial-age ice measured at other glaciers in Europe. This study strengthens the general understanding that warming of the past few decades has been exceptional for the past 2 millennia. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 15 2 1157 1172 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 A. Moreno M. Bartolomé J. I. López-Moreno J. Pey J. P. Corella J. García-Orellana C. Sancho M. Leunda G. Gil-Romera P. González-Sampériz C. Pérez-Mejías F. Navarro J. Otero-García J. Lapazaran E. Alonso-González C. Cid J. López-Martínez B. Oliva-Urcia S. H. Faria M. J. Sierra R. Millán X. Querol A. Alastuey J. M. García-Ruíz The case of a southern European glacier which survived Roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Mountain glaciers have generally experienced an accelerated retreat over the last 3 decades as a rapid response to current global warming. However, the response to previous warm periods in the Holocene is not well-described for glaciers of the southern Europe mountain ranges, such as the Pyrenees. The situation during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (900–1300 CE) is particularly relevant since it is not certain whether the southern European glaciers just experienced significant ice loss or whether they actually disappeared. We present here the first chronological study of a glacier located in the Central Pyrenees (NE Spain), Monte Perdido Glacier (MPG), carried out by different radiochronological techniques and a comparison with geochemical proxies from neighbouring palaeoclimate records. The chronological model evidences that the glacier persisted during the Roman period and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. The apparent absence of ice in the past ∼ 600 years suggests that any ice accumulated during the Little Ice Age has since ablated. This interpretation is supported by measured concentrations of anthropogenic metals, including Zn, Se, Cd, Hg and Pb, which have concentrations well below those typical of industrial-age ice measured at other glaciers in Europe. This study strengthens the general understanding that warming of the past few decades has been exceptional for the past 2 millennia. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. Moreno M. Bartolomé J. I. López-Moreno J. Pey J. P. Corella J. García-Orellana C. Sancho M. Leunda G. Gil-Romera P. González-Sampériz C. Pérez-Mejías F. Navarro J. Otero-García J. Lapazaran E. Alonso-González C. Cid J. López-Martínez B. Oliva-Urcia S. H. Faria M. J. Sierra R. Millán X. Querol A. Alastuey J. M. García-Ruíz |
author_facet |
A. Moreno M. Bartolomé J. I. López-Moreno J. Pey J. P. Corella J. García-Orellana C. Sancho M. Leunda G. Gil-Romera P. González-Sampériz C. Pérez-Mejías F. Navarro J. Otero-García J. Lapazaran E. Alonso-González C. Cid J. López-Martínez B. Oliva-Urcia S. H. Faria M. J. Sierra R. Millán X. Querol A. Alastuey J. M. García-Ruíz |
author_sort |
A. Moreno |
title |
The case of a southern European glacier which survived Roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming |
title_short |
The case of a southern European glacier which survived Roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming |
title_full |
The case of a southern European glacier which survived Roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming |
title_fullStr |
The case of a southern European glacier which survived Roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming |
title_full_unstemmed |
The case of a southern European glacier which survived Roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming |
title_sort |
case of a southern european glacier which survived roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1157-2021 https://doaj.org/article/f94a3da0abcf4ea1915319166ac07dcf |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 1157-1172 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/1157/2021/tc-15-1157-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-1157-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/f94a3da0abcf4ea1915319166ac07dcf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1157-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
1157 |
op_container_end_page |
1172 |
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1766216541632724992 |