Last glacial maximum precipitation pattern in the alps inferred from glacier Modelling

• Main Authors: Becker, Patrick, Seguinot, Julien, id_orcid:0 000-0002-5315-0761, Jouvet, Guillaume, Funk, Martin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus 2016
• Subjects: Ice cap; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/119855; https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000119855

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. ISSN:0016-7312