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

• Published in: Geographica Helvetica
• Main Authors: Becker, Patrick, Seguinot, Julien, Jouvet, Guillaume, Funk, Martin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2018
• Subjects: geo; envir; Ice cap; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-71-173-2016; https://gh.copernicus.org/articles/71/173/2016/

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.