Cordilleran Ice Sheet Stability During the Last Deglaciation

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Darvill, C. M., Menounos, B., Goehring, B. M., Lesnek, A. J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Cordilleran Ice Sheet; cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating; deglaciation; stability; thinning; British Columbia; Canada; Pacific; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/d67b98f0-20ba-422e-ab88-2566c1b8236c; https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097191; http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131308999&partnerID=8YFLogxK

We report 20 10 Be exposure ages from glacial erratics and bedrock on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada, which add to existing chronologies of Cordilleran Ice Sheet retreat along ∼600 km of coastal North America. Collectively, these data show the western ice limit reached the present coast by 18–16 ka then retreat slowed for ∼4,000 years until 14–13 ka. We attribute initial retreat to destabilization and grounding line retreat resulting from rising sea level and/or ocean warming in the northern Pacific. Subsequent stability of the ice sheet at the present coastal margin was likely due to the transition from marine to terrestrial margins despite increasing temperatures that may have driven ice sheet thinning. Our findings demonstrate the importance of understanding both climatic and nonclimatic drivers of ice sheet change through time.