The Pyrenees: glacial landforms from the Younger Dryas (12.9–11.7 ka)
International audience As elsewhere around the North Atlantic, and throughout most European mountains, the Younger Dryas (YD: 12.9–11.7 ka) corresponded in the Pyrenees to a short period of cold climate, less intense than at the time of the Oldest Dryas (~18.9–14.6 ka) but notably colder than at the...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Book Part |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2023
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://univ-perp.hal.science/hal-03989979 https://univ-perp.hal.science/hal-03989979/document https://univ-perp.hal.science/hal-03989979/file/Chapitre%2056%20%20pour%20HAL.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91899-2.00038-3 |
Summary: | International audience As elsewhere around the North Atlantic, and throughout most European mountains, the Younger Dryas (YD: 12.9–11.7 ka) corresponded in the Pyrenees to a short period of cold climate, less intense than at the time of the Oldest Dryas (~18.9–14.6 ka) but notably colder than at the time of the Bølling–Allerød Interstadial (14.6–12.9 ka). The response of Pyrenean glaciers to the YD cold spike has been documented in just ten sites, mostly by 10Be and 36Cl exposure ages obtained from glacially-polished bedrock steps on valley floors, with only a few exposure ages from moraines and rock glaciers. Despite some uncertainty over age precision (mainly ascribable to uncertainty concerning past snow cover), all existing evidence indicates that YD glaciers, where present, prevailed mostly in the central and western Pyrenees and never exceeded lengths of 2–6 km. Ongoing deglaciation favoured paraglacial readjustments on cirque headwalls, promoting the widespread development of rock glaciers and, more locally, debris-covered glaciers. |
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