A cosmogenic nuclide-derived chronology of pre-Last Glacial Cycle glaciations during MIS 8 and MIS 6 in northern Patagonia

• Published in: Climate of the Past
• Main Authors: Leger, Tancrède, Hein, Andrew, Rodés, Ángel, Bingham, Robert, Schimmelpfennig, Irene, Fabel, Derek, Tapia, Pablo
• Other Authors: University of Edinburgh, Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement (CEREGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Patagonia; Argentina; Antarc*; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03937287; https://hal.science/hal-03937287/document; https://hal.science/hal-03937287/file/Leger%20et%20al.%202023%20MIS6-8%20Patagonia.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-35-2023

International audience Abstract. The precise environmental mechanisms controlling Quaternary glacial cycles remain ambiguous. To address this problem, it is critical to better comprehend the drivers of spatio-temporal variability in ice-sheet evolution by establishing reliable chronologies of former outlet-glacier advances. When spanning multiple glacial cycles, such chronologies have the capacity to contribute to knowledge on the topic of interhemispheric phasing of glaciations and climate events. In southern Argentina, reconstructions of this kind are achievable, as Quaternary expansions of the Patagonian Ice Sheet have emplaced a well-preserved geomorphological record covering several glacial cycles. Moreover, robust ice-sheet reconstructions from Patagonia are powerful barometers of former climate change, as Patagonian glaciers are influenced by the Southern Westerly Winds and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current coupled to them. It is essential to better constrain former shifts in these circulation mechanisms as they may have played a critical role in pacing regional and possibly global Quaternary climate change. Here, we present a new set of cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al exposure ages from pre-Last Glacial Cycle moraine boulder, glaciofluvial outwash cobble, and bedrock samples. This dataset constitutes the first direct chronology dating pre-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) glacier advances in northern Patagonia and completes our effort to date the entire preserved moraine record of the Río Corcovado valley system (43∘ S, 71∘ W). We find that the outermost margins of the study site depict at least three distinct pre-Last Glacial Cycle stadials occurring around 290–270, 270–245, and 130–150 ka. Combined with the local LGM chronology, we discover that a minimum of four distinct Pleistocene stadials occurred during Marine Isotope Stages 8, 6, and 2 in northern Patagonia. Evidence for Marine Isotope Stage 4 and 3 deposits were not found at the study site. This may illustrate former longitudinal and latitudinal ...