Geological Society of America

15 Glacial Landscapes as Recorders of Geomorphic Process and Climate Change

Monday, 21 March 2016
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Meeting Room 1

A BI-HEMISPHERIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE LAST GLACIAL TERMINATION FROM THE SOUTHERN ALPS OF NEW ZEALAND AND THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN MONGOLIA

Paper number: 15-11
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 4:30 PM – 4:50 PM

Authors

Peter Strand Presenting Author
University of Maine, Orono, ME
Ariunsanaa Dorj
Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Ulaanbaatar
Pagamsuren Amarsaikhan
Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Ulaanbaatar
Tsetsenbileg Bavuu
Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Ulaanbaatar
Oyungerel Sambuu
Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Ulaanbaatar
Aaron E. Putnam
University of Maine, Orono, ME
Joerg M. Schaefer
Columbia University, Palisades, NY
George H. Denton
University of Maine, Orono, ME
David E. Putnam
University of Maine at Presque Isle, Presque Isle, ME
Tobias N.B. Koffman
Columbia University, Palisades, NY
David Barrell
GNS Science, Dunedin
Roseanne Schwartz
Columbia University, Palisades, NY
Caleb W. Ward
University of Maine at Presque Isle, Presque Isle, ME

Abstract

The last glacial termination ~18,000 – 11,000 yrs ago represents the last great global warming and the last time CO₂ rose by a substantial amount before the industrial period. An understanding of this remarkable climate event will help hone our understanding of the processes that drove warming to completion and of the climate system sensitivity to natural and human forcing factors, such as atmospheric CO₂. Here, we test possible drivers of the last glacial termination by comparing chronologies of mountain glacier recession in the middle latitudes of both polar hemispheres. Extra-polar mountain glaciers are highly sensitive to atmospheric temperature, and glacier landforms afford insight into past climate conditions. We present ¹⁰Be surface-exposure chronologies and glacial geomorphologic maps of mountain glacier recession since the Last Glacial Maximum in the Southern Alps of New Zealand (44°S, 170°E) and in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia (49°N, 88°E). On the basis of these chronologies, we will evaluate the relative roles of rising atmospheric CO₂, local insolation forcing, and ocean-atmosphere reorganizations in driving the warming that ended the last ice age.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 1

doi: 10.1130/abs/2016NE-272048

© Copyright 2016 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.