Geological Society of America

T341 Mountain Glaciation and Climate Change of the Past and Present in the Western Americas

Wednesday, 25 October 2017
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Chelan 5

WASATCH RANGE, UT GLACIER RECONSTRUCTIONS FOR THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM AND LATEGLACIAL

Paper number: T341-9
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 3:30 PM – 3:45 PM

Authors

Brendon J. Quirk Presenting Author
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Jeffrey R. Moore
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Benjamin Laabs
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND
Mitchell A. Plummer
Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID
Jenna Taylor
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Abstract

Paleoglacier reconstructions play a critical role in furthering our understanding of past and present climate variability; especially when coupled to high resolution glacial chronologies. Specifically, glacier reconstructions have shown valuable utility informing and validating paleo-climate model simulation results. Here we present glacier modeling results for the Last Glacial Maximum and Lateglacial in several canyons in the Wasatch Range, UT using the Plummer & Phillips energy-mass balance and ice-flow models. The results, when compared with previously published climate proxy records (e.g. pluvial lake reconstructions), constrain a relatively narrow range of possible temperature depressions and precipitation changes in the Wasatch for both the Last Glacial Maximum and Lateglacial. Additionally, we show that these models can be used to predict ice-extents in drainages lacking clear terminus features by extending model domains to include nearby canyons with well-defined termini.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-303263

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