11 Glacial Geology and Geomorphology of Northeastern North America: Current Gaps and Future Directions

Sunday, 17 March 2024
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Contoocook Room

GROWING GLACIERS ON MT. WASHINGTON, N.H

Paper number: 11-7
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 3:15 PM – 3:35 PM

Authors

Abstract

The Laurentide Ice Sheet covered Mt. Washington during the Last Glacial Maximum (~27 ka). However, the well-developed cirques and U-shaped valleys of Mt. Washington suggest that self-sustaining mountain glaciers carved the bedrock repeatedly either prior to the Laurentide’s advance or after the Laurentide’s retreat from this site. It is unclear whether the climatic conditions after ~15 ka were cold or wet enough to result in producing glaciers on Mt. Washington. Here, we use a numerical glacier model to simulate small mountain glaciers on Mt. Washington. These simulations allow us to estimate a range of paleoclimate conditions necessary for glaciers to occupy these cirques and visualize the spatial extent of past glaciers.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 1

doi: 10.1130/abs/2024NE-397657

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