Mediterranean perennial snowfields and ice bodies on the brink of extinction. The story of Mount Olympus, Greece (original) (raw)
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In situ produced cosmogenic 36 Cl Surface exposure dating (SED) Glacial phases Late-glacial Holocene Northeast Mediterranean Mount Olympus Greece a b s t r a c t In this study, we present a new glacial chronology based on 20 in situ-produced 36 Cl-based cosmic ray exposure datings from moraine boulders and bedrock from the Throne of Zeus (TZ) and Megala Kazania (MK) cirques on Mount Olympus. The 36 Cl derived ages of glacial landforms range from 15.6 ± 2.0 to 0.64 ± 0.08 ka, spanning the Late-glacial and the Holocene. The Late-glacial, recorded in both cirques, is partitioned in three distinct phases (LG1-3): an initial phase of moraine stabilization at 15.5 ± 2.0 ka with subsequent deglaciation starting at ~14 ka (LG1), followed by a shift to marginal conditions for glaciation at 13.5 ± 2.0 ka (LG2), sustained by large amounts of wind-blown snow, despite regional warming. Glacial conditions returned at 12.5 ± 1.5 ka (LG3) and were characterized by low air temperatures and glacier shrinking. The Holocene glacial phases (HOL1-3) are recorded only in the MK cirque, likely due to its topographic attributes. An early Holocene glacier stillstand (HOL1) at 9.6 ± 1.1 ka follows the regional temperatures recovery. No glacier activity is observed during the mid-Holocene. The Late Holocene glacier expansions, include a moraine stabilization phase (HOL2) at 2.5 ± 0.3 ka, during wet conditions and solar insolation minima, while (HOL3) corresponds to the early part of the Little Ice Age (0.64 ± 0.08ka). Our glacial chronology is coherent with glacial chronologies from several cirques along the northeast Mediterranean mountains and in pace with numerous proxies from terrestrial and marine systems from the north Aegean Sea.
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Geomorphologic and paleoclimatic evidence of Holocene glaciation on Mount Olympus, Greece
This study investigates the possibility of Holocene glaciation on Mount Olympus (Greece) with a respective local temperature–precipitation equilibrium line altitude (TP-ELA) at c. 2200 m a.s.l., based on geomorphologic and paleoclimatic evidence. At present, the local TP-ELA is situated above the mountain’s summit (c. 2918 m a.s.l.), but permanent snowfields and ice bodies survive within Megala Kazania cirque between c. 2400 and c. 2300 m a.s.l., because of the cirque’s maritime setting that results from its close proximity (c. 18 km) to the Aegean Sea and of the local topographical controls. The snow and ice bodies occupied a considerably larger area and attained a stabilization phase between AD 1960 and 1980, also manifested from aerial photographs, a period characterized by increased winter precipitation (Pw) with subsequent TP-ELA depression to c. 2410 m a.s.l. Mid- to late-20thcentury Pw and TP-ELA variations exhibit negative correlations with the winter North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAOw) at annual and multidecadal (30 years) timescales. Late Holocene (AD 1680–1860) reconstructed summer mean temperatures were lower by Ts < 1.1°C in relation to the reference period between AD 1960 and 1980 and were also superimposed to negative NAOw phases, thus bracketing this time interval as a favorable one to glacial formation and/or advance. Millennial-scale annual precipitation reconstructions at the hypothesized TP-ELA (c. 2200 m a.s.l.) point the period between 8 and 4 kyr BP as another glacier-friendly candidate. The mid-Holocene rather simplistic sequence of potential glacial advance phase was disturbed by short-lived cold climatic deteriorations, well-documented over the northern Aegean region that may partly explain the multicrested shape of the highest (c. 2200 m a.s.l.) morainic complex of Megala Kazania cirque.
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2020
The Holocene glaciations in the majority of Eastern Mediterranean mountains are generally obscured, as warm climate and their relatively low elevations prohibited the formation of glacial ice and discernible glacial landforms. This work reviews the Holocene glacial phases on Mount Olympus, emphasizes the relative roles of external forcing and of the climatic drivers that triggered each episode of glaciation and traces the climatic signal of a Late Holocene glacial phase from source to sink. The Late Holocene glacial phase on Mount Olympus took place between 3.3 and 2.3 ka BP, during a period of solar minima, a negative phase of NAO, and overall wet conditions characterized by enhanced fluvial inputs in the North Aegean Sea, and also by increasing human-induced erosion in the lowlands. The climatic expression associated with the Late Holocene inception of glacial ice on Mount Olympus, detected in speleothem, paleoflood, marine sedimentary and planktonic foraminiferal records, may have occurred in other high cirques of the Balkan Peninsular and the Eastern Mediterranean.
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In this study, fossil debris-covered glaciers are investigated and dated in the Sierra de la Demanda, northern Spain. They are located in glacial valleys of approximately 1 km in length, where several mo-raines represent distinct phases of the deglaciation period. Several boulders in the moraines and fossil debris-covered glaciers were selected for analysis of 10 Be surface exposure dating. A minimum age of 17.8 ± 2.2 ka was obtained for the outermost moraine in the San Lorenzo cirque, and was attributed to the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) or earlier glacial stages, based on deglaciation dates determined in other mountain areas of northern Spain. The youngest moraines were dated to approximately 16.7 ± 1.4 ka, and hence correspond to the GS-2a stadial (Oldest Dryas). Given that the debris-covered glaciers fossilize intermediate moraines, it was deduced that they developed between the LGM and the Oldest Dryas, coinciding with a period of extensive deglaciation. During this deglaciation phase, the cirque headwalls likely discharged large quantities of boulders and blocks that covered the residual ice masses. The resulting debris-covered glaciers evolved slowly because the debris mantle preserved the ice core from rapid ablation, and consequently they remained active until the end of the Late Glacial or the beginning of the Holocene (for the San Lorenzo cirque) and the Holocene Thermal Maximum (for the Mencilla cirque). The north-facing part of the Mencilla cirque ensured longer preservation of the ice core.
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Deglaciation chronology of the Bystra catchment (Western Tatra Mountains) has been reconstructed based on 10 Be exposure age dating. Fourteen rock samples were collected from boulders located on three moraines that limit the horizontal extent of the LGM maximum advance and the Lateglacial recessional stage. The oldest preserved, maximum moraine was dated at 15.5 ± 0.8 ka, an age that could be explained more likely by post-depositional erosion of the moraine. Such scenario is supported by geomorphologic and palaeoclimatological evidence. The younger cold stage is represented by well-preserved termino-lateral moraine systems in the Kondratowa and Sucha Kasprowa valleys. The distribution of the moraine ridges in both valleys suggest a complex history of deglaciation of the area. The first Late-glacial re-advance (LG1) was followed by a cold oscillation (LG2), that occurred at around 14.0 ± 0.7e13.7 ± 1.2 ka. Glaciers during both stages had nearly the same horizontal extent, however, their thickness and geometry changed significantly, mainly due to local climatic conditions triggered by topography, controlling the exposition to solar radiation. The LG1 stage occurred probably during the pre-Bølling cold stage (Greenland Stadial 2.1a), however, the LG2 stage can be correlated with the cooling at around 14 ka during the Greenland Interstadial 1 (GI-1d e Older Dryas). This is the first chronological evidence of the Older Dryas in the Tatra Mountains. The ELA of the maximum Bystra glacier was located at 1480 m a.s.l. in accordance with the ELA in the High Tatra Mountains during the LGM. During the LG1 and LG2 stages, the ELA in the catchment rose up to 1520e1530 m a.s.l. and was located approximately 100e150 m lower than in the eastern part of the massif. Climate modelling results show that the Bystra glacier (maximum advance) could have advanced in the catchment when mean annual temperature was lower than today by 11e12 C and precipitation was reduced by 40e60%. This is in accordance with LGM conditions previously reported for the High Tatras. During the LG1 and LG2 stages the temperature decrease in the study area reached 10 C and precipitation was lower by ~30% compare to modern conditions. This resulted in slightly higher accumulation (20e30%) in the Western Tatra Mountains compare to the High Tatra Mountains.
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The mountain ranges of the Iberian Peninsula preserve a valuable record of past glaciations that may help reconstruct past atmospheric circulation patterns in response to cooling events in the North Atlantic Ocean. Available chronologies for the glacial record of the Cantabrian Mountains, which are mainly based on radiocarbon and luminescence dating of glacial-related sediments, suggest that glaciers recorded their Glacial Maximum (GM) during MIS 3 and experienced a later Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) advance. This LGM extent is not established yet, preventing a fair correlation with available Cosmic Ray Exposure (CRE) based chronologies for the glacial record of the Pyrenees and the Sistema Central. We present a glacial reconstruction and a 10 Be CRE chronology for the Porma valley, in the southern slope of the central Cantabrian Mountains. Glacial evidence at the lowest altitudes correspond to erratic boulders and composite moraines whose minimum 10 Be CRE age of 113.9 ± 7.1 ka suggests that glaciers were at their maximum extent during MIS 5d, most likely in response to the minima in summertime insolation of the Last Glacial Cycle. Recessional moraines preserved within the glacial maximum limits allow the assessment of subsequent glacier advances or stagnations. The most remarkable advance took place prior to 55.7 ± 4.0 ka (probably at the end of MIS 4), consistently with minimum radiocarbon ages previously reported for lacustrine glacial-related deposits in the Cantabrian Mountains. A limited number of 10 Be CRE ages from a composite moraine suggest a possible advance of the Porma glacier coeval with the global LGM; the glacier front attributed to the LGM would be placed within the margins of the previous GM like in the western Pyrenees. Erratic boulders perched on an ice-moulded bedrock surface provided a mean 10 Be CRE age of 17.7 ± 1.0 ka, suggesting that part of the recessional moraine sequence corresponds to minor advances or stagnations of the glacier fronts during the Lateglacial period. This recessional response is consistent with deglacial chronologies previously established in the Pyrenees and the Sistema Central, and correlates with the coldest and driest conditions of MIS 2 according to lacustrine records. Finally, a relict rock glacier provided a mean 10 Be CRE age of 15.7 ± 0.8 ka for movement cessation of its toe, indicating that periglacial conditions prevailed, at least, until the end of Heinrich Stadial 1/Mystery Interval.
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New evidence in the NW region of the Iberian Peninsula (~42°N 6°W) of a glacial advance coeval with the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) of the Marine Isotope Stage 2 has been identified through a dataset of exposure ages based on 23 10Be concentration measurements carried out on boulder samples taken from a set of latero-frontal moraines. Results span the interval 19.2-15.4 10Be ka, matching the last deglaciation period when Iberia experienced the coldest and driest conditions of the last 25 ka, and are consistent with Lateglacial chronologies established in other mountain regions from SW Europe. The extent of the LGM stade identified in this work is similar to the local maximum ice extent stade recorded and dated as prior to 33 ka using radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence. This work showcases how multiple-dating approaches and detailed geomorphological mapping are required to reconstruct realistic palaeoglacier evolution models.
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We report the timing of glaciations during the Late Quaternary in the central Taurus Mountains of Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean. Forty moraine samples from three glacial valleys on Mount Geyikda g (36.53 N, 32.10 E, 2877 m), near the Eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, were dated with in-situ cosmogenic 36 Cl. These glacial valleys are located on the southern flank of the mountain and were filled with few km long glaciers that terminated at elevations of about 1750 m above sea level. Three glacial retreats/advances were determined in this study. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), glaciers reached their maximum positions at 20.6 ± 0.6 ka ago (±1s). This date is in accordance with the timing of local maximum ice extent, represented by piedmont glaciers in the northern side of the mountain. Glaciers started to retreat after the LGM and shortly stabilized or re-advanced two times before they completely vanished out. The first stage ended before 13.7 ± 0.8 ka ago during the Late-glacial. The last glaciation occurred during the Holocene and ended between 9.6 ± 1.4 ka and 5.9 ± 0.5 ka ago. Later, glaciers mostly vanished from the study area, but a few rock glaciers developed during the Late Holocene. Glacial chronologies of Mount Geyikda g are mostly comparable with the globally observed advances elsewhere.
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10Be exposure age chronology of the last glaciation was established in a key area at the southern slopes of the High Tatra Mts., Western Carpathians. In-situ produced 10Be in moraine boulders, glacially transformed bedrock surfaces and rockfall accumulations constrains the timing of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) glacier expansion and provides chronological evidence for the post-LGM decay of one of the largest paleoglaciers in the range. The uncertainty-weighted mean age of 22.0 ± 0.8 ka obtained for the terminal moraine in the forefield of the Velka Studena dolina Valley indicates that the oldest moraine was deposited close to the global LGM. This finding confirms that well-preserved moraines in the range were formed during the last glacial cycle and that glaciation on the southern flank of the range was more extensive than earlier in the last glacial cycle. The maximum glacier extent correlates with late Würmian/Weichselian glacier phases in the Alps, the Bavarian/Bohemian Forest and the Krkonose Mts., but probably postdates the period of maximum glaciation in the Southern Carpathians. Re-advance moraines at the mouth of the Velka Studena dolina Valley and in the middle part of the Mala Studena dolina Valley were deposited no later than around 20.5 ka and 15.5 ka, respectively. The timing of these advances is broadly synchronous within the High Tatra Mts. as well as with glacier advances in the Alps, Bavarian/Bohemian Forest and Krkonose Mts. 10Be exposure ages obtained from glacially transformed bedrock surfaces range between 20.5 ± 1.7 ka and 10.7 ± 0.3 ka constraining the onset and the final phase of the deglaciation. Surface exposure dating of four rockfall accumulations produced uncertainty-weighted mean ages of 20.2 ± 1.2 ka, 17.0 ± 0.7 ka, 16.5 ± 0.4 ka and 15.6 ± 0.7 ka. These ages indicate that activation of rock-slope failures occurred under paraglacial conditions within a few centuries up to 1400 years after the formation of re-advance moraines.
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