Evidence of early Holocene glacial advances in southern South America from cosmogenic surface-exposure dating
Published in:
Geology 33,3 (2005) 237-240;
Link to original published article:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G21144.1; 3
Abstract
Cosmogenic nuclide surface-exposure dating reveals that glaciers in southern South America (46degreesS) advanced ca. 8.5 and 6.2 ka, likely as a result of a northward migration of the Southern Westerlies that caused an increase in precipitation and/or a decrease in temperature at this latitude. The older advance precedes the currently accepted initiation of Holocene glacial activity in southern South America by similar to3000 yr. Both of these advances are temporally synchronous with Holocene climate oscillations that occurred in Greenland and the rest of the world. If there are causal links between these events, then rapid climate changes appear to be either externally forced (e.g., solar variability) or are rapidly propagated around the globe (e.g., atmospheric processes).
Keywords
cosmogenic elements;; exposure age;; paleoclimatology;; glacial geology;; chile;; patagonia;; climate variability;; north-atlantic;; chronology;; patagonia;; history;; chile;; fluctuations;; argentina;; cardiel;; record
Date of this Version
January 2005