Glacier response in the European Alps to Heinrich Event 1 cooling: the Gschnitz stadial |
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| Authors: | Susan Ivy-Ochs Hanns Kerschner Peter W Kubik Christian Schlüchter |
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| Institution: | 1. Teilchenphysik, ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland, and Geographisches Institut, Universität Zurich-Irchel, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland;2. Institut für Geographie, Universität Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria;3. Paul Scherrer Institut c/o Teilchenphysik, ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland;4. Geologisches Institut, Universität Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | The Gschnitz stadial was a period of regionally extensive glacier advance in the European Alps that lies temporally between the breakdown of the Last Glacial Maximum piedmont lobes and the beginning of the Bølling warm interval. Moraines of the Gschnitz stadial are found in medium to small catchments, are steep‐walled and blocky, and reflect a snowline lowering of 650–700 m in comparison to the Little Ice Age reference snowline. 10Be surface exposure dating of boulders from the moraine at the type locality at Trins (Gschnitz valley, Tyrol, Austria) shows that it stabilised no later than 15 400 ± 1400 yr ago. The overall morphological situation and the long reaction time of the glacier suggest that the climatic downturn lasted about 500 ± 300 yr, indicating that the Gschnitz cold period began approximately 15 900 ± 1400 yr ago, if not somewhat earlier. This is consistent with published radiocarbon dates that imply that the stadial occurred sometime between 15 400 14C yr BP (18 020–19 100 cal. yr) and 13 250 14C yr BP (15 360–16 015 cal. yr). A palaeoclimatic interpretation of the Gschnitz glacier based on a simple glacier flow model and statistical glacier‐climate models shows that precipitation was about one‐third of modern‐day precipitation and summer temperatures were about 10 K lower than today. In comparison, during the Younger Dryas, precipitation in this area was only about 10% less and Ts (summer temperature) was only 3.5–4 K lower than modern values. Based on the age of the moraine and the cold and dry climate at that time, we suggest that the Gschnitz stadial was the response of Alpine glaciers to cooling of the North Atlantic Ocean associated with Heinrich Event 1. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | Alpine Lateglacial moraines cosmogenic 10Be surface exposure dating Oldest Dryas |
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