Extensive glaciation in Transbaikalia, Siberia, at the Last Glacial Maximum
- Successively smaller glacial extents have been proposed for continental Eurasia during the stadials of the last glacial period leading up to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). At the same time the large mountainous region east of Lake Baikal, Transbaikalia, has remained unexplored in terms of glacial chronology despite clear geomorphological evidence of substantial past glaciations. We have applied cosmogenic Be-10 exposure dating and optically stimulated luminescence to establish the first quantitative glacial chronology for this region. Based on eighteen exposure ages from five moraine complexes, we propose that large mountain ice fields existed in the Kodar and Udokan mountains during Oxygen Isotope Stage 2, commensurate with the global LGM. These ice fields fed valley glaciers (>100 km in length) reaching down to the Chara Depression between the Kodar and Udokan mountains and to the valley of the Vitim River northwest of the Kodar Mountains. Two of the investigated moraines date to the Late Glacial, but indications of incompleteSuccessively smaller glacial extents have been proposed for continental Eurasia during the stadials of the last glacial period leading up to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). At the same time the large mountainous region east of Lake Baikal, Transbaikalia, has remained unexplored in terms of glacial chronology despite clear geomorphological evidence of substantial past glaciations. We have applied cosmogenic Be-10 exposure dating and optically stimulated luminescence to establish the first quantitative glacial chronology for this region. Based on eighteen exposure ages from five moraine complexes, we propose that large mountain ice fields existed in the Kodar and Udokan mountains during Oxygen Isotope Stage 2, commensurate with the global LGM. These ice fields fed valley glaciers (>100 km in length) reaching down to the Chara Depression between the Kodar and Udokan mountains and to the valley of the Vitim River northwest of the Kodar Mountains. Two of the investigated moraines date to the Late Glacial, but indications of incomplete exposure among some of the sampled boulders obscure the specific details of the post-LGM glacial history. In addition to the LGM ice fields in the highest mountains of Transbaikalia, we report geomorphological evidence of a much more extensive, ice-cap type glaciation at a time that is yet to be firmly resolved. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.…
Author details: | Martin Margold, John D. JansenORCiD, Artem L. Gurinov, Alexandru T. Codilean, David Fink, Frank Preusser, Natalya V. Reznichenko, Charles Mifsud |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.018 |
ISSN: | 0277-3791 |
Title of parent work (English): | Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Place of publishing: | Oxford |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first publication: | 2016 |
Publication year: | 2016 |
Release date: | 2020/03/22 |
Tag: | Cosmogenic Be-10 exposure dating; Glaciation; Last Glacial Maximum; Optically stimulated luminescence; Transbaikalia |
Volume: | 132 |
Number of pages: | 14 |
First page: | 161 |
Last Page: | 174 |
Funding institution: | Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography; Bolin Centre for Climate Research; Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences [F0A12Althin-034]; Stockholm University; Stiftelse [YMER-80]; Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering [ALNGRA12021P]; Australian Research Council [DP130104023] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Institution name at the time of the publication: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften |