palaeo moisture evolution in monsoonal central asia during the last 50 000 years abstract the late quaternary climate history of monsoonal central asia was inferred from 75 palaeoclimatic records which provide information about moisture conditions in the last 50 ka or part of this period wet conditions occurred during middle and late marine isotope stage 3 while the last glacial maximum lgm was characterized by dry climate conditions in the region a stepwise climate amelioration is suggested by the climate records following the lgm several climate signals of this period which were reported from high latitude ice core records are preserved in archives from monsoonal central asia as well during the early holocene high effective moisture was inferred from most records from the area dominated by the indian monsoon e g the tibetan plateau suggesting that holocene optimal climate conditions occurred there during this period in contrast areas which are dominated by the south east asian monsoon se monsoon and the westerlies in north western and north central china mongolia do not uniformly show an early holocene climate optimum for this area optimal conditions prevailed during the mid holocene these apparent contradictions can possibly be explained by the regional uplift and descent of air masses in the holocene during the early holocene strengthened insolation possibly caused an enhanced low level convergence over the tibetan plateau which led to the intensification of the summer monsoon the strong air uplift caused intensified precipitation and air divergence in the upper troposphere over the tibetan plateau the areas adjacent to the north therefore experienced an intensified descent of air masses and consequently increased aridity the majority of the palaeoclimatic records suggest reduced effective moisture since the late holocene in the region

quaternary glaciation of the lato massif zanskar range of the nw himalaya abstract the glacial chronostratigraphy and history of the lato massif of zanskar northern india is defined for the first time using geomorphic mapping and 10be surface exposure dating three local glacial stages the lato shiyul and kyambu are dated to 244 49 25 15 and 3 4 0 2 ka respectively the lato glacial stage was the most extensive period of glaciation characterized by expanded ice caps with glaciers advancing to 16 km from their present position large till deposits are associated with this glacial stage which represent a time of heightened glacial erosion and localized incision and increased rates of sediment transfer and deposition the glacial style transitioned to entrenched valley glaciation during the shiyul glacial stage hummocky moraine complexes reflecting fluctuating glacier margins characterize this glaciation glaciers have been confined to the cirques and headwalls of the massif during and since the kyambu glacial stage equilibrium line altitude ela reconstructions help define the shifts in glaciation over time with ela depressions changing from 470 140 270 80 to 100 30 m for the lato shiyul and kyambu glacial stages respectively the change of glacial style during the latter part of the quaternary is similar to other regions of the transhimalaya and tibet suggesting that this pattern of glaciation may reflect regional climatic forcing the evolution of the lato massif from an isolated alpine plateau to a steeply incised massif over the last several glacial interglacial cycles may have also influenced the shifts from ice cap to valley glaciation

quaternary glaciation of the himalayan tibetan orogen glacial geological evidence from throughout the himalayan tibetan orogen is examined to determine the timing and extent of late quaternary glaciation in this region and its relation to similar changes on a global scale the evidence summarised here supports the existence of expanded ice caps and extensive valley glacier systems throughout the region during the late quaternary however it cannot yet be determined whether the timing of the extent of maximum glaciation was synchronous throughout the entire region or whether the response was more varied the lack of organic material needed for radiocarbon dating has hindered past progress in glacial reconstruction however application of optically stimulated luminescence and terrestrial cosmogenic radionuclide methods has recently expanded the number of chronologies throughout the region limits to the precision and accuracy available with these methods and more importantly geological uncertainty imposed by processes of moraine formation and alteration both conspire to limit the time resolution on which correlations can be made to milankovitch timescales several ka in order to put all studies on a common scale well dated sites have been re evaluated and all the published terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide ages for moraine boulders and glacially eroded surfaces in the himalayan tibetan orogen have been recalculated locally detailed studies indicate that there are considerable variations in the extent of glaciation from one region to the next during a glaciation glaciers throughout monsoon influenced tibet the himalaya and the transhimalaya are likely synchronous both with climate change resulting from oscillations in the south asian monsoon and with northern hemisphere cooling cycles in contrast glaciers in pamir in the far western regions of the himalayan tibet orogen advanced asynchronously relative to the other regions that are monsoon influenced regions and appear to be mainly in phase with the northern hemisphere cooling cycles broad patterns of local and regional variability based on equilibrium line altitudes have yet to be fully assessed but have the potential to help define changes in climatic gradients over time copyright 2008 john wiley sons ltd

optical chronology and climatic implication of glacial advances from the southern ladakh range nw himalaya india abstract morphological sedimentological and chronological evidence suggests the preservation of three glacial advances of decreasing magnitude in the puche valley near leh southern ladakh ranges the oldest moraine of puche glacier advance 1 pga 1 is optically dated to the early marine isotopic stage mis 2 31 5 3 3 ka that persisted until around the global last glacial maxima lgm 22 7 1 6 ka the pga 2 is optically dated to the post lgm 14 4 1 0 ka and perhaps was triggered by meltwater pulse 1a cooling the youngest pga 3 remains undated and could be of holocene age the optically stimulated luminescence osl ages suggest a greater role of westerlies in driving the glacier advances during the mis 2 in the southern ladakh ranges and are at variance with the previous suggestions that recommended monsoon driven glacier advances the osl ages compared to the previously obtained 10be surface exposure ages are younger by a magnitude the study explores probable causes for the variance in two chronologies and suggests employing multiple dating methods to minimize the uncertainty both in terms of age and climatic interpretation

the role of the indian summer monsoon and the mid latitude westerlies in himalayan glaciation review and speculative discussion new dates for late quaternary glaciations in the himalayas show that during the last glacial cycle glaciations were not synchronous throughout the region rather in some areas glaciers reached their maxima at the global glacial maximum of c 18 20 ka bp whereas in others glaciers were most extensive at c 60 30 ka bp comparison of these data with palaeoclimatic records from adjacent regions suggest that on millennial timescales himalayan glacier fluctuations are controlled by variations in both the south asian monsoon and the mid latitude westerlies

the quaternary glacial history of the zanskar range north west indian himalaya abstract three glacial stages and a minor advance are recognised from the zanskar range of the north western indian himalaya a glaciated palaeosurface 280 m above river level a r l with associated erratics represents the oldest and most extensive glaciation the chandra stage this ice covered a landscape of broad gentle valleys probably as an ice cap with an erratic distribution indicating that the ice shed lay to the south over the high himalaya a change in valley form from broad glacial troughs to narrow v shaped gorges along with large subdued moraine ridges delimits a separate later extensive valley glaciation the batal stage with its maximum at 78 0 12 3 ka bp distinct sets of moraine ridges represent a less extensive younger glaciation the kulti stage which dates close to the global last glacial maximum a minor advance the sonapani is represented by sharp crested moraine ridges within 2 km of current ice bodies possibly belonging to the little ice age glacier elevation indexes geis calculated for this and adjacent areas show a rise in elevation from the south west to the north east but dip again to the indus valley for both the batal and kulti stages reflecting attenuation of the south westerly monsoon and possible channelling of westerly depressions along the broad upper indus valley gei depression are 500 and 300 m for the batal and kulti stages respectively the change in extent and style from the chandra stage to the later glaciations may be related to uplift of more southerly ranges blocking monsoon precipitation and incision of the landscape such that ice reached lower altitudes over shorter horizontal distances why ice extent was greater during oxygen isotope stage ois 4 than 2 is not clear although recent high resolution plaeomonsoon records show complex peaks in monsoon intensity and it is possible that there was a more favourable combination of precipitation and temperature earlier rather than later during the last glaciation

rapid last glacial maximum deglaciation in the indian himalaya coeval with midlatitude glaciers new insights from 10be dating of ice polished bedrock surfaces in the chandra valley nw himalaya despite a large number of dated glacial landforms in the himalaya the ice extent during the global last glacial maximum lgm from 19 to 23 ka is only known to first order new cosmogenic 10be exposure ages from well preserved glacially polished surfaces combined with published data and an improved production rate scaling model allow reconstruction of the lgm ice extent and subsequent deglaciation in the chandra valley of nw india we show that a 1000 m thick valley glacier retreated 150 km within a few thousand years after the onset of lgm deglaciation by comparing the recession of the chandra valley glacier and other himalayan glaciers with those of northern and southern hemisphere glaciers we demonstrate that post lgm deglaciation was similar and nearly finished prior to the bolling allerod interstadial our study supports the view that many himalayan glaciers advanced during the lgm likely in response to global variations in temperature

surface exposure dating of the flims landslide graubunden switzerland abstract sixteen boulder and bedrock surfaces related to the flims landslide volume 8 12 km3 were dated with 36cl and 10be exposure ages range from 4900 250 yr to 15 440 1480 yr including corrections made due to snow cover and karst erosion ages of 11 410 590 yr and 13 340 1090 yr were obtained on bedrock surfaces outside of the landslide zone these are minima for deglaciation of segnes valley and provide constraints on possible amounts of inherited nuclides based on seven boulder ages which range from 8200 260 to 9520 990 yr a mean of 8900 700 years is calculated for the flims landslide we exclude three outliers one significantly older and two significantly younger than the others and the ages from the cassons bedrock site from the mean calculation the latter is excluded as shielding due to snow and vegetation cover is difficult to constrain there the oldest boulder on the landslide yielded an age 15440 1480 yr more than 5000 years older than any other boulder age suggesting that it included the surface of the pre slide bedrock the exposure ages are consistent with a single failure event the erratics and patches of till lying on the landslide debris must have been carried piggy back on top of the landslide rather than having been deposited by the late pleistocene vorderrhein glacier the flims rockslide is about the same age as the kofels 9800 yr and kandertal 9600 yr rockslides all three occurred during the marked transition to warmer wetter conditions during the early holocene

late glacial to post glacial sea levels in the western indian ocean late glacial to post glacial sea level changes provide direct evidence of the progress of melting of large ice sheets during the last deglaciation but although the correlation between ice and ocean volumes is incontrovertible the causal link is commonly obscured local effects including tectonics isostatic and hydroisostatic responses and equatorial ocean syphoning impose additional signals that hide the true picture a detailed regional study of the western indian ocean based on the analysis of drill cores carried out through modern reefs in combination with observations and sampling of reef foreslopes and investigations of outcrops provides a comprehensive data base sites from a range of tectonic settings include the microcontinental margins of madagascar the granitic seychelles and the isolated volcanic islands of reunion mauritius and the comoros in which the effects of subsidence can be shown to be small these cover a range of latitudes and comparisons with adjacent sites on continental margins allow the construction of sea level curves that closely reflect the eustatic response and disengage this from the effects of other mechanisms the mayotte foreslope in the comoro islands provides the first coral reef record of sea level change during the early deglaciation in the indian ocean 110 115 m below present sea level between 18 000 and 17 000 yr bp two distinctive reef terraces at 90 and 60 m water depth are dated at 13 600 yr bp and partly attributed to the younger dryas period 12 700 11 600 cal yr bp reef drowning at around 13 500 yr bp may correspond to meltwater pulse 1a and although there were surges in the rate of sea level rise most notably between 11 950 and 11 350 yr bp there is little evidence to support a well defined meltwater pulse 1b reconstructed holocene sea level curves are in good agreement and reflect a rapid sea level rise of about 6 mm yr 1 between 10 000 and 7500 yr bp followed by a clear inflection around 7500 yr bp when the rate fell to 1 1 mm yr 1 modern reefs started to grow 8000 9000 years ago in the post glacial period the rate of sea level rise was 1 1 5 mm yr 1 before stabilization at its present level 3000 2500 years ago curves for the 10 000 6000 yr 1 bp interval correspond closely with those predicted by theoretical models but lie below these in the subsequent period in particular and with the exception of the margins of the madagascar microcontinent influenced by hydroisostatic processes they do not reflect predicted higher sea level stands during the late holocene

the chronology of the last glacial maximum and deglacial events in central argentine patagonia this paper evaluates the chronology of the last glacial cycle and deglaciation in the lago pueyrredon valley of central patagonia 47 5 s argentina the valley was a major outlet of the former patagonian ice sheet and the moraines that record its fluctuations are an important proxy record of climate change in southern south america such moraines are well preserved in the lago pueyrredon valley owing in part to the semi arid environment east of the mountain front here we provide the first direct chronology for the age of the rio blanco moraine system by utilizing cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure ages boulders on the moraines give 10be exposure ages that indicate the last glacial maximum lgm maximum extent occurred by 27 25 ka subsequent advances occurred at 23 22 ka 20 18 ka and ca 18 17 ka initial deglaciation began after ca 18 17 ka and was interrupted as evidenced by the lago columna moraines up valley subsequently the outlet glaciers occupying both the lago pueyrredon basin chilean name lago cochrane and the lago buenos aires basin chilean name lago general carrera to the north rapidly retreated more than 80 km at around 16 5 15 ka the timing of the lgm maximum extent and the onset of deglaciation occurred broadly synchronously throughout patagonia deglaciation resulted in a series of interconnected glacier dammed lakes in the region that initially drained toward the atlantic ocean and later drained to the pacific ocean as a consequence of disintegrating ice in the andes

timing and climatic drivers for glaciation across semi arid western himalayan tibetan orogen abstract mapping and forty seven new 10 be ages help define the timing of glaciation in the ladakh and pangong ranges in northwest india five new local glacial stages are defined for the ladakh range from oldest to youngest these include the ladakh 4 glacial stage at 81 20 ka the ladakh 3 glacial stage not dated the ladakh 2 glacial stage at 22 3 ka the ladakh 1 glacial stage not dated and the ladakh cirque glacial stage at 1 8 0 4 ka three local glacial stages are defined for the pangong range which include the pangong 2 glacial stage at 85 15 ka the pangong 1 glacial stage at 40 3 ka and the pangong cirque glacial stage at 0 4 0 3 ka the new 10 be ages are combined with 645 recalculated 10 be ages from previous studies to develop the first regional framework of glaciation across the dryland regions of the greater himalaya transhimalaya pamir and tian shan at the western end of the himalayan tibetan orogen nineteen regional glacial stages are recognized that are termed semi arid western himalayan tibetan stages swhts these include swhts 9 at 311 32 ka swhts 7 at 234 44 ka tentative swhts 6 at 146 18 ka swhts 5e at 121 11 ka swhts 5a at 80 5 ka swhts 5a at 72 8 ka swhts 4 at 61 5 ka swhts 3 at 46 4 ka swhts 2f at 30 3 ka swhts 2e at 20 2 ka swhts 2d at 16 9 0 7 ka swhts 2c at 14 9 0 8 ka swhts 2b at 13 9 0 5 ka swhts 2a at 12 2 0 8 ka swhts 1e at 8 8 0 3 ka tentative swhts 1d at 6 9 0 2 ka tentative swhts 1c at 3 8 0 6 ka swhts 1b at 1 7 0 2 ka and swhts 1a at 0 4 0 1 ka regional glacial stages older than 21 ka are broadly correlated with strong monsoons swhts that are 21 ka or younger have smaller uncertainties and broadly correlate with global ice volume given by marine oxygen isotope stages and northern hemisphere climatic events oldest dryas older dryas younger dryas roman humid period and little ice age

luminescence dating of quaternary sediments in the himalaya and high asia a practical guide to its use and limitations for constraining the timing of glaciation abstract knowledge of the glacial history of high asia is of critical importance for scientific understanding of the palaeoclimate of this region the lack of absolute age controls on glacial landforms of the himalaya and high asia region is arguably the greatest problem facing the construction of a history of quaternary glaciation in these areas a major reason for this lack of dates has been the absence of a suitable dating method this paper reviews the use of optically stimulated luminescence osl dating in the himalaya critical examination of existing data is used to suggest guidelines for the collection of suitable sediments for dating using osl in order to constrain the timing of glaciations osl has been shown to provide reproducible and apparently accurate ages which constrain glacial advances however the correct selection of sediments is of critical importance in spite of developments in the technique there remain limitations to its applicability reasons for this are considered as is the potential of osl for constraining the timing of glacial expansion

luminescence chronology and climatic implication of the late quaternary glaciation in the nubra valley karakoram himalaya india abstract the present study investigates moraines outwash gravel terraces relict lake deposits and alluvial fans to reconstruct the pattern of glacier advances and associated climate variability in the nubra valley karakoram himalaya india optical chronologies obtained on stratigraphically constrained lateral moraines indicate that the oldest preserved record of glacier advance tirith ii is dated to 60 4 5 2 ka and corresponds to marine isotopic stage 4 mis 4 during mis 4 the nubra valley was occupied by 700 m thick ice cover that extended beyond the nubra shyok confluence it was followed by pulsating decrease in the ice volume vertical shrinking with an insignificant lateral recession that continued until around 42 0 3 0 ka mid mis 3 the second major glacial advance tirith i is dated to 30 2 5 ka beginning of mis 2 when the siachen glacier reached up to the nubra shyok confluence albeit with lesser ice thickness 300 m the tirith i glacier advance continued to occupy the entire nubra valley until around 18 2 1 8 ka last glacial maximum a deglaciation followed after 15 8 1 6 ka and continued until the early holocene 10 3 1 3 ka the third minor glacial advance siachen glacial advance sga is dated to the mid holocene 6 8 1 0 7 2 1 4 ka when the glacier extended below the siachen glacier snout whereas the youngest glacial expansion reached a few hundred meters below the present day snout and is dated between 1 0 0 4 ka and 0 5 0 2 ka the study suggests that glacier advances were driven by a decrease in temperature with corresponding increase in the moisture contribution due to the enhanced mid latitude westerlies during mis 4 mis 2 and the mid holocene within the age uncertainty it can be suggested that the snout proximal recessional moraines indicate marginal glacier expansion during the little ice age lia following this the glacier receded to its present position and seems to have stabilized since then unlike other himalayan glaciers the siachen glacier does not show any alarming retreat after the lia and is in conformity with recent observations suggesting that the glaciers in karakoram region are either marginally advancing or stand still

climate forcing and the initiation of glacier advance during mis 2 in the north sikkim himalaya india abstract the present study investigates the relics of the most extensive glacier advances and their retreat in the transitional climatic zone of the chopta valley northern sikkim himalaya with an aim to understand the forcing factors the optically stimulated luminescence osl dating of the stratigraphically oldest glacier advance and its retreat in the chopta valley revealed that the glacier advanced at 28 2 8 ka and sustained through the global last glacial maximum glgm 26 5 ka and 19 ka mix et al 2001 the deglaciation is manifested by recessional moraine ridge dated at 18 2 2 ka comparing the results of the present study with the existing glacial chronologies from the himalayan region it has been observed that irrespective of the geographical locations the intensified mid latitude westerlies during the glgm and the associated decrease in winter temperature was the major driver of glacier advance during the mis 2

artifact preservation and post depositional site formation processes in an urban setting a geoarchaeological study of a 19th century neighborhood in detroit michigan usa a geoarchaeological study was carried out to assess levels of artifact deterioration occurring in a historic period urban soil during the 20th century the study site is a former house lot in a park created in 1919 by demolition of a residential community in detroit michigan usa the results show that despite nearly a century of burial in an urban soil impacted heavily by pollution and other anthropogenic activity many 19th century artifacts are remarkably well preserved the observed weathering stability sequence of glass bone mortar plaster paint is consistent with decreasing solubility product values of the corresponding principal mineral constituent glass apatite portlandite gypsum cerrusite even severely weathered 19th century nails and mortar can often be distinguished using optical petrographic and sem edax methods the excellent state of artifact preservation is attributed to a calcareous soil microenvironment and artificial compaction which limited the weathering effects of water and oxygen artifact preservation was further enhanced by burial beneath a thick biomantle created by the casting activity of an invasive species of earthworm however lumbricus terrestris may now pose the greatest threat to artifact preservation because casting and burrowing activities are decreasing bulk density and promoting the diffusion of air and water into the soil early excavation is recommended to recover artifacts in soils impacted by the combined effects of urban pollution and earthworm burrowing anthropogenic microparticles smaller than those normally classified as microartifacts were found to be useful indicators of human occupation

surface exposure ages of front range moraines that may have formed during the younger dryas 8 2 cal ka and little ice age events abstract surface exposure 10 be ages have been obtained on boulders from three post pinedale end moraine complexes in the front range colorado boulder rounding appears related to the cirque to moraine transport distance at each site with subrounded boulders being typical of the 2 km long chicago lakes glacier subangular boulders being typical of the 1 km long butler gulch glacier and angular boulders being typical of the few hundred m long isabelle glacier surface exposure ages of angular boulders from the isabelle glacier moraine which formed during the little ice age lia according to previous lichenometric dating indicate cosmogenic inheritance values ranging from 0 to 3 0 10 be ka 1 subangular boulders from the butler gulch end moraine yielded surface exposure ages ranging from 5 to 10 2 10 be ka we suggest that this moraine was deposited during the 8 2 cal ka event which has been associated with outburst floods from lake agassiz and lake ojibway and that the large age range associated with the butler gulch end moraine is caused by cosmogenic shielding of and or spalling from boulders that have ages in the younger part of the range and by cosmogenic inheritance in boulders that have ages in the older part of the range the surface exposure ages of eight of nine subrounded boulders from the chicago lakes area fall within the 13 0 11 7 10 be ka age range and appear to have been deposited during the younger dryas interval the general lack of inheritance in the eight samples probably stems from the fact that only a few thousand years intervened between the retreat of the pinedale glacier and the advance of the chicago lakes glacier in addition bedrock in the chicago lakes cirque area may have remained covered with snow and ice during that interval thus partially shielding the bedrock from cosmogenic radiation

collapse of the north american ice saddle 14 500 years ago caused widespread cooling and reduced ocean overturning circulation collapse of ice sheets can cause significant sea level rise and widespread climate change we examine the climatic response to meltwater generated by the collapse of the cordilleran laurentide ice saddle north america 14 5 thousand years ago ka using a high resolution drainage model coupled to an ocean atmosphere vegetation general circulation model equivalent to 7 26 m global mean sea level rise in 340 years the meltwater caused a 6 sverdrup weakening of atlantic meridional overturning circulation amoc and widespread northern hemisphere cooling of 1 5 c the greatest cooling is in the atlantic sector high latitudes during boreal winter by 5 10 c but there is also strong summer warming of 1 3 c over eastern north america following recent suggestions that the saddle collapse was triggered by the bolling warming event at 14 7 14 5 ka we conclude that this robust submillennial mechanism may have initiated the end of the warming and or the older dryas cooling through a forced amoc weakening

a note on the extent of glaciation throughout the himalaya during the global last glacial maximum abstract quantitative chronologies for the impressive glacial successions that occur throughout the himalaya have until recently been almost totally lacking within the last decade two new techniques have promised to remedy this situation these techniques optically stimulated luminescence and cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating enable the age of many glacial features to be determined and have allowed us to study the extent and timing of himalayan glaciation in the late quaternary new data show that the local last glacial maximum lgm occurred during the early part of the last glacial cycle in most areas during marine isotope stage 3 mis 3 mis 3 was a time of increased insolation when the south asian summer monsoon strengthened and penetrated further north into the himalaya the concomitant increased precipitation occurring as snow at high altitudes produced positive glacier mass balances thereby allowing glaciers to advance on the other hand during the global lgm 18 24 ka himalayan glaciation was very restricted in extent generally extending

glacial to interglacial contrasts in the northern indian ocean differences between the 18o 16o ratios of planktonic foraminifera deposited during the last glacial maximum about 18 000 yr ago and those deposited during the holocene show that in the indian ocean the south west monsoon was weaker than today but that the north east monsoon was stronger the upwelling observed in modern conditions along the southern coast of arabia had disappeared because of the low speed of the southwestern winds during glacial summers the reduction in rainfall and runoff over the continent caused a reduction of the salinity gradient in the bay of bengal and along the western coast of india increased precipitation fell on the sea south of 10 n while strong evaporation over the northernmost arabian sea produced an enhanced salinity gradient in that area

too young or too old evaluating cosmogenic exposure dating based on an analysis of compiled boulder exposure ages cosmogenic exposure dating has greatly enhanced our ability to define glacial chronologies spanning several global cold periods and glacial boulder exposure ages are now routinely used to constrai

near synchronous interhemispheric termination of the last glacial maximum in mid latitudes isotopic records from polar ice cores imply globally asynchronous warming at the end of the last glaciation however 10be exposure dates show that large scale retreat of mid latitude last glacial maximum glaciers commenced at about the same time in both hemispheres the timing of retreat is consistent with the onset of temperature and atmospheric co2 increases in antarctic ice cores we suggest that a global trend of rising summer temperatures at the end of the last glacial maximum was obscured in north atlantic regions by hypercold winters associated with unusually extensive winter sea ice

residual luminescence in modern debris flow deposits from western taiwan a single grain approach abstract in an active fold and thrust belt sediment is commonly transported in the form of debris and colluviums and the ages of such deposits can be important for seismic hazard assessment these sediments are mainly transported by high concentration flows that travel very short distances before burial and therefore have very few opportunities for daylight exposure and bleaching which limits the application of luminescence dating in such environments luminescence studies on modern debris flow deposits and channel sediments in central taiwan indicate a mixed population of bleached and unbleached grains the well bleached grains constitute a small proportion of the sediments and could only be identified using the single grain dating technique doing single aliquot analysis may result in overestimation of the age of such sediments by 3 25 ka the data reveal that outwash sediments are better bleached than debris flow sediments our results show that quartz that has experienced partial resetting can be used for luminescence dating only through the use of the single grain technique

nature and timing of quaternary glaciation in the himalayan tibetan orogen abstract much effort has been made in recent years to define the timing and extent of quaternary glaciation throughout the himalayan tibetan orogen these studies are challenging because of the logistical and political inaccessibility of the region and the inherent problems associated with the application of numerical dating techniques nevertheless the studies are providing abundant evidence for significant glacial advances throughout the last several glacial cycles and are beginning to accurately define the extent and timing of glaciation in selected regions studies are showing that himalayan tibetan glaciers in arid regions during the last glacial cycle reached their maximum extent early in the cycle and that global last glacial maximum glacier advances were significantly less extensive however along the more monsoonal influenced greater himalaya there is increasing evidence to suggest that glaciation was more extensive later in the last glacial cycle but this has yet to be fully assessed in addition the new studies are showing that throughout most himalayan tibetan regions significant glacier advances occurred during the lateglacial and early holocene with minor advances in some regions during the mid holocene the still relatively poor chronological control in the himalayan tibetan orogen however makes it difficult to construct correlations across the region and with regions elsewhere in the world this in turn makes it hard to assess the relative importance of the different climatic mechanisms that force glaciation across the himalayan tibetan orogen and to quantify paleoclimate change in this high altitude subtropical region the lateglacial and holocene glacial records however are particularly well preserved in several himalayan tibetan regions glacial successions such as these have the greatest potential to be examined in detail using newly developing numerical dating and geomorphic and sedimentologic methods to derive high resolution terrestrial records of glaciation that will help in paleoclimatic reconstruction for high altitude subtropical regions

environmental processes of the ice age land oceans glaciers epilog knowledge of the state of the earth at the last glacial maximum lgm an interval around 21 000 years ago is an important benchmark for understanding the sensitivity of global environmental systems to change much progress in understanding climates of the lgm has occurred in the 20 years since the end of the climap project of the 1970s climate long range investigation mapping and prediction here we review this progress based on presentations and discussion at a rst open science meeting of the epilog project environmental processes of the ice age land oceans glaciers held in delmenhorst germany may 1999 we outline key controversies and document protocols for epilog contributions so that a new synthesis of the lgm earth can emerge as an open project of the world s community of scientists 2001 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

mineral weathering in forest soils and its relevance to the preservation of the buried archaeological resource there is more woodland in britain now than for many centuries and considering many international climate change mitigation policies woodland cover both in britain and internationally is being promoted however neither the management of existing woodlands nor their expansion should be at the expense of important archaeological evidence due to the large number of known archaeological sites the large areas of land with uninvestigated archaeological potential and the expanding woodland cover suitable mitigation strategies need to be developed to allow preservation in situ of important sites an understanding of how woodland soils and the buried archaeological resource interact is therefore essential this paper utilises ongoing environmental research into the mineral weathering rates in forest soils and considers its application to artefact preservation the study concludes that soil water ph its movement and the saturation of dissolved ions in the soil solution are major factors determining both mineral and artefact longevity a simple guide to artefact longevity based on these properties is proposed and a geochemical model for predicting loss is tested these tools could be applied to any soil or individual horizon irrespective of land use

variability of north atlantic heat transfer during mis 2 1 short term changes in sea surface conditions controlling the thermohaline circulation in the northern north atlantic are expected to be especially efficient in perturbing global climate stability here we assess past variability of sea surface temperature sst in the northeast atlantic and norwegian sea during marine isotope stage mis 2 and in particular during the last glacial maximum lgm five high resolution sst records were established on a meridional transect 53 n 72 n to trace centennial scale oscillations in sst and sea ice cover we used three independent computational techniques simmax modern analogue technique artificial neural networks ann and revised analog method ram to reconstruct sst from planktonic foraminifer census counts simmax and ann reproduced short term sst oscillations of similar magnitude and absolute levels while ram owing to a restrictive analog selection appears less suitable for reconstructing cold end sst the simmax and ann sst reconstructions support the existence of a weak paleo norwegian current during dansgaard oeschger do interstadials number 4 3 2 and 1 during the lgm two warm incursions of 7 c water to occurred in the northern north atlantic but ended north of the iceland faroe ridge a rough numerical estimate shows that the near surface poleward heat transfer from 53 across the iceland faroe ridge up to to 72 n dropped to less than 60 of the modern value during do interstadials and to almost zero during do stadials summer sea ice was generally confined to the area north of 70 n and only rarely expanded southward along the margins of continental ice sheets internal lgm variability of north atlantic 40 n sst in the glamap 2000 compilation sarnthein et al 2003b pflaumann et al 2003 indicates maximum instability in the glacial subpolar gyre and at the iberian margin while in the nordic seas sst was continuously low

a study of natural and artificially generated light hydrocarbons c4 c13 in source rocks and petroleum fluids from offshore mid norway and the southernmost norwegian and danish sectors abstract the free or natural light hydrocarbon composition obtained by thermal extraction gc of source rock samples is compared with the light fraction generated by pyrolysis products of the kerogens even though there are large differences between the composition of the free c 4 c 13 hydrocarbon fraction and the same fraction generated by pyrolysis some characteristics have been detected which can be used interchangeably for both data types visual inspection of gas chromatograms from thermal extracts and pyrolysates indicates that in particular the relative content of m p xylene corresponds well between these two analytical methods the source rock samples used are upper jurassic marine shales and middle and lower jurassic coals and coaly shales from offshore mid norway and denmark more detailed analysis of the data shows that the most effective parameter which can distinguish between different source rock types in both thermal extracts and pyrolysates is the m p xylene n c 8 ratio this parameter has been used to derive classification diagrams for interpreting the source of light hydrocarbons of both natural petroleum fluids analysed by gas chromatography and the same fraction generated by pyrolysis of asphaltenes from the fluids the model was first tested on 17 natural petroleum fluids from mid norway since a comprehensive study of light hydrocarbon distributions already has been published further the parameter was applied to correlate with asphaltene pyrolysates of the fluids from mid norway and a total of 22 natural oils and condensates from the southernmost norwegian and danish sectors

chronology and climatic implications of late quaternary glaciations in the goriganga valley central himalaya india abstract goriganga valley which is located in the transition zone between the dry steppe of the tibetan plateau in the north and the sub humid himalayan climate in the south has preserved four events of glaciation with decreasing magnitude the oldest stage i glaciation is represented by a 12 5 km long discontinuous diamictite ridge which terminates north of rilkot 3100 m asl the stage ii glaciation is represented by sub rounded and partially eroded lateral moraines and terminates around martoli village 3240 m asl the stage iii and iv glacial moraines are sharp crested unstable and terminate proximal to the present day glacier at 3640 m asl and 3740 m asl respectively the stage ii moraines have been optically dated between 25 2 ka and 22 1 ka implying that glacier expanded during the global last glacial maximum lgm this is contrary to the suggestion that during last glacial maximum lgm glaciation was limited in extent due to weak indian summer monsoon ism in the monsoon dominated regions of the himalaya we ascribe the lgm glaciations to a combination of the lowered temperature and enhanced mid latitude westerlies following the lgm glaciation goriganga valley experienced two major pulses of deglaciation the older event is dated between 16 and 12 ka and is coeval with the initiation of the ism whereas the younger events 10 8 ka represent the early to mid holocene strengthened ism the stage iii and iv glaciations which terminated proximal to the modern glacier are speculated to occur during the mid holocene and little ice age lia respectively

a stratigraphical basis for the last glacial maximum lgm abstract the last glacial maximum lgm is widely used to refer to the episode when global ice volume last reached its maximum and associated sea levels were at their lowest however the boundaries of the interval are ill defined and the term and acronym have no formal stratigraphical basis this is despite a previous proposal to define it as a chronozone in the marine records on the basis of oxygen isotopes and sea levels spanning the interval 23 19 or 24 18 ka and centred on 21 ka in terrestrial records the lgm is poorly represented since many sequences show a diachronous response to global climate changes during the last glacial cycle for example glaciers and ice sheets reached their maximum extents at widely differing times in different places in fact most terrestrial records display spatial variation in response to global climate fluctuations and changes recorded on land are often diachronous asynchronous or both leading to difficulties in global correlation however variations in the global hydrological system during glacial cycles are recorded by atmospheric dust flux and this provides a signal of terrestrial changes whilst regional dust accumulation is recorded in loess deposits global dust flux is best recorded in high resolution polar ice core records providing an opportunity to define the lgm on land and establish a clear stratigraphical basis for its definition on this basis one option is to define the global lgm as an event between the top end of greenland interstadial 3 and the base onset of greenland interstadial 2 spanning the interval 27 540 23 340 ka greenland stadial 3 this corresponds closely to the peak dust concentration in both the greenland and antarctic ice cores and to records of the global sea level minima this suggests that this definition includes not just the coldest and driest part of the last glacial cycle but also the peak in global ice volume the later part of the lgm event is marked by heinrich event 2 which reflects the onset of the collapse of the laurentide at c 24 ka together with other ice sheets in the north atlantic region a longer and later span for the lgm may be desirable although defining this in chronostratigraphical terms is problematic whichever formal definition is chosen this requires the contribution of the wider quaternary community

reconstruction of last glacial to early holocene monsoon variability from relict lake sediments of the higher central himalaya uttrakhand india abstract proglacial lake sediments at goting in the higher central himalaya were analyzed to reconstruct the summer monsoon variability during the last glacial to early holocene sedimentary structures high resolution mineral magnetic and geochemical data suggest that the lacustrine environment experienced fluctuating monsoonal conditions optically stimulated luminescence osl dating indicates that the lake sedimentation occurred before 25 ka and continued after 13 ka during this period goting basin witnessed moderate to strengthened monsoon conditions around 25 ka 23 5 ka 22 5 ka 22 ka 18 ka 17 ka 16 5 ka and after14 5 13 ka the last glacial phase ended with the deposition of outwash gravel dated at 11 ka indicating glacial retreat and the onset of holocene condition additionally centennial scale fluctuations between 16 5 ka and 12 7 ka in the magnetic and geochemical data are seen a close correspondence at the millennial scale between our data and that of continental and marine records from the indian sub continent suggests that goting basin responded to periods of strengthened monsoon during the last glacial to early holocene we attribute the millennial scale monsoon variability to climatic instability in higher northern latitudes however centennial scale abrupt changes are attributed to the result of albedo changes on the himalaya and tibetan plateau

timing of past glaciations in kanchenjunga himal nepal by optically stimulated luminescence dating of tills abstract optically stimulated luminescence osl was used to date glacial sediments to elucidate the ages of past glacial advances in kanchenjunga himal eastern nepal seven glacial sediments samples were collected from four different moraines and quartz grains were extracted from samples however the luminescence from feldspars existing as minor contamination and or microinclusion in the quartz grains was so bright it masked the quartz signal after etching the fraction 20 min extra with hf the natural infrared stimulated luminescence irsl signal which indicates the existence of feldspar almost disappeared equivalent dose de values were estimated by the single aliquot regenerative dose protocol using two different quartz fractions fraction a which was etched 20 min extra and fraction b which was prepared by the standard procedure still had a strong feldspar signal although the natural irsl intensity for fraction a was so weak the regenerated irsl was relatively strong and not negligible for most of the aliquots such aliquots were omitted because the sensitivity of the feldspar is much higher than quartz and the difference in the sensitivity can cause de underestimation out of 42 aliquots from four samples for fraction a only six aliquots from two samples were remained the de values for single aliquots were uniformly distributed for fraction b moreover the calculated osl ages for fractions a and b from the two samples agreed with each other it is suggested that both quartz and feldspars grains or microinclusions in quartz grains were likely to have been bleached while glacial debris has been transported on the glacier the resulting osl ages suggest that the glaciers expanded at 5 6 8 10 and 20 21 ka in the kanchenjunga himal

quaternary glaciation in the nubra and shyok valley confluence northernmost ladakh india abstract three glacial stages deshkit 1 deshkit 2 and dishkit 3 glacial stages are identified in the nubra and shyok valleys in northernmost ladakh northwest india on the basis of geomorphic field mapping remote sensing and 10be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating the glacial stages date to 45 ka deshkit 1 glacial stage 81 ka deshkit 2 glacial stage and 144 ka deshkit 3 glacial stage a mean equilibrium line altitude depression of 290 m for the deshkit 1 glacial stage was calculated using the area accumulation ratio toe to headwall ratio area altitude and area altitude balance ratio methods comparison of glaciation in the nubra and shyok valleys with glaciations in the adjacent central karakoram of northern pakistan and northern side of the ladakh range of northern india indicates that glaciation was synchronous on milankovitch timescales across the region during mis 6 but differed greatly in extent with more extensive glaciation in the karakoram than the morphostratigraphically equivalent glaciation on the northern slopes of the ladakh range this highlights the strong contrast in the extent of glaciation across ranges in the himalaya tibetan orogen necessitating caution when correlating glacial successions within and between mountain ranges

the last glacial maximum lgm in western south island new zealand implications for the global lgm and mis 2 abstract the morainic and outwash deposits of the larrikins la and moana mn formations in north westland are correlated with the m5 t5 and m6 t6 deposits in south westland the la m5 deposits resulted from two separate otira glaciation glacial advances la 1 m5 1 la 2 m5 2 of essentially similar extents pollen sequences in peats and coverbeds extending from before to after the kawakawa tephra 26 500 cal yr bp indicate an extensive period of cold with a slight amelioration beginning shortly before tephra deposition this amelioration which is supported by interpretation of coverbed sequences in south westland separates the la 1 m5 1 and la 2 m5 2 advances the three westland glacial advances la 1 m5 1 la 2 m5 2 and mn m6 culminated at ca 28 000 21 500 and 19 000 cal yr bp the last being followed by major rapid glacier retreat pollen and caco 3 records from dsdp 594 east of the south island reflect contemporary glacier fluctuations on the east side of the southern alps they show the last major cold period as lasting from ca 34 000 to ca 16 000 years ago a period starting before the culmination of the la 1 m5 1 advance and ending later than the beginning of glacier retreat from the mn m6 advance the period from the la 1 m5 1 culmination to the mn m6 culmination represents the lgm in new zealand a slightly longer lgm is recorded in chile and a long lgm may also be indicated in australia a long lgm in the southern hemisphere is supported by the global sea level curve and by the regional antarctic temperature criteria of the vostok ice core these different records indicate a southern hemisphere lgm beginning at least as early as 27 000 years ago much earlier than the ocean last isotope maximum lim from 21 500 to 18 000 years ago the beginning of mis 2 defined primarily from deep sea benthic 18 o at 24 000 years is well after the beginning of ice advances leading to the southern hemisphere lgm a review of global land and ocean correlations is desirable

chronology of late quaternary glaciation and landform evolution in the upper dhauliganga valley trans himalaya uttarakhand india abstract detailed field mapping of glacial and paraglacial landforms supported by optical and radiocarbon dating is used to reconstruct the history of late quaternary glaciation and landform evolution in the trans himalayan region of the upper dhauliganga valley the study identifies four events of glaciations with decreasing magnitude which are termed as purvi kamet stage ia pks ia pks ib pks ii pks iii and pks iv respectively the oldest pks ia and ib are assigned the marine isotopic stgae 3 mis 3 the pks ii to the last glacial maximum mis 2 pks iii dated to 7 9 0 7 ka and the pks iv is dated to 3 4 0 3 ka and 1 9 0 2 ka respectively the largest valley glaciations viz the pks ia occurred during the strengthened summer monsoon corresponding to the mis 3 following this the recessional moraines pks ib represent the gradual decline in summer monsoon towards the later part of mis 3 the valley responded to the global last glacial maximum lgm which is represented by the pks ii moraine implying the influence of strengthened mid latitude westerlies during the lgm the post lgm deglaciation was associated with the onset of summer monsoon and is represented by the deposition of four distinct outwash gravel terraces the early holocene pks iii glaciation occurred around 7 9 0 7 ka and broadly coincides with the early holocene cooling event 8 2 ka this was followed by the deposition of stratified scree deposits and the alluvial fan between 5 5 ka and 3 ka during the mid to late holocene aridity this was followed by marginal re advancement of the valley glacier viz pks iv during the late holocene cool and moist climate although glaciers respond to a combination of temperature and precipitation changes however during the holocene it seems that temperature played a major role in driving the glaciation

late glacial and holocene vegetation indian monsoon and westerly circulation in the trans himalaya recorded in the lacustrine pollen sequence from tso kar ladakh nw india abstract palynological investigation of a 410 cm long core section from tso kar 33 10 n 78 00 e 4527 m a s l an alpine lake situated in the arid ladakh area of nw india at the limit of the present day indian summer monsoon was performed in order to reconstruct post glacial regional vegetation and climate dynamics the area was covered with alpine desert vegetation from ca 15 2 to 14 kyr bp 1 kyr 1000 cal years reflecting dry and cold conditions high influx values of long distance transported pinus sylvestris type pollen suggest prevailing air flow from the west and northwest the spread of alpine meadow communities and local aquatic vegetation is a weak sign of climate amelioration after ca 14 kyr bp pollen data e g influx values of pinus roxburghii type and quercus suggest that this was due to a strengthening of the summer monsoon and the reduced activity of westerly winds the further spread of artemisia and species rich meadows occurred in response to improved moisture conditions between ca 12 9 and 12 5 kyr bp the subsequent change towards drier desert steppe vegetation likely indicates more frequent westerly disturbances and associated snowfalls which favoured the persistence of alpine meadows on edaphically moist sites the spread of chenopodiaceae dominated vegetation associated with an extremely weak monsoon occurred at ca 12 2 11 8 kyr bp during the younger dryas interstadial a major increase in humidity is inferred from the development of artemisia dominated steppe and wet alpine meadows with gentianaceae after the late glacial early holocene transition in response to the strengthening of the summer monsoon monsoonal influence reached maximum activity in the tso kar region between ca 10 9 and 9 2 kyr bp the subsequent development of the alpine meadow steppe and desert steppe vegetation points to a moderate reduction in the moisture supply which can be linked to the weaker summer monsoon and the accompanying enhancement of the winter westerly flow from ca 9 2 to 4 8 kyr bp the highest water levels of tso kar around 8 kyr bp probably reflect combined effect of both monsoonal and westerly influence in the region an abrupt shift towards aridity in the tso kar region occurred after ca 4 8 kyr bp as evidenced by an expansion of chenopodiaceae dominated desert steppe low pollen influx values registered ca 2 8 1 3 kyr bp suggest scarce vegetation cover and unfavourable growing conditions likely associated with a further weakening of the indian monsoon

holocene moisture evolution in arid central asia and its out of phase relationship with asian monsoon history we synthesize palaeoclimate records from the mid latitude arid asian region dominated today by the westerlies arid central asia aca to evaluate spatial and temporal patterns of moisture changes during the holocene sediment records from i i takes with reliable chronologies and robust proxies were selected to reconstruct moisture histories based on a five class ordinal wetness index with assigned scores from the driest to wettest periods at individual sites for 200 year time slices the proxies used in these records include pollen and diatom assemblages sediment lithology lake levels and geochemistry mainly isotope data the results of our synthesis show that aca as a whole experienced synchronous and coherent moisture changes during the holocene namely a dry early holocene a wetter less dry early to mid holocene and a moderately wet late holocene during the early holocene most of the lakes experienced very low water levels and even dried out before ca 8 ka 1 ka 1000cal a bp hence the effective moisture history in aca is out of phase with that in monsoonal asia as documented by numerous palaeoclimate records in monsoonal asia a strong summer monsoon and humid climate characterized the early holocene and a weakened summer monsoon and drier climate prevailed during the late holocene which were mainly controlled by changes in low latitude summer insolation in contrast we propose that the pattern of holocene effective moisture evolution in the westerly dominated aca was mainly determined by north atlantic sea surface temperatures ssts and high latitude air temperatures that affect the availability amount and transport of water vapor also topography of the tibetan plateau and adjacent asian highlands could have contributed to the intensification of dry climate in aca during the early holocene as a result of strengthening the subsidence of dry air masses associated with stronger uplift motion on the plateau by intense heating under a stronger summer insolation summer insolation might have played a key role in directly controlling moisture conditions in aca but only after the northern hemisphere ice sheets had disappeared in the mid and late holocene c 2007 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating of the oldest glacial successions in the himalayan orogen ladakh range northern india terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating of moraine boulders and alluvial fan sediments define the timing of five glacial advances over at least the last five glacial cycles in the ladakh range of the transhimalaya the glacial stages that have been identified are the indus valley glacial stage dated at older than 430 ka the leh glacial stage occurring in the penultimate glacial cycle or older the kar glacial stage occurring during the early part of the last glacial cycle the bazgo glacial stage at its maximum during the middle of the last glacial cycle and the early holocene khalling glacial stage the exposure ages of the indus valley moraines are the oldest observed to date throughout the himalayan orogen we observe a pattern of progressively more restricted glaciation during the last five glacial cycles likely indicating a progressive reduction in the moisture supply necessary to sustain glaciation a possible explanation is that uplift of himalayan ranges to the south and or of the karakoram mountains to the west of the region may have effectively blocked moisture supply by the south asian summer monsoon and mid latitude westerlies respectively alternatively this pattern of glaciation may reflect a trend of progressively less extensive glaciation in mountain regions that has been observed globally throughout the pleistocene

climate and seismicity in the higher central himalaya during 20 10 ka evidence from the garbayang basin uttaranchal india abstract in the trans himalaya the trans himadri fault thf controlled the extent of past glaciers the rivers were impounded by glacial debris resulting in the formation of lakes that recorded regional climatic and seismic events one such lake formed at garbayang where the upper 28 m lacustrine succession spanned an age range of 20 10 ka magnetic susceptibility and sedimentological data suggest that the region experienced high amplitude low frequency millennial scale climate changes during the period 20 3 and 13 2 ka followed by low amplitude high frequency changes from 13 2 11 1 ka a sudden drop in magnetic susceptibility and elemental concentration of layers dated at 11 12 ka suggests cooling associated with the younger dryas occurrence of faulted strata seismites during 20 17 and 14 13 ka suggests recent activation of the thf this is noteworthy as the thf has been considered dormant since its last reactivation at 11 ma further the luminescence dates suggest that radiocarbon ages on organic carbon are grossly overestimated due to a hard water effect caused by the dominance of limestone in the lake catchment this implies that earlier radiocarbon based palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the region will need revalidation

the timing of glacier advances in the northern european alps based on surface exposure dating with cosmogenic 10be 26al 36cl and 21ne

asynchronous glaciation at nanga parbat northwestern himalaya mountains pakistan we present a new glacial chronology demonstrating asynchroneity between advances of himalayan glaciers and northern hemisphere ice sheet volumes glaciers at nanga parbat expanded during the early to middle holocene ca 9 0 5 5 ka no major advances at nanga parbat during the last global glacial stage of marine oxygen isotope stage 2 mis 2 between 24 and 11 ka were identified preliminary evidence also indicates advances between ca 60 and 30 ka these periods of high ice volume coincide with warm wet regional climates dominated by a strong southwest asian summer monsoon the general lack of deposits dating from mis 2 suggests that nanga parbat was too arid to support expanded ice during this period of low monsoon intensity advances during warm wet periods are possible for the high altitude summer accumulation glaciers typical of the himalayas and explain asynchronous behavior however the holocene advances at nanga parbat appear to have been forced by an abrupt drop in temperature ca 8 4 8 0 ka and an increase in winter precipitation ca 7 5 5 ka these results highlight the overall sensitivity of himalayan glaciation to orbital forcing of monsoon intensity and on millennial or shorter time scales to changes in north atlantic circulation

structural evolution and sequence of thrusting in the high himalayan tibetan tethys and indus suture zones of zanskar and ladakh western himalaya reply abstract the timing of motion on major thrusts in the western himalaya shows an extremely complex sequence that spans approximately 70 ma from the latest cretaceous throughout the tertiary three major phases of thrusting can be distinguished the earliest phase t1 is associated with emplacement of tethyan basin thrust sheets lamayuru sediments and spontang ophiolite south and south westwards onto the submerged northern passive margin of india 75 60 ma collision between india and asia occurred at 50 36 ma and was followed immediately by the major phase t2 of crustal shortening involving large scale south and south westward directed thrusting of the complete palaeozoic mesozoic and late tertiary tibetan tethys zone rocks preliminary balanced cross sections show a minimum shortening of 126 km of these rocks across the zanskar range the late collision phase t3 involved re thrusting of the previously stacked pile breaching or leap frog thrusting reversing the earlier stacking order in places and widespread steepening overturning and backthrusting along the whole northern margin of the tibetan tethys zone and throughout the indus suture zone

a high resolution absolute dated late pleistocene monsoon record from hulu cave china oxygen isotope records of five stalagmites from hulu cave near nanjing bear a remarkable resemblance to oxygen isotope records from greenland ice cores suggesting that east asian monsoon intensity changed in concert with greenland temperature between 11 000 and 75 000 years before the present yr b p between 11 000 and 30 000 yr b p the timing of changes in the monsoon as established with 230th dates generally agrees with the timing of temperature changes from the greenland ice sheet project two gisp2 core which supports gisp2 s chronology in this interval our record links north atlantic climate with the meridional transport of heat and moisture from the warmest part of the ocean where the summer east asian monsoon originates

a review of topographic controls on moraine distribution ice marginal moraines are often used to reconstruct the dimensions of former ice masses which are then used as proxies for palaeoclimate this approach relies on the assumption that the distribution of moraines in the modern landscape is an accurate reflection of former ice margin positions during climatically controlled periods of ice margin stability however the validity of this assumption is open to question as a number of additional nonclimatic factors are known to influence moraine distribution this review considers the role played by topography in this process with specific focus on moraine formation preservation and ease of identification topoclimatic controls are not considered published literature indicates that the importance of topography in regulating moraine distribution varies spatially temporally and as a function of the ice mass type responsible for moraine deposition in particular in the case of ice sheets and ice caps 1000 km2 one potentially important topographic control on where in a landscape moraines are deposited is erosional feedback whereby subglacial erosion causes ice masses to become less extensive over successive glacial cycles for the marine terminating outlets of such ice masses fjord geometry also exerts a strong control on where moraines are deposited promoting their deposition in proximity to valley narrowings bends bifurcations where basins are shallow and or in the vicinity of topographic bumps moraines formed at the margins of ice sheets and ice caps are likely to be large and readily identifiable in the modern landscape in the case of icefields and valley glaciers 10 1000 km2 erosional feedback may well play some role in regulating where moraines are deposited but other factors including variations in accumulation area topography and the propensity for moraines to form at topographic pinning points are also likely to be important this is particularly relevant where land terminating glaciers extend into piedmont zones unconfined plains adjacent to mountain ranges where large and readily identifiable moraines can be deposited in the case of cirque glaciers 10 km2 erosional feedback is less important but factors such as topographic controls on the accumulation of redistributed snow and ice and the availability of surface debris regulate glacier dimensions and thereby determine where moraines are deposited in such cases moraines are likely to be small and particularly susceptible to post depositional modification sometimes making them difficult to identify in the modern landscape based on this review we suggest that despite often being difficult to identify quantify and mitigate topographic controls on moraine distribution should be explicitly considered when reconstructing the dimensions of palaeoglaciers and that moraines should be judiciously chosen before being used as indirect proxies for palaeoclimate i e palaeoclimatic inferences should only be drawn from moraines when topographic controls on moraine distribution are considered insignificant

factors governing the pattern of glacier advances since the last glacial maxima in the transitional climate zone of the southern zanskar ranges nw himalaya abstract the present study investigates the relics of glacier advances and retreats in the transitional climatic zone of the southern zanskar range nw himalaya in response to the temporal changes in the indian summer monsoon ism and mid latitude westerlies the study identifies four glacier advances which are named from the oldest to youngest as the southern zanskar glacier stage 4 szs 4 to szs 1 the szs 4 remains undated however based on the existing chronology of the stratigraphically equivalent moraines trimlines in the region it is conjectured to the marine isotope stage 4 mis 4 the optical chronology obtained during the present study dates the szs 3 to 22 8 1 9 19 1 1 9 ka which corresponds to the last glacial maxima lgm the szs 2 is dated to 15 7 1 3 14 3 1 3 ka late glacial period whereas based on the chronology of the recessional moraines 4 9 0 4 4 5 0 3 ka the youngest szs 1 is assigned to 6 ka mid holocene the snout proximal moraines are attributed to the little ice age lia historical times the pulsating deglaciation associated with each advance since the lgm is represented by the recessional moraines and outwash gravel terraces the older gravel terrace is dated between 10 8 0 9 and 6 5 0 5 ka and is attributed to szs 2 deglaciation which is also manifested by the deposition of sandy facies in a relict lake sequence 6 7 0 6 ka and development of palaeosol 5 6 0 5 ka we propose that the glacial advances were triggered by the millennial scale cooling events during the periods of strengthened westerlies and thus suggest a synoptic scale coupling with the northern atlantic the deglaciation is suggested to occur during the warmer ism dominated phases the late holocene climatic instability that followed the recession of szs 1 is manifested by the development of rhythmites 3 8 0 5 ka loess 2 5 0 2 ka and palaeosol 2189 296 cal yr bp

late pleistocene glacial fluctuations in cordillera oriental subtropical andes abstract the behavior of subtropical glaciers during middle to late pleistocene global glacial maxima and abrupt climate change events specifically in earth s most arid low latitude regions remains an outstanding problem in paleoclimatology the present day climate of cordillera oriental in arid northwestern argentina is influenced by shifts in subtropical climate systems including the south american summer monsoon to understand better past glacier subtropical climates during the global last glacial maximum lgm 26 5 19 ka and other time periods we combined geomorphic features with forty two precise 10 be ages on moraine boulders and reconstructed paleo equilibrium line altitudes ela at nevado de chani 24 s in the arid subtropical andes we found a major glacial expansion at 23 1 6 ka that is during the global lgm additional glacial expansions are observed before the global lgm at 52 39 ka and after at 15 0 5 and 12 0 6 ka the 15 ka glacial event was found on both sides of chani and the 12 ka event is only recorded on the east side reconstructed elas of the former glaciers exhibit a rise from east to west that resembles the present subtropical climate trajectory from the atlantic side of the continent hence we infer that this climate pattern must have been present in the past based on comparison with other low latitude paleoclimate records such as those from lakes and caves we infer that both temperature and precipitation influenced past glacial occurrence in this sector of the arid andes our findings also imply that abrupt deglacial climate events associated with the north atlantic specifically curtailed meridional overturning circulation and regional cooling may have had attendant impacts on low subtropical southern hemisphere latitudes including the climate systems that affect glacial activity around nevado de chani

palaeoclimatic conditions in the late pleistocene wadda lake eastern kumaun himalaya india abstract an episode of neotectonic activity on an east west trending fault in the zone of active intracrustal north almora thrust in the eastern kumaun himalaya resulted in the formation of a lake around 36 000 yr b p a 13 m continuous sequence made up largely of carbonaceous mud represents the lake that disappeared around 10 000 yr b p due to the revival of neotectonic activity on the basis of radiocarbon dating it appears that the rate of sedimentation varied from time to time during the existence of the lake palaeomagnetic studies show normal polarity except for a major deviation in the upper part of the section palynological investigations testify to the occurrence of three temperate humid and at least two well defined arid climatic phases which are correlated with previously documented late quaternary climatic changes as recorded in the himalaya as well as in tibet around 10 000 yr b p widespread deposition of a tectonically induced debris flow occurred in the lake basin at the terminal stage of the lake s life the two events ca 36 000 and 10 000 yr b p thus seem to represent two major neotectonic events in the kumaun lesser himalaya

slip rates of the karakorum fault ladakh india determined using cosmic ray exposure dating of debris flows and moraines most recent major glacial advance occurred at 90 15 ka this is consistent with the inference of others that alpine glaciers in this region have not necessarily expanded in concert with northern hemisphere continental ice sheets if features including lateral moraines that liu inferred to have been offset 300 350 m by the karakorum fault date from the same period they too imply a slip rate of 3 4 mm yr 1 this slip rate is comparable to rates of extension across grabens within tibet with recent evidence that slip along the altyn tagh fault occurs at 10 mm yr 1 our rate suggests that slip along the boundaries of tibet is not significantly more rapid than extension within the plateau hence plate tectonics in the strictest sense ought not be applied to tibet because tibet does not behave as a rigid plate index terms 1824 hydrology geomorphology 1625 1035 geochemistry geochronology 9320 information related to geographic region asia 8107 tectonophysics continental neotectonics keywords karakorum fault slip rate cosmic ray exposure age beryllium 10

a simulation of the last glacial maximum climate using the ncar ccsm the national center for atmospheric research community climate system model ncar ccsm is used in a coupled atmosphere ocean sea ice simulation of the last glacial maximum lgm around 21 000 years ago climate in the tropics the simulation shows a moderate cooling of 3 c over land and 2 c in the ocean in zonal average this cooling is about 1 c cooler than the climap sea surface temperatures ssts but consistent with recent estimates of both land and sea surface temperature changes subtropical waters are cooled by 2 2 5 c also in agreement with recent estimates the simulated oceanic thermohaline circulation at the lgm is not only shallower but also weaker than the modern with a migration of deep water formation site in the north atlantic as suggested by the paleoceanographic evidences the simulated northward flow of antarctic bottom water aabw is enhanced these deep circulation changes are attributable to the increased surface density flux in the southern ocean caused by sea ice expansion at the lgm both the gulf stream and the kuroshio are intensified due to the overall increase of wind stress over the subtropical oceans the intensified zonal wind stress and southward shift of its maximum in the southern ocean effectively enhances the transport of the antarctic circumpolar current acc by more than 50 simulated ssts are lowered by up to 8 c in the midlatitudes simulated conditions in the north atlantic are warmer and with less sea ice than indicated by climap again in agreement with more recent estimates the increased meridional sst gradient at the lgm results in an enhanced hadley circulation and increased midlatitude storm track precipitation the increased baroclinic storm activity also intensifies the meridional atmospheric heat transport a sensitivity experiment shows that about half of the simulated tropical cooling at the lgm originates from reduced atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases

late quaternary glaciation in the kyrgyz tien shan the tien shan of kyrgyzstan contains multiple moraines and drift from late quaternary glaciations the spatial temporal distribution of the glaciers inferred from the moraines suggests that the main factor controlling glacier advance here was the availability of moisture the dominant modern climatic signatures in northern central asia include orographic thunderstorms in summer cold and dry siberian high pressure cells in winter and westerly cyclonic storms from the north atlantic and eastern mediterranean in spring and fall changes in any of these systems during the late quaternary would have varied precipitation delivery to and glacier growth in the kyrgyz tien shan geomorphic mapping and reconnaissance level 10be cosmic ray exposure dating of moraine sequences in six drainages indicate that there were multiple maximum advances of similar extents and equilibrium line depressions across the range glaciers in the north and east of the kyrgyz tien shan last advanced to their maximum positions during marine oxygen isotope stage mis 5 and again during mis 4 while in the south and west of the range advance occurred during mis 3 in contrast to maritime europe and north america there is no evidence of a major glacial advance during mis 2 glacier advances during mis 2 and since were restricted to the vicinity of modern glaciers allowing the older glacial record to be preserved well