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Distribution and timing of Holocene and late Pleistocene glacier fluctuations in western Mongolia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2016

Frank Lehmkuhl ,
Michael Klinge ,
Henrik Rother  and
Daniela Hülle
Frank Lehmkuhl
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Michael Klinge
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Göttingen University, Göttingen, Germany
Henrik Rother
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
Daniela Hülle
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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Abstract.

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Despite being a key location for paleoglaciological research in north-central Asia, with the largest number of modern and Pleistocene glaciers, and in the transition zone between the humid Russian Altai and dry Gobi Altai, little is known about the precise extent and timing of Holocene and late Pleistocene glaciations in western Mongolia. Here we present detailed information on the distribution of modern and late Holocene glaciers, and new results addressing the geomorphological differentiation and numerical dating (by optically stimulated luminescence, OSL) of Pleistocene glacial sequences in these areas. For the Mongolian Altai, geochronological results suggest large ice advances correlative to marine isotope stages (MIS) 4 and 2. This is in contrast to results from the Khangai mountains, central Mongolia, showing that significant ice advances additionally occurred during MIS3. During the Pleistocene, glacial equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) were ~500 to >1000m lower in the more humid portion of the Russian and western Mongolian Altai, compared to 300-600 m in the drier ranges of the eastern Mongolian Altai. Pleistocene ELAs in the Khangai mountains were depressed by 700-1000 m, suggesting more humid conditions at times of major glaciation than in the eastern Mongolian Altai. This paleo-ELA pattern reveals that the precipitation gradient from the drier to the more humid regions was more pronounced during glacial times than at present.

Keywords

glacial geomorphologyglacier fluctuationsglacier mappingmountain glacierspaleo-climate
Type
Paper
Information
Annals of Glaciology , Volume 57 , Issue 71 , March 2016 , pp. 169 - 178
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016

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