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Timing of the last Deglaciation in the Sierra Nevada of the Mérida Andes, Venezuela

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Julien Carcaillet ,
Isandra Angel ,
Eduardo Carrillo ,
Franck A. Audemard  and
Christian Beck
Julien Carcaillet*
Affiliation:
ISTerre, Université de Grenoble 1, UMR CNRS 5275, F-38041 Grenoble, France
Isandra Angel
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Apdo. 3805, Caracas 1010-A, Venezuela
Eduardo Carrillo
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Apdo. 3805, Caracas 1010-A, Venezuela
Franck A. Audemard
Affiliation:
Fundación Venezolana de Investigaciones Sismológicas, FUNVISIS, El Llanito, Caracas 1030, Venezuela
Christian Beck
Affiliation:
ISTerre, Université de Savoie, UMR CNRS 5275, F-73376 Le Bourget-du-Lac, France
*
*Corresponding author at: ISTerre, 1381 rue de la Piscine, 38400 Saint Martin d'Hères, France. Fax: + 33 4 76 63 52 52. E-mail address:[email protected] (J. Carcaillet).
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Abstract

In the tropical Mérida Andes (northwestern Venezuela), glacial landforms were found at altitudes between 2600 and 5000 m, corresponding to 600 km2 of ice cover during the maximum glacial extension. However, the lack of sufficient absolute age data prevents detailed reconstruction of the timing of the last deglaciation. On the northwestern flank of the Mucuñuque Massif, successive moraines and striated eroded basement surfaces were sampled for cosmogenic 10Be investigation. Their compilation with published data allows the establishment of a detailed chronology of the post-LGM glacier history. The oldest moraines (18.1 and 16.8 ka) correspond to the Oldest Dryas. Successive moraine ridges indicate stops in the overall retreat between the LGM and the Younger Dryas. The cold and short Older Dryas stadial has been identified. Results indicate that most of the ice withdrew during the Pleistocene. The dataset supports an intensification of the vertical retreat rate from ~ 25 m/ka during the late Pleistocene to ~ 310 m/ka during the Pleistocene/Holocene. Afterwards, the glacier was confined and located in the higher altitude zones. The altitude difference of the Younger Dryas moraines in the Mucubají, La Victoria and Los Zerpa valleys indicates a strong effect of valley orientation on the altitude of moraine development.

Keywords

Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides datingGlacial landformsAndes de MéridaVenezuelaPleistoceneHoloceneReference
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 80 , Issue 3 , November 2013 , pp. 482 - 494
Copyright
University of Washington

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