Little Ice Age glaciers in the Mediterranean mountains

Abstract

Only a few small glaciers survive today in the Mountains of the Mediterranean. Notable examples are found in the Pyrenees, Maritime Alps, Italian Apennines, the Dinaric and Albanian Alps and the mountains of Turkey. Many glaciers disappeared during the 20th Century. Glaciers were much larger and more numerous during the Little Ice Age. Small glaciers even existed as far south as the High Atlas of Morocco and the Sierra Nevada of southern Spain. In more northerly areas, such as the western Balkans, glaciers and permanent snow fields occupied hundreds of cirques on relatively low-lying mountains. In the High Atlas and the Sierra Nevada no glaciers exist today, whilst in the Balkans only a few modern glaciers have been reported (<10). A similar situation is apparent throughout the mountains of the Mediterranean region. This paper presents new evidence for glacier change since the Little Ice Age and reviews the extent, timing and climatic significance of Little Ice Age glaciation in all the main mountain areas.