Cosmogenic Nuclide Surface Exposure Dating Research Articles

Quaternary Map, Active Faulting, Tectonic Geomorphology, and Uplift Rate of the Humboldt Range in the Basin and Range Province of Nevada, United States

ABSTRACT Fault-truncated, uplifted, and abandoned alluvial fans are frequent along the western flank of the active normal fault bounded Humboldt range. Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating of a faulted terrace at Rocky Canyon indicates that uplift of the range has averaged about 0.12 mm/yr during the last ∼160 ka. A similar uplift rate of less than about 0.07 mm/yr over the last 35 ka or more years is estimated from offset of a younger terrace at the same site. Values of extension rate across the range are 0.04–0.07 mm/yr, if it is assumed that the range-bounding fault dips at 60°, in general accord with very low values of contemporary geodetic strain reported for the area. Geomorphology at Rocky Canyon records a period leading up to about 160 ka ago that erosion and aggradation of sediment along the rangefront were dominant over fault generated uplift, at which time faulting again became dominant, leading to uplift, incision, and preservation of ∼160-ka-old alluvial terraces here and elsewhere along the rangefront.

Cosmogenic 3He production rate in ilmenite and the redistribution of spallation 3He in fine-grained minerals

Cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating and erosion rate measurements in basaltic landscapes rely primarily on measurement of ^3He in olivine or pyroxene. However, geochemical investigations using ^3He have been impossible in the substantial fraction of basalts that lack separable olivine or pyroxene crystals, or where such crystals were present, but have been chemically weathered. Fine-textured basalts often contain small grains of ilmenite, a weathering-resistant mineral that is a target for cosmogenic ^3He production with good He retention and straightforward mineral separation, but with a poorly constrained production rate. Here we empirically calibrate the cosmogenic ^3He production rate in ilmenite by measuring ^3He concentrations in basalts with fine-grained (∼20 μm cross-section) ilmenite and co-existing pyroxene or olivine from the Columbia River and Snake River Plain basalt provinces in the western United States. The concentration ratio of ilmenite to pyroxene and olivine is 0.78 ± 0.02, yielding an apparent cosmogenic ^3He production rate of 93.6 ± 7.7 atom g^(−1) yr^(−1) that is 20–30% greater than expected from prior theoretical and empirical estimates for compositionally similar minerals. The production rate discrepancy arises from the high energy with which cosmic ray spallation reactions emit tritium and ^3He and the associated long stopping distances that cause them to redistribute within a rock. Fine-grained phases with low cosmogenic ^3He production rates, like ilmenite, will have anomalously high production rates owing to net implantation of ^3He from the surrounding, higher ^3He production rate, matrix. Semi-quantitative modeling indicates implantation of spallation ^3He increases with decreasing ilmenite grain size, leading to production rates that exceed those in a large grain by ∼10% when grain radii are <150 μm. The modeling predicts that for the ilmenite grain size in our samples, implantation causes production rates to be ∼20% greater than expected for a large grain, and within uncertainty resolves the discrepancy between our calibrated production rate, theory, and rates from previous work. The redistribution effect is maximized when the host rock and crystals differ substantially in mean atomic number, as they do between whole-rock basalt and ilmenite.

Holocene mountain glacier history in the Sukkertoppen Iskappe area, southwest Greenland

Mountain glaciers and ice caps (GIC) independent of the Greenland Ice Sheet respond rapidly to climate variations and records of their past extent provide information on the natural envelope of climate variability. Here, we use a multi-proxy approach that combines proglacial lake sediment analysis, cosmogenic nuclide surface-exposure dating (in situ10Be and 14C), and radiocarbon dating of recently ice-entombed moss to generate a centennial-scale record of Holocene GIC fluctuations in southwestern Greenland. Following local deglaciation ∼10-9 ka, sediments from proglacial Crash Lake record a glacier advance at ∼9 ka that is indistinguishable from nearby ice sheet moraines, implying a synchronous response of GIC and the Greenland Ice Sheet to a centennial-scale climate event. Following this local glacier advance, GIC experienced net recession until ∼4.6 ka. Radiocarbon ages of in situ moss (n = 29) and Crash Lake sediments reveal intervals of glacier expansion at ∼1.8, 1.2 and 0.7 ka that are superimposed on an overall trend of net glacier expansion throughout the late Holocene. In situ14C concentrations from bedrock adjacent to radiocarbon-dated moss samples further constrain the duration of ice cover through the Holocene in this region. We find that our glacier-size proxy records during the past ∼4 ka are broadly consistent with relatively lower temperatures recorded in GISP2 and occur during, or following, intervals of volcanic perturbations. Thus, we speculate that volcanic activity, although less frequent and intense than in the early Holocene and during the Little Ice Age, may have led to centennial-scale variability imprinted on net glacier expansion due to decreasing summer insolation through the late Holocene.

Determining topographic shielding from digital elevation models for cosmogenic nuclide analysis: a GIS model for discrete sample sites

Topographic shielding (TS) is an important factor in cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating. The development of geographic information systems (GIS) and the availability of digital elevation models (DEMs) make it possible to derive this factor directly from a DEM. Most available GIS models derive the TS factors for an area (all cells in a DEM) without the consideration of surface conditions of individual sites, such as the strike, dip, and height above ground, into the calculation. This paper presents a new GIS model to derive the TS factors for discrete sample sites. This model uses the Skyline and Skyline Graph functions in ArcGIS to extract the set of azimuth and elevation angles of topographic obstructions around each site from a DEM (considering the sample height above ground) and then incorporates the strike and dip information of the sample surface to derive the TS factor. All processing tools and steps are streamlined in ArcGIS modelbuilder and this model can be run like a standard ArcGIS geoprocessing tool. It provides an easy and user-friendly means to derive the TS factors for discrete samples based on a DEM and the measured strike, dip and sample height for each site.

Glacial chronology of the Sierra Nevada, California, from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene

During the Last Glacial Maximum the Sierra Nevada in California, USA, supported a mountain glacier/ice cap complex that covered over 20,000 km2. The history of this ice cover can be reconstructed using 14C and cosmogenic-nuclide surface-exposure dating. These show that the glaciers reached their maximum extent for the last glacial cycle between 21 and 18 ka, i.e., during the global Last Glacial Maximum. This is termed the Tioga 3 advance. A slow retreat began at 18 ka and accelerated rapidly at about 17 ka. After retreating an unknown distance, the glaciers began to readvance at about 16.7 ka, reaching the Tioga 4 limit at 16.2 ka. They then rapidly retreated to the crest of the range, probably within 500 to 1000 years. There is no indication of subsequent glacial expansion until the Recess Peak advance between 14.0 and 12.5 ka. Unfortunately, chronological control is not adequate to determine whether this advance was during the early Younger Dryas or slightly preceded it. The equilibrium-line-altitude reduction during the Tioga 3 was about 1200 m, that during the Tioga 4 about 800 m, and during the Recess Peak 100 to 200 m. The Tioga 4 advance coincided with the expansion of nearby pluvial Lake Lahontan to its maximum size. The Sierra Nevada advances correlate well with the glacial chronology of the Alps during the same period, and also with the episodes of melting and advance of the European and Laurentide Ice Sheets. Times of glacial advance in the Sierra Nevada may be connected to the melting history of the ice sheets, and to Heinrich events, by expansion and contraction of sea ice in the southern North Atlantic.

Post-glacial rock avalanches in the Obersee Valley, Glarner Alps, Switzerland

The geological record of prehistoric rock avalanches provides invaluable data for assessing the hazard posed by these rare but destructive mass movements. Here we investigate two large rock avalanches in the Obersee valley of the Glarner Alps, Switzerland, providing detailed mapping of landslide and related Quaternary phenomena, revised volume estimates for each event, and surface exposure dating of rock avalanche deposits. The Rautispitz rock avalanche originated from the southern flank of the Obersee valley, releasing approximately 91 million m3 of limestone on steeply-dipping bedding planes. Debris had maximum horizontal travel distance of ~5000m, a fahrboeschung angle (relating fall height to length) of 18°, and was responsible for the creation of Lake Obersee; deposits are more than 130m thick in places. The Platten rock avalanche encompassed a source volume of 11 million m3 sliding from the northern flank of the Obersee valley on similar steeply-dipping limestone beds (bedrock forms a syncline under the valley). Debris had a maximum horizontal travel distance of 1600m with a fahrboeschung angle of 21°, and is more than 80m thick in places. Deposits of the Platten rock avalanche are superposed atop those from the Rautispitz event at the end of the Obersee valley where they dam Lake Haslensee. Runout for both events was simulated using the dynamic analysis code DAN3D; results showed excellent match to mapped deposit extents and thickness and helped confirm the hypothesized single-event failure scenarios. 36Cl cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating of 13 deposited boulders revealed a Younger Dryas age of 12.6±1.0ka for the Rautispitz rock avalanche and a mid-Holocene age of 6.1±0.8ka for the Platten rock avalanche. A seismological trigger is proposed for the former event due to potentially correlated turbidite deposits in nearby Lake Zurich.

Rates of Quaternary deformation in the Ouarzazate Basin (Southern Atlas Front, Morocco)

&lt;p&gt;Recent studies have shown that the uplift of the Moroccan Atlas Mountains resulted from a combination of crustal shortening and mantle thermal processes in the interior of the African plate. Within this framework, to gain insight into the dynamics of these processes in recent times, we investigated the nature and rates of the Quaternary deformation in a case field area, namely, the northern Ouarzazate Basin, which contains the best dated records of fan and fluvial terrace deposits of the Atlas system. The area selected is in the southern orogenic front of the High Atlas, where thrusts and fault-related folds have affected a sequence of dated, stepped terraces to varying degrees. Based on cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating, we have calculated slow neotectonic deformation rates for the past ~250 ky. We have measured the local rates of structural uplift, yielding 0.2 mm/y in areas of the northern third of the Ouarzazate Basin. We have estimated slip rates at 0.09-0.15 mm/y for the most active fault within the basin. We also document that recent shortening rates (~0.1 mm/y during the last ~250 ky) almost double the average rates from the deformation onset (~0.04 mm/y since the Middle Miocene). These results raise the point of the possible relations between such increases in the deformation rates and the erosional denudation of the Ouarzazate Basin since it became externally drained in the late Pliocene or early Quaternary times.&lt;/p&gt;

Subglacial plougging and drainage patterns in the glaciated valley of Andorra (SE Pyrenees), dynamics and rheology

The Alps were covered by a complex ice sheet comprising various centres of glaciation with occasionally dome-like structures from which huge valley glaciers flowed out. Systems of transection (interconnected valley glaciers) as well characterised the Alps. The equilibrium line altitude (ELA) across the Alps was between 1000 and 1700 m, with a general trend of rising from the margins to the centre. At sites farther to the east and south, smaller glaciers were present. Glaciers extended onto the northern and southern forelands and formed huge piedmont lobes. Frontal moraines filled the amphitheatres broadly defined by moraines built-up during earlier glaciations. Fields of drumlins were shaped in the footprints of the large piedmont glaciers on the northern flank of the Alps from the Rhone Glacier in the west to the Salzach Glacier in the east. The glaciers delivered remarkable volumes of outwash. On the south side of the Alps, huge fans were constructed. In the north, outwash gravels were largely confined to the established river valleys. The timing of the Last Glacial Maximum Alpine glacier fluctuations has been studied with radiocarbon dating, luminescence techniques, and cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating. Expansion of glaciers can be shown to have begun as early as 32.5–30.5 ka cal BP, with glaciers reaching the forelands already by 29 ka cal BP. Most systems exhibit two main advance phases, which in the south have been dated to 26–25 and 23–22 ka cal BP.

Post-depositional impacts on ‘Findlinge’ (erratic boulders) and their implications for surface-exposure dating

Understanding and interpretation of ‘numbers’ produced about the depositional age of an erratic boulder by cosmogenic nuclide surface-exposure dating is important in the construction of glacial chronology. We have sampled three ‘Findlinge’ (glacially transported boulders) located on the right-lateral margin of the Aare glacier at Möschberg, Grosshöchstetten, southeast of Bern, with the aim of shedding light on this topic. The boulders have the same depositional, but different post-depositional histories: simple exposure; exhumation; and human impact. This sampling is specially selected for this study, since the boulders showing exhumation and human impact would not have been sampled in a regular surface-exposure dating application. We measured cosmogenic 10Be concentrations and calculated apparent exposure ages that are 13.6 ± 0.5, 18.1 ± 0.8, and 7.5 ± 0.4 ka, respectively. The exposure age of the first boulder reflects exhumation. The apparent exposure age of 18.1 ± 0.8 ka (erosion-corrected exposure age 19.0 ± 0.9 ka) from the second boulder correlates well with the end of the Alpine and global last glacial maximum. The third boulder shows evidence of quarrying as it is surrounded by a rim of excavation material, which is also reflected by the 7.5 ± 0.4 ka apparent exposure age. We modeled the variation of 10Be concentrations with depth down into the sediment in which the first (exhumed) boulder was once buried in, and down into the third (quarried) boulder. According to our modeling, we determined that the exhumed ‘Findling’ was buried in sediment at a depth of around 0.5 m, and around 2 m of rock was quarried from the third ‘Findling’. Our results reveal the importance of sampling for surface-exposure dating within a well defined field context, as post-depositional impacts can easily hinder exposure-dating of surfaces.

Cosmogenic nuclide constraints on glacial chronology in the source area of the Urumqi River, Tian Shan, China

AbstractCosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating of boulders and erratics provides new constraints for a glacial chronology in the source area of the Urumqi River, Tian Shan, China. 10Be exposure ages of 15.0 ± 1.3–17.1 ± 1.5 ka from the Upper Wangfeng (UWF) moraines agree well with their previous relative age assignments to marine isotope stage (MIS) 2, but are younger than published AMS 14C and electron spin resonance (ESR) ages (from 22.8 ± 0.6 to 37.4 ka). This difference may result from variations in techniques, or could reflect the impact of surface erosion and sediment/snow cover on surface exposure dating. 10Be ages from the Lower Wangfeng (LWF) moraines (18.7 ± 1.8 and 16.2 ± 1.5 ka) are indistinguishable from the UWF exposure ages, but are significantly younger than previously reported thermoluminescence (TL) and ESR ages (37.7 ± 2.6–184.7 ± 18 ka). Either these two groups were formed during the same period (MIS 2) and there are problems with TL and ESR ages, or the moraines were of very different ages and the similar exposure ages result from different degrees of degradation. Erratics on rock steps and a drumlin along &gt;8 km of the main glacial valley above the UWF have internally consistent and slightly decreasing 10Be exposure ages indicating glacier retreat &gt;2.5 m a−1 after MIS 2 and before middle or late Holocene glacier re‐advances. This retreat rate is similar to rates observed from modern glaciers. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Beryllium-10 terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating of Quaternary landforms in Death Valley

Quaternary alluvial fans, and shorelines, spits and beach bars were dated using 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) surface exposure methods in Death Valley. The 10Be TCN ages show considerable variance on individual surfaces. Samples collected in the active channels date from ~ 6 ka to ~ 93 ka, showing that there is significant 10Be TCN inheritance within cobbles and boulders. This suggests that the predominantly bedrock hillslopes erode very slowly and sediment is transferred very gradually in most regions within Death Valley. Comparisons of 10Be TCN ages on alluvial fan surfaces with chronostratigraphies based on soil development and optically stimulated luminescence dating show that minimum 10Be TCN ages within sample sets on individual surfaces most closely approximate to the age of landforms that are younger than ~ 70 ka. Alluvial fan surfaces older than ~ 70 ka have begun to undergo sufficient erosion such that the majority of 10Be TCN ages for datasets on individual surfaces probably underestimate the true age of the surface due to erosion and exhumation of fresh cobbles and boulders. The spread of 10Be TCN ages for beach bars near Beatty Junction and shorelines ~ 8 km south of Furnace Creek is large, ranging from ~ 119 ka to ~ 385 ka and ~ 109 ka to ~ 465 ka, respectively. New and previously published luminescence ages and soil development suggest that these landforms may have formed during marine isotope stage (MIS) 2 (~ 22–18 ka), but these younger ages may reflect elluviation of material into the bar deposit long after deposition, and hence the younger ages do not record the true antiquity of the landforms. This disparity between dates determined by different dating methods and the large spread of TCN ages suggests that the cobbles and boulders have considerable inherited 10Be concentrations, suggesting that the clasts have been derived from older shorelines or associated landforms. These results highlight the problems associated with using surface cobbles and boulders to date Quaternary surfaces in Death Valley and emphasizes the need to combine multiple, different dating methods to accurately date landforms in similar dryland regions elsewhere in the world. However, these results highlight the potential to use TCN methods, when used in combination with other dating techniques, to examine and quantify processes such as sediment transfer and denudation in drylands.

Quaternary glaciation in the Nubra and Shyok valley confluence, northernmost Ladakh, India

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 10 Be 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.

Quaternary glacial history of the Central Karakoram

The Quaternary glacial history of the world's highest mountains, the Central Karakoram, is examined for the first time using geomorphic mapping of landforms and sediments, and 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating of boulders on the moraines and glacially eroded surfaces. Four glacial stages are defined: the Bunthang glacial stage (>0.7Ma); the Skardu glacial stage (marine Oxygen Isotope Stage [MIS] 6 or older); the Mungo glacial stage (MIS 2); and the Askole glacial stage (Holocene). Glaciers advanced several times during each glacial stage. These advances are not well defined for the oldest glacial stages, but during the Mungo and Askole glacial stages glacial advances likely occurred at ∼16, ∼11–13, ∼5 and ∼0.8ka. The extent of glaciation in this region became increasingly more restricted over time. In the Braldu and Shigar valleys, glaciers advanced >150km during the Bunthang and Skardu glacial stages, while glaciers advanced >80km beyond their present positions during the Mungo glacial stage. In contrast, glaciers advanced a few kilometers from present ice margins during the Askole glacial stage. Glacier in this region likely respond in a complex fashion to the same forcing that causes changes in Northern Hemisphere oceans and ice sheets, teleconnected via the mid-latitude westerlies, and also to changes in monsoonal intensity.

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.

Cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating of boulders on last-glacial and late-glacial moraines, Lago Buenos Aires, Argentina: Interpretive strategies and paleoclimate implications

In situ cosmogenic nuclides have become a powerful means to determine surface exposure ages of boulders on moraines and other landforms that are important to paleoclimate reconstructions. Potentially the largest and least quantifiable source of uncertainty of these surface exposure ages is the variable exposure histories of individual boulders. We use the mean square of weighted deviates (MSWD) statistic and cumulative frequency plots to identify groups of boulders that have statistically similar ages based on the number of analyses and their uncertainties. These samples most likely represent the true age of the moraine. We use these tools to interpret 49 10Be and 26Al surface exposure ages of erratic boulders on six last-glacial and late-glacial moraines at Lago Buenos Aires, Argentina (LBA; 71°W, 46.5°S). Seven of the 49 boulders are identified as anomalously young, and are interpreted to have been exhumed after moraine deposition. The remaining 42 samples indicate that glacial advances or still-stands of the ice margin occurred at 22.7±0.9, 21.4±1.9, 19.9±1.1, 17.0±0.8, 15.8±0.6, and 14.4±0.9 ka (weighted mean ages ±2 σ, analytical, erosion rate, and attenuation length uncertainties). This chronology of an outlet of the Patagonian Ice Cap is comparable to many records in the Northern Hemisphere despite a maximum in local summer insolation during this period. The implication is that climate during the Last Glacial Maximum was generally synchronous at the global scale. However, the late-glacial readvance to 95% of the extent of the largest advance during the Last Glacial Maximum at 14.4±0.9 ka is distinctively “Antarctic” in nature. It is contemporaneous with the Antarctic Cold Reversal, and precedes the Younger Dryas Chronozone. Further, our precise exposure ages highlight climatic asynchrony across southern South America between 23 and 14 ka. The timing of maximum ice extent and onset of deglaciation at LBA occurred ∼4 ka later than in the northern parts of the Chilean Lake District (41°S), but were synchronous with glacial advances or still stands in the Strait of Magellan (52°S). This regional asynchrony is likely related to the strength and position of the Southern Westerlies.

New data for the Last Glacial Maximum in Great Britain and Ireland

Understanding the history of the British and Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) has been advanced by new approaches, in particular, by cosmogenic nuclide surface-exposure dating, aminostratigraphy of ‘shelly’ glacial deposits, AMS radiocarbon dating, and the evidence from continental margin marine cores, all of which supersede the previously weak geochronologic control. It was formerly believed that Great Britain and Ireland was largely ice free between the last interglacial (oxygen isotope sub-stage 5e) and the Late Devensian, when the LGM occurred. As such the BIIS was effectively out of phase with Laurentide and Scandinavian ice sheets, as well as inferences of ice volume from oxygen isotope stratigraphy. The BIIS during the Late Devensian maximum was also perceived as having been relatively stationary. New evidence shows that the LGM was an important event during the evolution of an earlier BIIS when the extent of ice was greater. Repeated iceberg rafting events over the past 50 ka are shown by marine cores, while the derivative inference of numerous corresponding glacial advances is supported by several clusters of 36Cl ages on glaciated surfaces and glacial boulders, that are indicative of deglacial events between 40 and 12 ka. These appear to be associated with Heinrich events, the earliest being inferred as Heinrich 4 at about 40 ka. During this advance, the BIIS and Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) were in contact and all of Ireland was glaciated. The ice sheet appears to have fluctuated several times between 40 and 25 ka, although evidence for this is poorly preserved. But the 36Cl and 14C evidence is clear that the BIIS reached its LGM maximum size about 22 ka, soon after Heinrich Event 2, when the BIIS and SIS were not in contact. One cluster of 36Cl and 14C ages, at 21.4±1.3 ka, records an initial pulse of deglaciation that was followed by extensive deglaciation about 17.4±0.4 ka just before Heinrich Event 1, when the ice sheet readvanced. Contrary to previous views, the BIIS probably existed throughout much of Devensian time as a mobile and sensitive ice sheet, during which the LGM advance was but one important event. In places, glacial deposits of the earlier Devensian glaciation have previously been incorrectly identified as products of the later LGM glaciation.

A note on the extent of glaciation throughout the Himalaya during the global Last Glacial Maximum

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 <10 km from contemporary ice margins. Lower insolation at this time produced a weaker monsoon cycle, which in turn resulted in lower snowfall and snow accumulation at high altitudes. The modest advances that nevertheless did occur at this time are the result of reduced temperatures.