Last glacial maximum precipitation pattern in the alps inferred from glacier Modelling
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Date
2016
Publication Type
Journal Article
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yes
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Abstract
During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), glaciers in the Alps reached a maximum extent, and broad sections of the foreland were covered by ice. In this study, we simulated the alpine ice cap using a glacier flow model to constrain the prevailing precipitation pattern with a geomorphological reconstruction of ice extent. For this purpose we forced the model using different temperature cooling and precipitation reduction factors. The use of the present-day precipitation pattern led to a systematic overestimation of the ice cover on the northern part of the Alps relative to the southern part. To reproduce the LGM ice cap, a more severe decrease in precipitation in the north than in the south was required. This result supports a southwesterly advection of atmospheric moisture to the Alps, sustained by a southward shift of the North Atlantic storm track during the LGM.
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published
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Journal / series
Volume
71 (3)
Pages / Article No.
173 - 187
Publisher
Copernicus
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Date created
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Organisational unit
08726 - Funk, Martin (Tit.-Prof.) (ehemalig)
02611 - V. Wasserbau, Hydrologie u. Glaziologie / Lab. Hydraulics,Hydrology,Glaciology
Notes
Published online 17 August 2016.