The case of a southern European glacier disappearing under recent warming that survived Roman and Medieval warm periods

Moreno, Ana (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Bartolomé, Miguel ; López-Moreno, Juan Ignacio ; Pey, Jorge ; Corella, Pablo ; García-Orellana, Jordi ; Sancho, Carlos ; Leunda, María ; Gil-Romera, Graciela ; González-Sampériz, Penélope (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Pérez-Mejías, Carlos ; Navarro, Francisco ; Otero-García, Javier ; Lapazaran, Javier ; Alonso-González, Esteban ; Cid, Cristina ; López-Martínez, Jerónimo ; Oliva-Urcia, Belén ; Faria, Sergio H. ; Sierra, María José ; Millán, Rocío ; Querol, Xavier ; Alastuey, Andrés ; García-Ruíz, José M.

Resumen: Mountain glaciers have generally experienced an accelerated retreat over the last three decades as a rapid response to current global warming. However, the response to previous warm periods in the Holocene is not well-described for glaciers of the of southern Europe mountain ranges, such as the Pyrenees. The situation during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (900-1300 CE) is particularly relevant since it is not certain whether the glaciers just experienced significant ice loss or whether they actually disappeared. We present here the first chronological study of a glacier located in the Central Pyrenees (N Spain), the Monte Perdido Glacier (MPG), carried out by different radiochronological techniques and their comparison with geochemical proxies with neighboring paleoclimate records. The result of the chronological model proves that the glacier endured during the Roman Period and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. The lack of ice from last 600 years indicates that the ice formed during the Little Ice Age has melted away. The analyses of the content of several metals of anthropogenic origin, such as Zn, Se, Cd, Hg, Pb, appear in low amounts in MPG ice, which further supports our age model in which the record from the industrial period is lost. This study confirms the exceptional warming of the last decades in the context of last two millennia. We demonstrate that we are facing an unprecedented retreat of the 55 Pyrenean glaciers which survival is compromised beyond a few decades.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.5194/tc-2020-107

Año: 2020

Publicado en: The cryosphere discussions 2020 (2020), [29 pp.]
ISSN: 1994-0440

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/CTM2017-84441-R
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/MDM-2017-0714
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/RTI2018-100696-B-I00
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/FJCI-2017-34235063753
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/CGL2015-68993-R
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/CGL2015-69160-R
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/CGL2015-72167-EXP

Tipo y forma: Article (PrePrint)

Área (Departamento): Área Geodinámica Externa (Dpto. Ciencias de la Tierra)