Late Pleistocene climate of the northern Iberian Peninsula: New insights from palaeoglaciers at Fuentes Carrionas (Cantabrian Mountains)

Abstract

New 10Be dates for glacial landforms in the Fuentes Carrionas area (Cantabrian Mountains, nothern Spain) are presented. Mapped and dated landforms in Fuentes Carrionas made possible a palaeoglacier reconstruction for four glacial stages. Results were compared to other nearby palaeoenvironmental proxies, so a final approximation on the mean annual temperature and annual precipitation that caused the four glacial advance stages is proposed. Glaciers reached their maximum extension at 36 ka, in a cold and dry environment. A second advance stage took place between 18.5 and 19.5 ka, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), when glaciers advanced in a wet environment, with positive rainfall anomalies. A third glacial advance was dated during the Oldest Dryas, in which climate shifted to extremely cold and dry conditions. Finally, a last stage has been identified and proposed to the Younger Dryas, in which precipitation anomalies are negligible. Our results confirm some of the previously made palaeoglacial and palaeoenvironmental inferences for the Iberian Peninsula, as well as provide valuable and accurate anomalies, which are useful for climate modelling.

Climatic conditions between 19 and 12 ka in the eastern Pyrenees, and wider implications for atmospheric circulation patterns in Europe

“…In the Tatra Mountains, the ELA was 1600-1800 m, and paleotemperatures and paleoprecipitation were respectively 9-10 °C and 30-50 % lower than today (Makos et al, 2018). In the Cantabrian Mountains (Fuentes Carrionas), the ELA was ~1990 m at a time when paleotemperatures and paleoprecipitation were respectively 10.4 °C and 30 % lower than today (Pellitero et al, 2019). The eastern Mediterranean area was comparatively more humid (Mount Erciyes, in central Turkey, recorded paleoprecipitation 50 % higher than today and paleotemperatures lower by 4.5-6.4 °C;Sarikaya et al, 2009), still probably benefiting from intense convection over the Levantine Sea with its warmer SSTs coming into contact with cold winter air (Fig.…”

Chronology of geomorphological changes in a cantabrian mountain valley over the last 20,000 years.

“…For the Cobre Cave, located 10 km to the east, Muñoz (2007) established that after 27 ky BP, the water table has risen, preventing the growth of speleothems. This phase of glacial advance and high fluvial competence coincides in part with the Global Glacial Maximum (Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al, 2017;Pellitero et al, 2019) and although the complexity of the Iberian climate during glacial stages is high, the climate framework seems to be consistent with the granulometry observed. This episode of high competence could be related to some evidence of gelifluction a few kilometres away, in the Horca de Lores glacier cirque covered with colluvial Holocene deposits (Pisabarro, 2019).…”

“…For this purpose, palynological studies carried out in peat bogs inside glacial cirques within a radius of 20km were helpful (Menéndez-Amor and Florschütz, 1963;Mariscal, 1983). The scope of characteristic Quaternary glacial episodes in nearby areas also had to be taken into consideration Gutiérrez, 2000, 2002;Pellitero and Serrano, 2008;Serrano et al, 2013Pellitero et al 2019). Moreover, the proximity of karst relief facilitated the paleoclimatic study of the Cueva del Cobre (Muñoz, 2007;Martín-Chivelet et al, 2011).…”

“…This age necessarily suggests a relationship with a still cold environment. In the contiguous area of the Fuentes Carrionas Massif, the maximum glacier extension at 36 ky was determined by dating moraine arches (Pellitero et al, 2019). This glacier pulse also associates the moraines of the closest glacial cirques in Valdecebollas (Serrano et al 2013) and Horca de Lores (Pisabarro, 2019).…”

Glacial oscillations during the Bølling–Allerød Interstadial–Younger Dryas transition in the Ruda Valley, Central Pyrenees

“…Based on chronostratigraphic data from a variety of sources, evidence of YD glacial advances was also recorded in the highest cirques of other Iberian massifs, although no direct ages are yet available (García-Ruiz et al, 2016a). This is true for the northwestern ranges (Cowton et al, 2009) and the Cantabrian Mountains (Pellitero et al, 2019;Serrano et al, 2015), where moraines above 1800 and 2000 m, respectively, were associated with this cold phase. In the Sierra Nevada, YD moraines dated at 13-12 ka are located in the highest cirques facing east from 2350 (north face) to 2800 m (south face) (Oliva et al, 2014;Palacios et al, 2016).…”