Retreat of the Cordillera Darwin icefield during Termination I

Authors

  • B. L. Hall School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine
  • G. Denton School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine
  • T. Lowell Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati
  • G. R. M. Bromley School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine
  • A. E. Putnam School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18172/cig.3158

Keywords:

Cordillera Darwin, Termination I, Radiocarbon, Deglaciation, Tierra del Fuego

Abstract

During the last glaciation, the Cordillera Darwin icefield expanded northward toward the Straits of Magellan, eastward across Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and through Canal Beagle, and south and west across the numerous islands of southernmost Chile. Deglaciation commenced at ~18 ka during Termination I. Alpine glaciers in the Fuegian Andes also likely retreated at that time. Radiocarbon ages from the interior regions of Cordillera Darwin suggest ice in at least some locations had retreated close to its present-day limit as early as ~16.5 ka. The most likely cause for such rapid ice retreat was rising atmospheric temperatures at the start of Termination I.

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15-09-2017

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Hall BL, Denton G, Lowell T, Bromley GRM, Putnam AE. Retreat of the Cordillera Darwin icefield during Termination I. CIG [Internet]. 2017 Sep. 15 [cited 2024 Mar. 19];43(2):751-66. Available from: https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/cig/article/view/3158

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