In this interactive map, you can explore all the glacial landforms and chronologies that were used to generate the new reconstructions of the last Patagonian Ice Sheet from 35,000 years ago to the present day. Click the PATICE logo below to launch the online interactive webmap. The GIF below shows the extent of the ice […]
PATICE interactive map Read More »
PATICE: The Patagonian Ice Sheet from 35,000 years ago to the present day This page provides a brand-new reconstruction of the Patagonian Ice Sheet from 35,000 years ago to the present day (called PATICE). PATICE is a new compilation of published ages and geomorphology, ranked and assessed and recalibrated, which we use to generate new
The Loch Lomond Stadial in Britain Between around 13 and 11 thousand years ago, the climate in Britain, as well as across much of Northern Europe, cooled abruptly1. This short-lived cold period temporarily reversed the general pattern of warming that drove the retreat of ice sheets after the Last Glacial Maximum, causing glaciers to readvance
Cirque glaciation landsystem of upland Britain Read More »
Ice-dammed lakes are a common feature of glaciated mountain ranges. They form wherever glacial ice blocks the drainage of rivers or meltwater. This includes: where a glacier blocks a trunk or tributary valley; and where a glacier fills an overdeepened valley created by glacial erosion Today, ice-dammed lakes exist at the margins of many mountain
Ice-dammed lake landsystems Read More »
Ridges, mounds and hummocks formed at the margin of glaciers are generally termed moraines. The study of moraines is particularly useful as it can shed light on the physical processes occurring at both active and former ice margins1,2 and because moraines are markers of former glacier extent, so can be used to track glacier change
Glacial cirques, known locally as corries or coires (Scotland) and cwms (Wales), are large-scale erosional features common to many mountainous regions1,2. Classic cirques take the form of armchair-shaped hollows (see image below), with a steep headwall (which often culminates in a sharp ridge, or arête) and a gently-sloping or overdeepened valley floor (see diagram below).
Mountains as Water Towers of the World In many mountainous parts of the world with a seasonal rainfall, glaciers are a reliable water resource in the dry season. Mountains could be called the “Water Towers of the World”1, providing water from glacier melt and orographic rainfall to lowland regions. Glacierised drainage basins cover 26% of
Glaciers as a water resource Read More »
This page is based largely on Bendle et al. (2017) and summarises the glacial geomorphology of the North Patagonian Icefield region (46–48°S). Glaciers and the Patagonian landscape The Patagonian Ice Sheet has expanded and contracted at least five times during the last million years1. During glacial periods, large outlet glaciers discharged along major valleys (see
Glacial geomorphology of the Patagonian Ice Sheet Read More »
Geographic setting Patagonia, between ~40°S to 56°S, is the most southerly part of the South American continent. The landscape of this region is one of contrasts. Dense temperate rainforests cover the western coast, whereas the eastern plains are flat, vast, and arid. Perhaps most striking, however, are the high, Patagonian Andes, which rise steeply (up
The Patagonian Icefields today Read More »
The moisture-bearing Southern Westerly Winds The Patagonian Ice Sheet, which formed during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) around 21,000 years ago, was strongly influenced by the Southern Westerly Winds. These winds blow around the Southern Hemisphere in the mid-latitudes (see map below) and deliver snow and rain to the western coast of southern South America[1],
The westerly winds and the Patagonian Ice Sheet Read More »
