CP Climate of the Past CP Clim. Past 1814-9332 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/cp-8-519-2012 Precipitation as the main driver of Neoglacial fluctuations of Gualas glacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield Bertrand S. 1 2 3 Hughen K. A. 1 Lamy F. 2 Stuut J.-B. W. 4 5 Torrejón F. 6 7 Lange C. B. 8 Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany Renard Centre of Marine Geology, University of Ghent, Belgium MARUM, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands EULA Center, University of Concepción, Chile Patagonian Ecosystems Research Center (CIEP), Coyhaique, Chile Department of Oceanography and COPAS Center, University of Concepción, Chile 15 03 2012 8 2 519 534 Copyright: © 2012 S. Bertrand et al. 2012 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/8/519/2012/cp-8-519-2012.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/8/519/2012/cp-8-519-2012.pdf

Glaciers are frequently used as indicators of climate change. However, the link between past glacier fluctuations and climate variability is still highly debated. Here, we investigate the mid- to late-Holocene fluctuations of Gualas Glacier, one of the northernmost outlet glaciers of the Northern Patagonian Icefield, using a multi-proxy sedimentological and geochemical analysis of a 15 m long fjord sediment core from Golfo Elefantes, Chile, and historical documents from early Spanish explorers. Our results show that the core can be sub-divided into three main lithological units that were deposited under very different hydrodynamic conditions. Between 5400 and 4180 cal yr BP and after 750 cal yr BP, sedimentation in Golfo Elefantes was characterized by the rapid deposition of fine silt, most likely transported by fluvio-glacial processes. By contrast, the sediment deposited between 4130 and 850 cal yr BP is composed of poorly sorted sand that is free of shells. This interval is particularly marked by high magnetic susceptibility values and Zr concentrations, and likely reflects a major advance of Gualas glacier towards Golfo Elefantes during the Neoglaciation. Several thin silt layers observed in the upper part of the core are interpreted as secondary fluctuations of Gualas glacier during the Little Ice Age, in agreement with historical and dendrochronological data. Our interpretation of the Golfo Elefantes glaciomarine sediment record in terms of fluctuations of Gualas glacier is in excellent agreement with the glacier chronology proposed for the Southern Patagonian Icefield, which is based on terrestrial (moraine) deposits. By comparing our results with independent proxy records of precipitation and sea surface temperature, we suggest that the fluctuations of Gualas glacier during the last 5400 yr were mainly driven by changes in precipitation in the North Patagonian Andes.

 References Aniya, M.: Glacier inventory for the Northern Patagonia Icefield, Chile, and variations 1944/45 to 1985/86, Arctic Alpine Res., 20, 179–87, 1988. Aniya, M.: Glacier variation in the North Patagonian Icefield, Chile, between 1985/86 and 1990/91, Bull. Glacier Res., 10, 83–90, 1992. Aniya, M.: Holocene glacial chronology in Patagonia: Tyndall and Upsala Glaciers, Arctic Alpine Res., 27, 311–322, 1995. Aniya, M.: Holocene variations of Ameghino Glacier, southern Patagonia, Holocene, 6, 247–252, 1996. Araneda, A., Torrejón, F., Aguayo, M., Torres, L., Cruces, F., Cisternas, M., and Urrutia, R.: Historical records of San Rafael Glacier advances (North Patagonian Icefield): another clue to "Little Ice Age" timing in southern Chile?, Holocene, 17, 987–998, 2007. Bennett, K. D., Haberle, S. G., and Lumley, S. H.: The Last Glacial-Holocene transition in southern Chile, Science, 290, 325–328, 2000. Bertrand, S., Hughen, K., Sepúlveda, J., and Pantoja, S.: Geochemistry of surface sediments from the fjords of Northern Chilean Patagonia (44–47° S): Spatial variability and implications for paleoclimate reconstructions, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 76, 125–146, 2012. Caniupán, A. M.: Paleoenvironmental history of the Chilean fjord region and the adjacent southeast Pacific over the last 60 kyr BP: A multiproxy analysis on high resolution sediment cores, PhD thesis, University of Bremen, Germany, 184&nbsp;pp., 2011. Corominas, J.: Diccionario crítico etimológico de la Lengua Castellana, IV volúmenes, Editorial Gredos, 1976. Fenn, C. R. and Gomez, B.: Particle size analysis of the sediment suspended in a proglacial stream: Glacier de Tsijiore Nouve, Switzerland, Hydrol. Process., 3, 123–135, 1989. Fernandez, R., Anderson, J., Bertrand, S., and Wellner, J.: The Holocene seismo-stratigraphic record of climate and environmental change from Gualas Glacier, Golfo Elefantes, Northern Patagonia (46.5° S), Holocene, online first: https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611425545, 2012. Folk, R. L. and Ward, W. C.: Brazos river bar: a study in the signifiance of grain size parameters, J. Sediment. Petrol., 27, 3–26, 1957. Glasser, N. F., Harrison, S., Winchester, V., and Aniya, M.: Late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoclimate and glacier fluctuations in Patagonia, Global Planet. Change, 43, 79–101, 2004. Glasser, N. F., Harrison, S., Jansson, K. N., Anderson, K., and Cowley, A.: Global sea-level contribution from the Patagonian Icefields since the Little Ice Age maximum, Nat. Geosci., 4, 303–307, 2011. Haberle, S. G. and Lumley, S. H.: A postglacial eruption history of Hudson volcano, southwestern Chile, J. Volcanol. Geoth. Res., 84, 239–256, 1998. Haritashya, U. K., Kumar, A., and Singh, P.: Particle size characteristics of suspended sediment transported in meltwater from the Gangotri Glacier, central Himalaya – An indicator of subglacial sediment evacuation, Geomorphology, 122, 140–152, 2010. Harrison, S. and Winchester, V.: Historical fluctuations of the Gualas and Reicher glaciers, North Patagonian Icefield, Chile, Holocene, 8, 481–485, 1998. Harrison, S., Winchester, V., and Glasser, N.: The timing and nature of recession of outlet glaciers of Hielo Patagónico Norte, Chile, from their Neoglacial IV (Little Ice Age) maximum positions, Global Planet. Change, 59, 67–78, 2007. Harrison, S., Glasser, N. F., Haresign, E., Winchester, V., Warren, C. R., Duller, G. A. T., Ivy-Ochs, S., Jansson, K., Bailey, R., and Kubik, P.: Glaciar Leon, Chilean Patagonia: Late Holocene chronology and geomorphology, Holocene, 18, 643–652, 2008. Heusser, C. J.: Late-Pleistocene environments of the Laguna de San Rafael area, Chile, Geogr. Rev., 50, 555–577, 1960. Heusser, C. J. and Streeter, S. S.: A temperature and precipitation record of the past 16,000 years in southern Chile, Nature, 210, 1345–1347, 1980. Hieke, W.: Transparent layers in seismic reflection records from the central Ionian Sea (Mediterranean)-evidence for repeated catastrophic turbidite sedimentation during the Quaternary, Sediment. Geol., 135, 89–98, 2000. Huang, S., Sholkovitz, E., and Conte, M.: Application of high-temperature fusion for analysis of major and trace elements in marine sediment trap samples, Limnol. Oceanogr.: Methods, 5, 13–22, 2007. Hulton, N. R. J., Purves, R. S., McCulloch, R. D., Sugden, D. E., and Bentley, M. J.: The Last Glacial maximum and deglaciation in southern South America, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 21, 233–241, 2002. Lamy, F., Rühlemann, C., Hebbeln, D., and Wefer, G.: High- and low-latitude climate control on the position of the southern Peru-Chile Current during the Holocene, Paleoceanography, 17, 1028, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2001PA000727">https://doi.org/10.1029/2001PA000727</a>, 2002. Lemmen, D. S., Gilbert, R., Smol, J. P., and Hall, R. I.: Holocene sedimentation in glacial Taikutaaq Lake, Baffin Island, Can. J. Earth Sci., 25, 810–823, 1988. López, P., Chevallier, P., Favier, V., Pouyaud, B., Ordenes, F., and Oerlemans, J.: A regional view of fluctuations in Glacier length in southern South America, Global Planet. Change, 71, 85–108, 2010. Lumley, S. H. and Switsur, R.: Late Quaternary chronology of the Taitao Peninsula, southern Chile, J. Quaternary Sci., 8, 161–165, 1993. Mann, D. H.: Reliability of a fjord glaciers fluctuations for paleoclimatic reconstructions, Quaternary Res., 25, 10–24, 1986. Mardones, M., Gonzalez, L., King, R., and Campos, E.: Variaciones glaciales durante el Holoceno en Patagonia Central, Aisen, Chile: evidencias geomorfologicas, Andean Geol., 38, 371–392, 2011. McCormac, F. G., Hogg, A. G., Blackwell, P. G., Buck, C. E., Higham, T. F. G., and Reimer, P. J.: SHCAL04 Southern Hemisphere calibration, 0–11 Cal kyr B.P, Radiocarbon, 46, 1087–1092, 2004. Mercer, J. H.: Variations of some Patagonian glaciers since the late-Glacial: II, Am. J. Sci., 269, 1–25, 1970. Mercer, J. H.: Glacial history of southernmost South America, Quaternary Res., 6, 125–166, 1976. Mercer, J. H.: Holocene glacier variations in southern Patagonia, Striae, 18, 35–40, 1982. Mohtadi, M., Romero, O. E., Kaiser, J., and Hebbeln, D.: Cooling of the southern high latitudes during the Medieval Period and its effect on ENSO, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 26, 1055–1066, 2007. Murray, R., Miller, D., and Kryc, K.: Analysis of major and trace elements in rocks, sediments, and interstitial waters by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), ODP Technical Note, 29, 2000. Neukom, R., Luterbacher, J., Villalba, R., Küttel, M., Frank, D., Jones, P. D., Grosjean, M., Esper, J., Lopez, L., and Wanner, H.: Multi-centennial summer and winter precipitation variability in southern South America, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L14708, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043680">https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043680</a>, 2010a. Neukom, R., Luterbacher, J., Villalba, R., Küttel, M., Frank, D., Jones, P. D., Grosjean, M., Wanner, H., Aravena, J. C., Black, D. E., Christie, D. A., D'Arrigo, R., Lara, A., Morales, M., Soliz-Gamboa, C., Srur, A., Urrutia, R., and von Gunten, L.: Multiproxy summer and winter surface air temperature field reconstructions for southern South America covering the past centuries. Clim. Dynam., 37, 35–51, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00382-010-0793-3">https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-010-0793-3</a>, 2010b. Oerlemans, J.: Extracting a climate signal from 169 glacier records, Science, 308, 675–677, 2005. Pagés, A.: Gran diccionario de la Lengua Castellana (de autoridades) con ejemplos de buenos escritores antiguos y modernos, Imprenta de Ángel Ortega, undated (in Spanish). Perdue, E. M. and Koprivnjak, J.-F.: Using the C/N ratio to estimate terrigenous inputs of organic matter to aquatic environments, Estuar. Coast. Shelf S., 73, 65–72, 2007. Pfeffer, W. T.: Tidewater glaciers move at their own pace, Nature, 426, p.&nbsp;602, 2003. Porter, S. C.: Onset of Neoglaciation in the Southern Hemisphere, J. Quaternary Sci., 15, 395–408, 2000. Post, A., O'Neel, S., Motyka, R. J., and Streveler, G.: A complex relationship between calving glaciers and climate, EOS, 92, 305–306, 2011. Rignot, E., Rivera, A., and Casassa, G.: Contribution of the Patagonia Icefields of South America to sea level rise, Science, 302, 434–437, 2003. Rivera, A., Benham, T., Casassa, G., Bamber, J., and Dowdeswell, J. A.: Ice elevation and areal changes of glaciers from the Northern Patagonia Icefield, Chile, Global Planet. Change, 59, 126–137, 2007. Sepúlveda, J., Pantoja, S., Hughen, K. A., Bertrand, S., Figueroa, D., León, T., Drenzek, N. J., and Lange, C.: Late Holocene sea-surface temperature and precipitation variability in northern Patagonia, Chile (Jacaf Fjord, 44° S), Quaternary Res., 72, 400–409, 2009. Simpson, E.: Esploraciones hechas por la corbeta Chacabuco al mando del capitan de fragata D. Enrique M. Simpson en los archipiélagos de Guaitecas, Chonos i Taitao, Anuario idrográfico de la Marina de Chile, 1, 3–147, 1875 (in Spanish). Steffen, H.: Viajes de exploracion i estudio en la Patagonia occidental 1892–1902, Imprenta Cervantes, 1910 (in Spanish). Steffen, H.: Westpatagonien. Die Patagonischen Kordilleren und Ihre Randgebiete, Berlin, 1919. Steffen, H.: Patagonia Occidental. Las Cordilleras Patagonicas y sus regiones circundantes, Ediciones de la Universidad de Chile, 1947 (in Spanish). Szczuci\'{n}ski, W., Zaj\c{a}czkowski, M., and Scholten, J.: Sediment accumulation rates in subpolar fjords – impact of post-Little Ice Age glaciers retreat, Billefjorden, Svalbard, Estuar. Coast. Shelf S., 85, 345–356, 2009. Tonello, M. S., Mancini, M. V., and Seppä, H.: Quantitative reconstruction of Holocene precipitation changes in southern Patagonia, Quaternary Res., 72, 410–420, 2009. Verardo, D., Froelich, P., and McIntyre, A.: Determination of organic carbon and nitrogen in marine sediments using the Carlo Erba NA-1500 analyzer, Deep-Sea Res., Part&nbsp;A, 37, 157–165, 1990. Volland, S., Sturm, M., Lukas, S., Pino, M., and Müller, J.: Geomorphological and sedimentological evolution of a lake basin under strong volcano-tectonic influence: the seismic record of Lago Calafquén (south-central Chile), Quatern. Int., 161, 32–45, 2007. Warren, C.: Rapid recent fluctuations of the calving San Rafael glacier, Chilean Patagonia: climatic or non-climatic?, Geogr. Ann. A, 75, 111–125, 1993. Warren, C. and Aniya, M.: The calving glaciers of southern South America, Global Planet. Change, 22, 59–77, 1999. Warren, C. and Sugden, D. E.: The Patagonian Icefields: a glaciological review, Arctic Alpine Res., 25, 316–331, 1993. Winchester, V. and Harrison, S.: Recent oscillations of the San Quintin and San Rafael glaciers, Patagonian Chile, Geogr. Ann. A, 78, 35–49, 1996. Yde, J. C. and Paasche, Ø.: Reconstructing climate changes: Not all glaciers suitable, EOS, 91, 189–190, 2010.