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The influence of föhn winds on Glacial Lake Washburn and palaeotemperatures in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, during the Last Glacial Maximum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2017

M.K. Obryk ,
P.T. Doran ,
E.D. Waddington  and
C.P. Mckay
M.K. Obryk*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97219, USA Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
P.T. Doran
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
E.D. Waddington
Affiliation:
Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
C.P. Mckay
Affiliation:
Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
*
mobryk@pdx.edu
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Abstract

Large glacial lakes, including Glacial Lake Washburn, were present in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) despite a colder and drier climate. To address the mechanism capable of generating enough meltwater to sustain these large lakes, a conceptual model was developed based on the warming potential of infrequent contemporary föhn winds. The model suggests that föhn winds were capable of generating enough meltwater to sustain large glacial lakes during the LGM by increasing degree days above freezing (DDAF) and prolonging the melt season. A present-day relationship between infrequent summer föhn winds and DDAF was established. It is assumed that the Taylor Dome ice core record represents large-scale palaeoclimatic variations for the McMurdo Dry Valleys region. This analysis suggests that because of the warming influence of the more frequent föhn winds, summer DDAF in the McMurdo Dry Valleys during the LGM were equivalent to present-day values, but this enhanced summer signal is not preserved in the annually averaged ice core temperature record.

Keywords

degree days above freezinghydrological modellingLGM
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 29 , Issue 5 , October 2017 , pp. 457 - 467
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Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2017 

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