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Late Quaternary glaciation and equilibrium-line altitudes of the Mayan Ice Cap, Guatemala, Central America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Alex J. Roy  and
Matthew S. Lachniet
Alex J. Roy
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Department of Geoscience, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
Matthew S. Lachniet*
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Department of Geoscience, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: +702 895 4064. E-mail addresses:aroy@mde.state.md.us (A.J. Roy). matthew.lachniet@unlv.edu (M.S. Lachniet).
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Abstract

The Sierra los Cuchumatanes (3837 m), Guatemala, supported a plateau ice cap and valley glaciers around Montaña San Juan (3784 m) that totaled ∼ 43 km2 in area during the last local glacial maximum. Former ice limits are defined by sharp-crested lateral and terminal moraines that extend to elevations of ∼ 3450 m along the ice cap margin, and to ca. 3000–3300 m for the valley glaciers. Equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) estimated using the area–altitude balance ratio method for the maximum late Quaternary glaciation reached as low as 3470 m for the valley glaciers and 3670 m for the Mayan Ice Cap. Relative to the modern altitude of the 0°C isotherm of ∼ 4840 m, we determined ELA depressions of 1110–1436 m. If interpreted in terms of a depression of the freezing level during maximal glaciation along the modern lapse rate of − 5.3°C km–1, this ΔELA indicates tropical highland cooling of ∼ 5.9 to 7.6 ± 1.2°C. Our data support greater glacial highland cooling than at sea level, implying a high tropical sensitivity to global climate changes. The large magnitude of ELA depression in Guatemala may have been partially forced by enhanced wetness associated with southward excursions of the boreal winter polar air mass.

Keywords

Tropical glaciationGuatemalaEquilibrium-line altitudeLast glacial maximum
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , July 2010 , pp. 1 - 7
Copyright
University of Washington

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Footnotes

1 Present address: Maryland Department of the Environment, Wetlands and Waterways Program, 1800 Washington Blvd., Baltimore, Maryland, 21230-4170, USA.

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