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Temperatures recorded by cosmogenic noble gases since the last glacial maximum in the Maritime Alps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2018

Marissa M. Tremblay ,
David L. Shuster ,
Matteo Spagnolo ,
Hans Renssen  and
Adriano Ribolini
Marissa M. Tremblay*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-4767, USA Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, California 94709, USA
David L. Shuster
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-4767, USA Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, California 94709, USA
Matteo Spagnolo
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
Hans Renssen
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, University College of Southeast Norway, 3800 Bø, Norway
Adriano Ribolini
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
*
*Corresponding author at: Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, UK. E-mail address: marissa.tremblay@glasgow.ac.uk (M.M. Tremblay).
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Abstract

While proxy records have been used to reconstruct late Quaternary climate parameters throughout the European Alps, our knowledge of deglacial climate conditions in the Maritime Alps is limited. Here, we report temperatures recorded by a new and independent geochemical technique—cosmogenic noble gas paleothermometry—in the Maritime Alps since the last glacial maximum. We measured cosmogenic 3He in quartz from boulders in nested moraines in the Gesso Valley, Italy. Paired with cosmogenic 10Be measurements and 3He diffusion experiments on quartz from the same boulders, the cosmogenic 3He abundances record the temperatures these boulders experienced during their exposure. We calculate effective diffusion temperatures (EDTs) over the last ∼22 ka ranging from 8°C to 25°C. These EDTs, which are functionally related to, but greater than, mean ambient temperatures, are consistent with temperatures inferred from other proxies in nearby Alpine regions and those predicted by a transient general circulation model. In detail, however, we also find different EDTs for boulders from the same moraines, thus limiting our ability to interpret these temperatures. We explore possible causes for these intra-moraine discrepancies, including variations in radiative heating, our treatment of complex helium diffusion, uncertainties in our grain size analyses, and unaccounted-for erosion or cosmogenic inheritance.

Keywords

Cosmogenic isotopespaleoclimateQuaternaryEurope
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 91 , Issue 2 , March 2019 , pp. 829 - 847
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018 

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