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Title: Analysis of multiple cosmogenic nuclides constrains Laurentide Ice Sheet history and process on Mt. Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak

Journal Article · · Quaternary Science Reviews
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8]
  1. Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, VT (United States)
  2. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
  3. Bentley University, Waltham, MA (United States)
  4. Tulane Univ., New Orleans, LA (United States)
  5. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States); Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, VT (United States)
  6. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States); Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  7. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  8. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Constraining glacial history and process on Mt Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont (1339 m a.s.l.), provides insight into how the Laurentide Ice Sheet shaped the underlying landscape, when latest Pleistocene ice retreated, and how upland and lowland glacial histories relate. Here, we quantify in situ cosmogenic 10Be in 20 bedrock and boulder surfaces, as well as in situ cosmogenic 14C in three of those surfaces, to assess subglacial erosion and exposure history. Further, isotopic concentrations indicate that Mt. Mansfield's lower elevations (~400–1200 m a.s.l.) were deeply eroded by at least several meters during the last glaciation and then deglaciated rapidly; 10Be ages across this elevation span are indistinguishable and average 13.9 ± 0.6 ka (n = 15), suggesting that 800 m of ice thinning occurred within at most about a millennium. Conversely, the higher elevations (>1200 m a.s.l.) preserve a more complex geomorphic history. Mt. Mansfield's summit surfaces contain 10Be from previous periods of exposure, indicating that the mountaintop landscapes were likely preserved beneath cold-based, weakly-erosive glacial ice. Exposure ages from the shorter-lived isotope, 14C, are younger (9.7 and 11.7 ka), suggesting that Mt. Mansfield's summit was covered until the early Holocene, perhaps by snowfields, ice carapaces, and/or till. Our findings, in context of previous work, suggest that thinning Laurentide ice flowed through the valleys for at most hundreds of years following deglaciation of the uplands, but that the summit remained shielded by ice or sediment for millennia after the valleys became ice-free.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; EAR 1603175; EAR 1602280; EAR 1735676; LLNL-JRNL-760288
OSTI ID:
1905205
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1692168
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-760288; 948966
Journal Information:
Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 205; ISSN 0277-3791
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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