Increased autumn and winter precipitation during the Last Glacial Maximum in the European Alps

The culmination of the glaciers in the European Alps during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is one of the most intensively studied paleoglaciological events, but its trigger and forcing remain incompletely understood. Here, we provide evidence that the timing of this glacier maximum coincided within age uncertainties with a 3100 yr-long interval of subsurface warming (26.6 to 23.5 ka BP) as recorded by an archive preserved in caves, cryogenic carbonates. This interval of sustained permafrost degradation during one of the coldest intervals of the last glacial period calls for a fundamental change in the dry Arctic-style precipitation regime. Instead, heavy snowfall during autumn and early winter led to the accumulation of a seasonal snowpack insulating the ground from the winter chill. Combined with thermal modelling, the data provide compelling evidence that the LGM glacier advance in the Alps was fueled by intensive snowfall late in the year, likely sourced from the Mediterranean Sea. What controlled changes of glaciers in the European Alps at the time of their largest extent, about 25,000 years ago, is not well known. Here, the authors use cryogenic carbonates in caves to show that heavy snowfall during autumn and early winter was the main source of glacier growth.

Automated summary

The study suggests that the glacier advance in the European Alps during the Last Glacial Maximum was related to subsurface warming and driven by heavy snowfall late in the year, likely sourced from the Mediterranean Sea. These results indicate that heavy snowfall during autumn and early winter was the main factor influencing glacier growth during this period of the Last Glacial Maximum in the European Alps.