Late Pleistocene Mountain Glacier Equilibrium Line Altitudes and Paleoclimate Reconstruction in the Great Basin
Abstract
This thesis presents new reconstructions of paleoglacier surfaces and Equilibrium Line Altitudes in nine mountain ranges in the northeastern Great Basin during the Last Glacial Maximum. Improved methods for paleoglacier and ELA reconstructions were applied in this thesis, using a computationally derived toolset presented by Pellitero et al. (2015, 2016). Additionally, the first computationally derived volume estimates for alpine paleoglaciers in Lake Bonneville are presented. These reconstructions, in addition to 10Be cosmogenic exposure ages taken from the ICE-D website, were used together to further limit the magnitude and climate of the Last Glacial Maximum. Equilibrium Line Altitudes provide a vital link between the mass balance of a glacier and its relationship with climate. Reconstructing these relationships in the Great Basin showed the regional maxima did not coincide with the Lake Bonneville highs stand and the melting of glaciers following the LGM was not the driving factor in the Lake overflow.