The Little Ice Age in Iberian mountains

Oliva, Marc; Fernández, Jesús Ruíz; Barriendos, Mariano; Benito, Gerardo; Cuadrat, José María; Domínguez‐Castro, Fernando; García‐Ruiz, José María; Giralt, Santiago; Gómez‐Ortiz, Antonio; Hernández, Armand; López-Costas, Olalla; López‐Moreno, Juan I.; López-Sáez, J. A.; Cortizas, Antonio Martínez; Moreno, Ana; Prohom, Marc; Saz, Miguel Ángel; Serrano, Enrique; Tejedor, Ernesto; Trigo, Ricardo M.; Valero-Garces, B. L.; Vicente‐Serrano, Sergio M.

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.11.010

Cited by 148 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 251 publications

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“…The Dryas was also important, and at least two stages with small glaciers shaped the highest cirques during the Lateglacial . During the Little Ice Age (LIA) glaciers occupied cirques and fashioned moraine complexes . Paraglacial and periglacial environments have made up the high mountain region for the last 12 ka, so all massifs studied have LIA moraine complexes and are in areas occupied by Dryas period moraine systems (Figure ).…”

Section: Study Site: the Pyreneesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Periglacial environments and frozen ground in the central Pyrenean high mountain area: Ground thermal regime and distribution of landforms and processes

Cañadas

Blasco

Gómez‐Lende

et al. 2019

Permafrost & Periglacial

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The periglacial belt is located in the highest parts of temperate mountains. The balance between mean air and ground temperatures and the presence of water determine the effectiveness of periglacial processes related to permafrost, the active layer or seasonally frozen ground (SFG). This study combines thermal and geomorphological data obtained in four Pyrenean massifs (Infierno‐Argualas, Posets, Maladeta and Monte Perdido) to improve knowledge on the occurrence and distribution of frozen ground. The methodology used is based on the study of landforms as frozen ground indicators, mapping processes, ground temperature analysis, basal temperature of snow, thermal mapping and geomatic surveys on rock glaciers and protalus lobes. In the Pyrenean high mountain areas the lower limit of frozen ground is at ~2,650m a.s.l., possible permafrost appears above 2,650m a.s.l. on north‐ and south‐facing slopes, and probable permafrost is dominant above 2,900m a.s.l. Unfrozen ground with cold‐associated geomorphological processes reach 2,900m a.s.l. and unfrozen and frozen ground distribution points to a patchy pattern throughout the periglacial belt. The most widespread frozen grounds are SFG. The thermal data, mean annual ground temperature, cold season temperatures, bottom temperature snow measurements, freeze/thaw cycles and distribution of landforms permit the establishment of a periglacial land system divided into three main belts: infraperiglacial, middle periglacial and supraperiglacial. The large number of processes and landforms that are involved and their altitudinal and spatial organization make up a complex environment that determines the geoecological dynamics of high mountain areas.

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Section: Study Site: the Pyreneesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Periglacial environments and frozen ground in the central Pyrenean high mountain area: Ground thermal regime and distribution of landforms and processes

Cañadas

Blasco

Gómez‐Lende

et al. 2019

Permafrost & Periglacial

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“…Current bedrock temperatures at the summits are several degrees above freezing, as detected in the deep borehole of the Veleta peak where temperatures of 2.5°C show evidence of the absence of permafrost conditions . Considering these values, as well as the Holocene climatic variability in the Northern Hemisphere, which has oscillated approximately 2°C during the current interglacial, widespread permafrost conditions during the Holocene are not expected for the high areas of the Sierra Nevada, despite the existence of cold phases in which small glaciers developed at the foot of the highest peaks, such as during the Neoglacial period (2.8–2.7 ka cal BP), the Dark Ages (1.4–1.2 ka cal BP) or the LIA (1300–1850 CE) …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the LIA, the colder climatic conditions that prevailed in the Iberian Peninsula favored the expansion of glaciers in the Cantabrian Mountains, the Pyrenees and the northernmost cirques of the Sierra Nevada, especially during the most humid phases, as well as the intensification of periglacial processes at lower altitudes than the current ones . Current average temperatures were quantified at around 1°C higher than in 1850 and 2°C higher than during the Maunder Minimum (1645–1715) . Given that MAAT at the Veleta peak is 0.5°C at present (Table ), values during the LIA at elevations of 3300–3400 m must have been ca.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Environmental processes in mid‐latitude high mountains are subject to post‐Little Ice Age (LIA) climatic evolution, which can be summarized as cold geomorphological processes that lose intensity and rise in altitude . This has conditioned the total deglaciation of many of these mountains, including those of the Mediterranean ranges, as well as a dramatic reduction in enclaves that remain glaciated .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The climatic cooling that took place in the Iberian Peninsula during the LIA lasted from 1300 to 1850 CE, with various blasts of cold and humidity that in the Sierra Nevada involved the formation of small glaciers at the foot of the highest peaks of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as a decrease in the altitude of the periglacial belt . The glacier at the foot of Mulhacén peak was formed around 1440 and lasted until 1710 CE, while the glacier that developed in the northern Veleta cirque gradually lost thickness and extent from the early 19th century onward, until it disappeared completely in the mid‐20th century .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Monitoring permafrost and periglacial processes in Sierra Nevada (Spain) from 2001 to 2016

Gómez‐Ortiz

Oliva

Franch

et al. 2019

Permafrost & Periglacial

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Outside the Alps, the Sierra Nevada is probably the best studied European massif with respect to its past and current environmental dynamics. A multi‐approach research program started in the early 2000s focused on the monitoring of frozen ground conditions in this National Park. Here, we present data on the thermal state and distribution of permafrost and seasonal frozen ground in different sites across the highest areas of the massif. New results confirm the absence of widespread permafrost conditions, with seasonal frost prevailing above 2500 m. Small permafrost patches have been only detected in glaciated areas of the Veleta and Mulhacén cirques during the Little Ice Age at elevations of 3000–3100 m. The remnants of those glaciers are still preserved under the thick debris layer covering the cirque floors. Geomatic and geophysical surveying of a rock glacier existing in the Veleta cirque, together with the monitoring of soil temperature at different depths, have revealed permanently frozen conditions undergoing a process of degradation. In the rest of the massif, a seasonal frost regime prevails, even at the highest plateaus at 3300–3400 m, where annual soil temperatures average 2.5°C. The monitoring of soil temperatures in other different periglacial features has also revealed positive average values ranging between 2°C (inactive sorted‐circles) and 3–4°C (inactive and weakly active solifluction lobes). Consequently, we conclude that the present‐day climatic regime does not allow the existence of permafrost in the Sierra Nevada, and environmental dynamics is controlled by the intensity and duration of seasonal frost in the ground.

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Digitization of weather records ofSeungjeongwon Ilgi: A historical weather dynamics dataset of the Korean Peninsula in 1623–1910

Lyu,

Ichikawa,

Cheng

et al. 2023

Geoscience Data Journal

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Historical weather records from Europe indicate that the Earth experienced substantial climate variability, which caused, for instance, the Little Ice Age and the global crisis in the period between the 14th and 19th centuries. However, it is still unclear how global this climate variability was because of the scarce meteorological data availability in other regions including East Asia, especially around the 17th century. In this context, Seungjeongwon Ilgi, a daily record of the Royal Secretariat of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, is a precious source of historical meteorological records for the Korean Peninsula, as it covers 288 years of weather observations made during 1623–1910. We used the digital database of Seungjeongwon Ilgi to construct a machine‐readable weather condition dataset. To this end, we extracted valid weather information from the original weather description text and compiled them into pre‐defined weather categories. Additionally, we attempted to improve the usability of dataset by converting the reported dates in the traditional calendar system to those in the Gregorian calendar. Finally, we outlined promising implications of this dataset for meteorological and climatological studies, while describing the limitations of the dataset. Overall, future studies focusing on the climate and weather of the past could use this meteorological database for investigating long‐term climate variability. Our datasets are publicly available at 10.5281/zenodo.8382243.

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The Little Ice Age in Iberian mountains

Cited by 148 publications

References 251 publications

Periglacial environments and frozen ground in the central Pyrenean high mountain area: Ground thermal regime and distribution of landforms and processes

Periglacial environments and frozen ground in the central Pyrenean high mountain area: Ground thermal regime and distribution of landforms and processes

Monitoring permafrost and periglacial processes in Sierra Nevada (Spain) from 2001 to 2016

Digitization of weather records ofSeungjeongwon Ilgi: A historical weather dynamics dataset of the Korean Peninsula in 1623–1910

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