Asynchroneity of maximum glacier advances in the central Spanish Pyrenees

The deglaciation history of the Escarra and Lana Mayor glaciers (Upper Gallego valley, central Spanish Pyrenees) had been reconstructed on the basis of detailed geomorphological studies of glacier deposits, sedimentological and palynological analyses of glacial lake sediments and an accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) C-14 chronology based on minimum ages from glacial lake deposits. The maximum extent of the Pyrenean glaciers during the last glaciation was before 30000 yr BP and pre-dated the maximum advances of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and some Alpine glaciers. A later advance occurred during the coldest period (around 20000 yr BP), synchronous journal of Quaternary Science with the maximum global ice extent, but in the Pyrenees it was less extensive than the previous one. Later, there were minor advances followed by a stage of debris-covered glaciers and a phase of moraine formation near cirque backwalls. The deglaciation chronology of the Upper Gallego valley provides more examples of the general asynchroneity between mountain and continental glaciers. The asynchroneity of maximum advances may be explained by different regional responses to climatic forcing and by the southern latitude of the Pyrenees. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.