The Last Glacial Maximum

2009/08/07 by Peter U. Clark, Arthur S. Dyke, Jeremy D. Shakun +6 · 10 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Cryospheric studies and observations

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1172873

openalex publication_date 2009/08/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

We used 5704 14C, 10Be, and 3He ages that span the interval from 10,000 to 50,000 years ago (10 to 50 ka) to constrain the timing of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in terms of global ice-sheet and mountain-glacier extent. Growth of the ice sheets to their maximum positions occurred between 33.0 and 26.5 ka in response to climate forcing from decreases in northern summer insolation, tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures, and atmospheric CO2. Nearly all ice sheets were at their LGM positions from 26.5 ka to 19 to 20 ka, corresponding to minima in these forcings. The onset of Northern Hemisphere deglaciation 19 to 20 ka was induced by an increase in northern summer insolation, providing the source for an abrupt rise in sea level. The onset of deglaciation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet occurred between 14 and 15 ka, consistent with evidence that this was the primary source for an abrupt rise in sea level approximately 14.5 ka.

Citations

• A Pliocene‐Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records
• Exposure ages from mountain dipsticks in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica, indicate little change in ice-sheet thickness since the Last Glacial Maximum
• On the structure and origin of major glaciation cycles 2. The 100,000‐year cycle
• One-to-one coupling of glacial climate variability in Greenland and Antarctica
• First survey of Antarctic sub–ice shelf sediments reveals mid-Holocene ice shelf retreat
• Sea-level changes at the LGM from ice-dynamic reconstructions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets during the glacial cycles
• Orbital controls on the El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the tropical climate
• Intcal04 Terrestrial Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 0–26 Cal Kyr BP
• The Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum and its subsequent retreat history: a review
• Exploring former subglacial Hodgson Lake, Antarctica Paper I: site description, geomorphology and limnology
• Extended 14C Data Base and Revised CALIB 3.0 14C Age Calibration Program

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• Insights into Modern Human Prehistory Using Ancient Genomes
• A Late Pleistocene human genome from Southwest China
• Radiocarbon and genomic evidence for the survival of Equus Sussemionus until the late Holocene
• A review of New Zealand palaeoclimate from the Last Interglacial to the global Last Glacial Maximum
• Full Mitogenomes in the Critically Endangered Kākāpō Reveal Major Post-Glacial and Anthropogenic Effects on Neutral Genetic Diversity
• Ice age [wikipedia]
• Last Glacial Maximum [wikipedia]