A Late Glacial–Holocene Tephrochronology for Glacial Lakes in Southern Ecuador

Despite the presence of numerous active volcanoes in the northern half of Ecuador, few, if any, distal tephras have been previously recognized in the southern one third of the country. In this article, we document the presence of thin (0.1–1.0-cm-thick) distal tephras comprising glass and/or phenocrysts of hornblende and feldspar in sediment cores from five glacial lakes and one bog in Las Cajas National Park (2°40′–3°00′S, 79°00′–79°25′W). The lake cores contain from 5 to 7 tephras, and each has a diagnostic major element geochemistry as determined from electron microprobe analysis of 710 glass shards and 440 phenocrysts of feldspar and hornblende. The loss of sodium with exposure to the electron microbeam causes a 10±7 wt.% (±1σ) reduction in Na content, which we empirically determined and corrected for before correlating tephras among the sediment cores. We use a similarity coefficient to correlate among the sediment cores; pair-wise comparison of all tephras generally yields an unambiguous correlation among the cores. Six tephras can be traced among all or most of the cores, and several tephras are present in only one or two of the cores. Twenty-six accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C dates on macrofossils preserved in the sediment cores provide the basis for establishing a regional tephrochronology. The widespread tephras were deposited 9900, 8800, 7300, 5300, 2500, and 2200 cal yr B.P. The oldest tephras were deposited 15,500 and 15,100 cal yr B.P., but these are not found in all cores. Two of the tephras appear correlative with volcaniclastic strata on the flanks of Volcán Cotopaxi and one tephra may correlate with strata on the flanks of Volcán Ninahuilca; both volcanoes are in central Ecuador. The absence of tephras in sediment cores correlative with the numerous eruptions of active volcanoes of the past two millennia implies that the earlier eruptions, which did deposit tephras in the lakes, must have been either especially voluminous, or southerly winds must have prevailed at the time of the eruption, or both.     

Late Quaternary Upwelling Intensity and East Asian Monsoon Forcing in the South China Sea

Foraminifera from two cores off eastern Vietnam and the northwestern Philippines, where modern summer and winter monsoon-driven upwelling occurs in the South China Sea, respectively, were analyzed to evaluate the changes in paleoproductivity and upper water structure over the last 220,000 yr. We observed enhanced organic carbon flux and a shoaled thermocline when upwelling intensified off eastern Vietnam during interglacial ages and off the northwestern Philippines during glacial ages. This indicates that the East Asian summer monsoon increased while the winter monsoon decreased during interglacial ages. Particularly, the upwelling reached a maximum off eastern Vietnam during late marine isotopic stage (MIS) 5 and off the northwestern Philippines during MIS 2, implying that the summer monsoon decreased gradually since MIS 5 while the winter monsoon displayed an opposite trend. The variations in upwelling proxies exhibit a distinct cyclicity with frequencies near 41,000 yr and 23,000 yr off eastern Vietnam, in contrast to a strong frequency peak near 100,000 yr off the northwestern Philippines. We suggest that the East Asian summer monsoon has been forced by changes in solar insolation associated with precession and obliquity, while ice-volume forcing is probably a primary factor in determining the strength and timing of the East Asian winter monsoon but with less important insolation forcing.     

用OSL方法确定雅鲁藏布江大拐弯第四纪晚期冰川堰塞湖年龄

雅鲁藏布江是青藏高原上的一条大河, 其河谷地貌和地质环境演化的发育历史对于青藏高原地质研究有重要意义。前人用ESR和14C测年方法对雅鲁藏布江河谷两岸广泛分布河湖相沉积物、冰碛物测年确定了有四期堰塞湖。作者用光释光(OSL, Opically Stimulated Luminesecence)测年方法分析采集到的湖相样品年龄为(50.9±2.1) ka BP和(1.8±0.1) ka BP, 证明雅鲁藏布江大拐弯处末次冰期早冰阶和新冰期存在 古堰塞湖。     

Late Pleistocene Environments of the Central Ukraine

The Vyazivok loess sequence from the Dnieper Plain, Ukraine, documents regional environmental changes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Pedological and palynological analyses and low-field magnetic susceptibility document changes from dense temperate forest during the last interglacial maximum to open, harsh, loess–steppe during the latest Pleistocene. The Vyazivok section overlies hillwash derived from a lower Pleistocene terrace and consists of two stratified soil complexes (Kaydaky and Pryluky; marine isotope stage [MIS] 5 equivalent) separated by a layer of eolian dust (Tyasmyn silt). The lower soils in both complexes formed within forest. These soils are overlain by the Uday (MIS4) and Bug (MIS2) loess units, which are separated by boreal soils of the Vytachiv (MIS3) complex. The coldest conditions within the record occurred in the youngest loess. Holocene soils cap the Bug loess. The Vyazivok section shows remarkable similarities with other classical loess sequences in western Europe, the Czech Republic, and Austria. The Kaydaky, Pryluky, and Vytachiv deposits, correlate with the PKIII, PKII, and PKI soil complexes, respectively, of the Czech Republic. The Tyasmyn and Prylyky silt layers correspond to marker horizons from central Europe.     

Age of the Cutler Dam Alloformation (Late Pleistocene), Bonneville Basin, Utah

Luminescence geochronology, especially infrared stimulated luminescence analyses on marsh mud, shows that a relatively deep lake reached its peak (1340 m above sea level) in the Bonneville basin 59,000±5000 yr ago. The age is consistent with nonfinite ¹⁴C ages and with amino acid geochronology on ostracodes. The Cutler Dam Alloformation was deposited during this lake cycle, which, like the subsequent Bonneville lake cycle, appears to have reached its maximum highstand following the peak of a global glacial stage (marine oxygen-isotope stage 4) but at a time when other records from North America show evidence for cold climate and expanded glacier ice.     

A Late Pleistocene Tephra Layer in the Southern Great Basin and Colorado Plateau Derived from Mono Craters, California

A newly identified tephra in stratified deposits in southwestern Utah, dated 14,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., may aid in correlating late Pleistocene deposits across parts of the southern Great Basin and west-central Colorado Plateau. Geochemical analyses of the ash suggest the tephra originated from Mono Craters, California, and most probably correlates with Wilson Creek ash #3. Because the ash is 2 mm thick 550 km from its source, the event may have been larger than others correlated to Mono Craters eruptions.     

Middle‐Late Pleistocene Glacial Lakes in the Grand Canyon of the Tsangpo River,Tibet

Many moraines formed between Daduka and Chibai in the Tsangpo River valley since Middle Pleistocene. A prominent set of lacustrine and alluvial terraces on the valley margin along both the Tsangpo and Nyang Rivers formed during Quaternary glacial epoch demonstrate lakes were created by damming of the river. Research was conducted on the geological environment, contained sediments, spatial distribution, timing, and formation and destruction of these paleolakes. The lacustrine sediments 14C (10537±268 aBP at Linzhi Brick and Tile Factory, 22510±580 aBP and 13925±204 aBP at Bengga, 21096±1466 aBP at Yusong) and a series of ESR (electron spin resonance) ages at Linzhi town and previous data by other experts, paleolakes persisted for 691~505 kaBP middle Pleistocene ice age, 75–40 kaBP the early stage of last glacier, 27–8 kaBP Last Glacier Maximum (LGM), existence time of lakes gradually shorten represents glacial scale and dam moraine supply potential gradually cut down, paleolakes and dam scale also gradually diminished. This article calculated the average lacustrine sedimentary rate of Gega paleolake in LGM was 12.5 mm/a, demonstrates Mount Namjagbarwa uplifted strongly at the same time, the sedimentary rate of Gega paleolake is more larger than that of enclosed lakes of plateau inland shows the climatic variation of Mount Namjagbarwa is more larger and plateau margin uplifted more quicker than plateau inland. This article analyzed formation and decay cause about the Zelunglung glacier on the west flank of Mount Namjagbarwa got into the Tsangpo River valley and blocked it for tectonic and climatic factors. There is a site of blocking the valley from Gega to Chibai. This article according to moraines and lacustrine sediments yielded paleolakes scale: the lowest lake base altitude 2850 m, the highest lake surface altitude 3585 m, 3240 m and 3180 m, area 2885 km2, 820 km2 and 810 km2, lake maximum depth of 735 m, 390 m and 330 m. We disclose the reason that previous experts discovered there were different age moraines dividing line of altitude 3180 m at the entrance of the Tsangpo Grand Canyon is dammed lake erosive decay under altitude 3180 m moraines in the last glacier era covering moraines in the early ice age of late Pleistocene, top 3180 m in the last glacier moraine remained because ancient dammed lakes didn’t erode it under 3180 m moraines in the early ice age of late Pleistocene exposed. The reason of the top elevation 3585 m moraines in the middle Pleistocene ice age likes that of altitude 3180 m. There were three times dammed lakes by glacier blocking the Tsangpo River during Quaternary glacial period. During other glacial and interglacial period the Zelunglung glacier often extended the valley but moraine supplemental speed of the dam was smaller than that of fluvial erosion and moraine movement, dam quickly disappeared and didn’t form stable lake.     

Two Tephra Layers Bracketing Late Holocene Paleoecological Changes in Northern Germany

Paleoecological records from two Holocene peat bogs in northern Germany are linked by two microscopic volcanic ash layers, correlated by petrology and geochemistry to explosive volcanism on Iceland. The younger “Microlite tephra” cannot be correlated to any known eruption, while the older tephra layer is identified as a deposit of the Hekla 3 eruption. The tephra layers are dated by an age–depth regression of accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C ages that have been calibrated and combined in probability distributions. This procedure gives an age of 730–664 cal yr B.C. for the “Microlite tephra” event and 1087–1006 cal yr B.C. for the Hekla 3 event. Accordingly, the tephra layers were deposited during the late Bronze Age. At this time, human settlement slowly increased pressure on the environment, as indicated by changes in woodland pollen composition at the two bogs. The tephra-marker horizons further show that the palynologically defined transition from the Subboreal to the Subatlantic Period is synchronous in the investigated area. However, the macroscopic visible marker in peat, the change from fibrous to sapric peat, the “Schwarztorf-Weißtorf-Kontakt,” is asynchronous. Bog vegetation did not immediately react in unison to a climatic change at this pollen zone boundary; instead, the timing of vegetation change depended on the location within the bog.     

Impact of the Late Glacial Eruption of the Laacher See Volcano, Central Rhineland, Germany

Within a period of a few weeks toward the end of the Allerød Interstadial, the major Plinian eruption of the Laacher See volcano produced some 20 km³ of eruptiva, covering and preserving the late-glacial landscape in the German Central Rhineland over an area of more than 1000 km². Correlation of terrestrial archives with the Greenland ice-core records and improved calibration of the radiocarbon timescale permit a precise, accurate age determination of the Laacher See event some 200 yr before the onset of the Younger Dryas cold episode. Carbonized trees and botanical macrofossils preserved by Laacher See Tephra permit detailed regional paleoenvironmental reconstruction and show that open woodland were typical for the cool and humid hemiboreal climatic conditions during the late Allerød. This woodland provided the habitat for a large variety of animal species, documented at both paleontological and Final Paleolithic archeological sites preserved below Laacher See deposits. Of special interest are numerous animal tracks intercalated in Middle Laacher See deposits at the south of the Neuwied Basin. This knowledge may help to evaluate possible supraregional impacts of this volcanic event on northern hemispheric environment and climate during the late Allerød.     

Morphological Chronoclines among Late Pleistocene Muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus: Muridae, Rodentia) from Northern Florida

The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) is presumed to have undergone a rapid phyletic size decrease near the end of the Pleistocene. Evolutionary changes in the size of middle to late Wisconsinan (ca. 32,000–12,300 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) muskrats from the Aucilla River, Jefferson County, Florida, were reconstructed by examining length and width of the lower first molar (m1). Body mass, estimated from m1 length, was relatively stable from 32,000 to 16,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and decreased only slightly by 12,300 ¹⁴C yr B.P. If the size trend found in the Aucilla River material is characteristic of the southeastern United States, a body size decrease after 12,300 ¹⁴C yr B.P. is needed to explain the smaller size of modern populations. It was previously thought that the length/width (l/w) ratio of the muskrat m1 was a paleoenvironmental indicator based on its presumed correlation with latitude in modern populations. We examined the length and width of modern muskrats from several geographic regions and found only a very weak trend in the size of the m1 between northern and southern populations; however, highly significant differences were found between regions of similar latitude. Our data indicate that chronoclines in the m1 of the Aucilla muskrat material and other such documented trends among fossil muskrats have paleoenvironmental significance, but it is not yet clear which environmental variables can best be predicted from them.     

Late Pleistocene Glaciations in the Northwestern Sierra Nevada, California

Pleistocene fluvial landforms and riparian ecosystems in central California responded to climate changes in the Sierra Nevada, yet the glacial history of the western Sierra remains largely unknown. Three glacial stages in the northwestern Sierra Nevada are documented by field mapping and cosmogenic radionuclide surface-exposure (CRSE) ages. Two CRSE ages of erratic boulders on an isolated till above Bear Valley provide a limiting minimum age of 76,400±3800 ¹⁰Be yr. Another boulder age provides a limiting minimum age of 48,800±3200 ¹⁰Be yr for a broad-crested moraine ridge within Bear Valley. Three CRSE ages producing an average age of 18,600±1180 yr were drawn from two boulders near a sharp-crested bouldery lateral moraine that represents an extensive Tioga glaciation in Bear Valley. Nine CRSE ages from striated bedrock along a steep valley transect average 14,100±1500 yr and suggest rapid late-glacial ice retreat from lower Fordyce Canyon with no subsequent extensive glaciations. These ages are generally consistent with glacial and pluvial records in east-central California and Nevada.     

Extensive Early and Middle Wisconsin Glaciation on the Western Olympic Peninsula, Washington, and the Variability of Pacific Moisture Delivery to the Northwestern United States

Large glaciers descended western valleys of the Olympic Mountains six times during the last (Wisconsin) glaciation, terminating in the Pacific coastal lowlands. The glaciers constructed extensive landforms and thick stratigraphic sequences, which commonly contain wood and other organic detritus. The organic material, coupled with stratigraphic data, provides a detailed radiocarbon chronology of late Pleistocene ice-margin fluctuations. The early Wisconsin Lyman Rapids advance, which terminated prior to ca. 54,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., represented the most extensive ice cover. Subsequent glacier expansions included the Hoh Oxbow 1 advance, which commenced between ca. 42,000 and 35,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.; the Hoh Oxbow 2 advance, ca. 30,800 to 26,300 ¹⁴C yr B.P.; the Hoh Oxbow 3 advance, ca. 22,000–19,300 ¹⁴C yr B.P.; the Twin Creeks 1 advance, 19,100–18,300 ¹⁴C yr B.P.; and the subsequent, undated Twin Creeks 2 advance. The Hoh Oxbow 2 advance represents the greatest ice extent of the last 50,000 yr, with the glacier extending 22 km further downvalley than during the Twin Creeks 1 advance, which is correlative with the global last glacial maximum. Local pollen data indicate intensified summer cooling during successive stadial events. Because ice extent was diminished during colder stadial events, precipitation—not summer temperature—influenced the magnitude of glaciation most strongly. Regional aridity, independently documented by extensive pollen evidence, limited ice extent during the last glacial maximum. The timing of glacier advances suggests causal links with North Atlantic Bond cycles and Heinrich events.     

Diatom, Pollen, and Chemical Evidence of Postglacial Climatic Change at Big Lake, South-Central British Columbia, Canada

Postglacial climatic conditions were inferred from cores taken from Big Lake in southern British Columbia. Low concentrations of nonarboreal pollen and pigments near the base of the core suggest that initial conditions were cool. Increases in both aquatic and terrestrial production suggest warmer and moister conditions until 8500 cal yr B.P. Hyposaline diatom assemblages, increases in nonarboreal pollen, and increased concentrations of pigments suggest the onset of arid conditions from 8500 to 7500 cal yr B.P. Slightly less arid conditions are inferred from 7500 until 6660 cal yr B.P. based on the diatoms, small increases and greater variability in biogenic silica and pigments, and higher percentages of arboreal pollen. At 6600 cal yr B.P., changes in diatoms, pigments, biogenic silica, and organic matter suggest that Big Lake became fresh, deep, and eutrophic until 3600 cal yr B.P., when water levels and nutrients decreased slightly. Our paleoclimatic inferences are similar to pollen-based studies until 6600 cal yr B.P. However, unlike these studies, our multiple lines of evidence from Big Lake imply large changes in effective moisture since 6000 cal yr B.P.     

Implications of a 24,000-Yr Palynological Record for a Younger Dryas Cooling and for Boreal Forest Development in Northeastern Siberia

A sediment core from Smorodinovoye Lake (SML), northeastern Siberia (area to the east of the Verkhoyansk Range) spanning the last 24,000 ¹⁴C yr indicates that vegetational and climatic changes in the upper Indigirka basin resemble those in eastern Siberia (Lena basin and westward). For example, maximum postglacial summer temperatures at SML probably occurred 6000–4000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., an age more in accordance with eastern than northeastern records. Larix arrived near the lake by 9600 ¹⁴C yr B.P., approximately when forests expanded in the east but ca. 1500 ¹⁴C yr later than forests were established in the neighboring upper Kolyma basin. Paleobotanical data further suggest that Larix possibly migrated southward from populations in the arctic lowlands of eastern Siberia and did not originate from interior refugia of the upper Kolyma basin. Although a Younger Dryas cooling has been noted in eastern Siberia, SML provides the first evidence from the northeast for a similar climatic reversal. Climatic variations seemingly have persisted between the Indigirka and Kolyma basins over at least the last 11,000 ¹⁴C yr, despite the proximity of the two drainages and the occurrence of major changes in boundary conditions (e.g., seasonal insolation, sea levels) that have influenced other regional climatic patterns.     

Dependence of Near-Surface Magnetic Susceptibility on Dust Accumulation Rate and Precipitation on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Magnetic susceptibility (MS) of surface sediment varies systematically across the Loess Plateau in central China, decreasing exponentially from >200×10⁻⁸ m³/kg at the northern margin of the Qinling Shan to ≤30×10⁻⁸ m³/kg near the southern margin of the Mu Us Desert. MS correlates highly with loess median grain size (r²=0.79), which decreases south-southeastward across the plateau. It also correlates with mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) (r²=0.58 and 0.60, respectively), and with their product MAT×MAP (r²=0.83), which is considered a measure of potential pedogenic activity. Because regional isopleths depicting grain size and the primary meteorological parameters are nearly parallel, it is difficult to determine their relative influence on MS. A simple MS model, based on the observed spatial variation in loess thickness, permits quantitative assessment of the effect of the dust accumulation rate on the MS signal of surface sediment and isolates the likely role of climate in the production of magnetic minerals. The model suggests that 84% of the loess MS variance is dictated by the diluting effect of dust and 10–11% is associated with meteorological factors, primarily precipitation. The observed and modeled relationships support hypotheses that attribute variations in MS in the loess-paleosol succession to varying rates of dust deposition and in situ production of magnetic minerals in the accretionary soils, both of which are controlled by monsoon climate.     

Composition and Flux of Holocene Sediments on the Eastern Laptev Sea Shelf, Arctic Siberia

A 467-cm-long core from the inner shelf of the eastern Laptev Sea provides a depositional history since 9400 cal yr. B.P. The history involves temporal changes in the fluvial runoff as well as postglacial sea-level rise and southward retreat of the coastline. Although the core contains marine fossils back to 8900 cal yr B.P., abundant plant debris in a sandy facies low in the core shows that a river influenced the study site until 8100 cal yr B.P. As sea level rose and the distance to the coast increased, this riverine influence diminished gradually and the sediment type changed, by 7400 cal yr B.P., from sandy silt to clayey silt. Although total sediment input decreased in a step-like fashion from 7600 to 4000 cal yr B.P., this interval had the highest average sedimentation rates and the greatest fluxes in most sedimentary components. While this maximum probably resulted from middle Holocene climate warming, the low input of sand to the site after 7400 cal yr B.P. probably resulted from further southward retreat of the coastline and river mouth. Since about 4000 cal yr B.P., total sediment flux has remained rather constant in this part of the Laptev Sea shelf due to a gradual stabilization of the depositional regime after completion of the Holocene sea-level rise.     

Comparison of the Climate during Marine Isotope Stage 9 and 11 Inferred from a Speleothem Isotope Record from Northern Norway

A stalagmite from northern Norway is dated with 12 thermal ionization mass spectrometry U-Th dates, and at least four separate growth periods are identified that correspond with marine isotope stages 9, 11, 13, and probably 15. The calcite is tested for isotopic equilibrium with the Hendy test. Oxygen isotope measurements on 231 subsamples on a vertical transect are used as a paleotemperature proxy. The detailed isotopic record from MIS 9 show apparent similarities to a Holocene record from the same cave, both in the climatic evolution and the overall temperatures: both show temperature oscillations changing from high-frequency, low-amplitude cycles in the beginning of the interglacial period to lower frequency, higher amplitude cycles in the later part of the interglacial period. The isotope record from MIS 11 shows a distinct isotopic event toward heavier values. The isotopic record together with the porous, humus-rich calcite are interpreted as indicating a warmer than present interglacial period with several episodes of heavy rainfall.     

Environments of the Russian Plain during the Middle Valdai Briansk Interstade (33,000–24,000 yr B.P.) Indicated by Fossil Mammals and Plants

Abundant mammal (45 localities) and plant (52 sections) fossil data collected from the Russian Plain deposits of the Middle Valdai Briansk Interstade indicate a period of noticeable warming. These materials were jointly analyzed. The data were organized in the database software PARADOX and then moved to the GIS program ARC/INFO. Mathematical methods as well as traditional research methods were used for the analysis. The reconstructed biogeographical provinces illustrate the specific environmental and climatic conditions of the Briansk Interstade. Analogues of modern natural zones did not exist at this time on the Russian Plain. The Briansk landscapes reflect the moderate-cool climate of this period, when the majority of northern subarctic plant and mammal species extended their ranges considerably to the south to the Central Russian Plain. At the same time, steppe species penetrated farther north and west. This combination shows that the continuous forest zone was destroyed during the Briansk Inter-stade. Five biogeographical provinces have been reconstructed from the north to the south for the Russian Plain during the Briansk warming on the basis of joint analysis of mammalian and botanical data.     

Source Regions and Formation of the Loess Sediments on the High Mountain Regions of Northwestern China

Loess on the high mountains of northwestern China is largely controlled by the topographic features, distributed mainly on the northern slopes of the Tianshan and Kunlun Mountains as well as in the Ili Valley (between the northern and central Tianshan ranges). Loess distributed in different regions has different ages, with the oldest (early Pleistocene) loess occurring in the Ili Valley. Geochemical, mineralogical and granulometric analyses demonstrate that the loess in the three different regions has different provenance. The loess on the northern Tianshan and Kunlun Mountains is mainly derived from the Junggar and Taklimakan Deserts, respectively, whereas the loess in the Ili Valley is derived mainly from the Sary–Ishikotrau Desert located in the Republic of Kazakhstan. However, these deserts serve mostly as holding areas for the silts rather than original source regions. The production of the silt-sized particles is mainly associated with glacial abrasion and tectonic-induced rock denudation. Thus, the loess in the studied regions can be described as “mountainous” loess rather than simply “glacial” loess or “desert” loess. It is unlikely that the mechanisms of loess formation are the same in different regions, given their dependence on specific geomorphological conditions and associated processes.     

Rates of Deglaciation during the Last Glaciation and Holocene in the Cordillera Vilcanota-Quelccaya Ice Cap Region, Southeastern Perú

Moraine chronology is combined with digital topography to model deglacial rates of paleoglacier volumes in both the Huancané Valley on the west side of the Quelccaya Ice Cap and the Upismayo Valley on the northwest side of the Cordillera Vilcanota. The fastest rates of deglaciation (39×10⁻⁵ to 114×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹ and 112×10⁻⁵ to 247×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹ for each valley, respectively) were calculated for the most recent paleoglaciers, corresponding to the last few centuries. These results are consistent with observations in the Venezuelan Andes showing high rates of deglaciation since the Little Ice Age. These rates also fall within the range of 20th century rates of deglaciation measured on the Quelccaya Ice Cap (29×10⁻⁵ to 220×10⁻⁵ km³ yr⁻¹, Brecher and Thompson, 1993; Thompson, 2000). These results imply that rates of deglaciation may fluctuate significantly over time and that high rates of deglaciation may not be exclusive to the late 20th century. Equilibrium line altitude (ELA) depressions for the ice volumes of the last glaciation modeled here were computed as 230 m for the Quelccaya Ice Cap and 170 m for the Cordillera Vilcanota. Maximum ELA depressions are lower than previously published: <500 m for the Cordillera Vilcanota and <400 m for the Quelccaya Ice Cap. These lower values could imply a topographic control over paleoglacier extent.