Climate and groundwater recharge during the last glaciation in an ice-covered region
A multitracer study of a small aquifer in northern Switzerland indicates that the atmosphere in central Europe cooled by at least 5 degreesC during the last glacial period. The relation between oxygen isotope ratios (delta18O) and recharge temperatures reconstructed for this period is similar to the present-day one if a shift in the delta18O value of the oceans during the ice age is taken into account. This similarity suggests that the present-day delta18O-temperature relation can be used to reconstruct paleoclimate conditions in northern Switzerland. A gap in calculated groundwater age between about 17,000 and 25,000 years before the present indicates that during the last glacial maximum, local groundwater recharge was prevented by overlying glaciers.
Beyerle
U
U. Beyerle, W. Aeschbach-Hertig, D. M. Imboden, R. Kipfer, Department of Environmental Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), 8600 Dubendor.
Purtschert
R
Aeschbach-Hertig
W
Imboden
DM
Loosli
HH
Wieler
R
Kipfer
R