Glacial history of the tropical Andes, Peru

“阐明热带在全球气候变化中的作用对于限制未来的气候轨迹至关重要。现在人们认识到，在晚更新世期间，热带温度和降水发生了重大变化，这对这一时期热带气候稳定的典型观点提出了挑战。北安第斯山脉现代冰川的地理和海拔范围反映了冰冻圈对气候的敏感性。由于热带冰川对热带水文循环的变化高度敏感，这是由大气环流和区域湿度模式的变化决定的，因此它们及其在景观上留下的地貌特征是当前和过去环境条件的有用指标（例如Rodbell等人，2009；Smith等人，2005,2008）。尽管它们对了解热带地区过去的气候很重要，但关于热带安第斯山脉古冰川事件的时间和性质的研究却很少。这个博士项目将以秘鲁北部约5 s以前的冰川地区为目标。学生将结合冰川地貌学，近地表地球物理学和地质年代学来建立最近冰川的区域冰川历史。该奖学金将解决以下研究问题：1。秘鲁北部的末次盛冰期（LLGM）是什么？2. 是否有证据表明新仙女木期/全新世冰期在南美洲热带地区出现？3. 哪些气候参数控制着热带地区冰川的开始和结束？”

"Elucidating the role of the tropics in global climate change is essential for constraining future climate trajectories. It is now recognised that during the Late Pleistocene, major shifts in tropical temperature and precipitation occurred, and this has challenged the typical view of tropical climate stability during this time. The geographical and altitudinal extent of modern glaciers in the northern Andes reflects the sensitivity of the cryosphere to climate. Because tropical glaciers are highly sensitive to variations in the tropical hydrological cycle, as determined by changes in atmospheric circulation and regional moisture patterns, they, and the geomorphic signature they leave on the landscape, are useful indicators of both present and past environmental conditions (e.g. Rodbell et al., 2009; Smith et al., 2005, 2008). Despite their importance for understanding past climate in the tropics, little work has been undertaken on the timing and nature of palaeo-glaciological events in the tropical Andes. This PhD project will target a formerly glaciated region in northern Peru at ~5 S. The student will couple glacial geomorphology, near-surface geophysics and geochronology to build a regional glacial history of the most recent glaciation. The studentship will address the following research questions: 1. What was the local last glacial maximum (LLGM) in northern Peru? 2. Is there evidence for Younger Dryas/Holocene glacial readvances in the tropics of South America? 3. What climate parameters control the initiation and termination of glaciation in the tropics?"