First Glacial Maximum in North America

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 307; no. 5707; p. 222
• Main Authors: Balco, Greg, Rovey, Charles W, Stone, John O. H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 14.01.2005; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Brevia; Climate; Cosmic rays; Drilling; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Geology; Glacial epoch; Glaciers; Ice ages; Ice sheets; Identification and classification; Isotopes; Marine and continental quaternary; Nuclides; Observations; Quartz; Radioisotopes; Sediments; Space Sciences; Surficial geology; North Atlantic; Gulf of Mexico; United States; Northwest Atlantic; North American Atlantic; Missouri; North America; Asia; Europe; Neogene; magnetic polarity; Al-26; magnetostratigraphy; O-18/O-16; till; carbonate rocks; Atlantic Ocean; upper Tertiary; Paleosols; ice rafting; ice; North America; paleoclimate; dynamics; limestone; silicates; Be-10; DSDP Site 552; framework silicates; Cenozoic; soils; Laurentide ice sheet; clastic rocks; shale; stable isotopes; Tertiary; quartz; weathering; drilling; carbonates; Pliocene; volume; sedimentary rocks; glaciation; Ocean Drilling Program; colluvium; Phanerozoic
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1103406

Despite marine evidence for at least 50 Pliocene-Pleistocene ice sheet advances, only the most recent one has been accurately reconstructed from terrestrial evidence, because there are few techniques for dating older glacial deposits. Here we show that the cosmic ray-produced nuclides beryllium-10 and aluminum-26 can be used to date tills that overlie paleosols.