https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9510-2138
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ABSTRACT
The objective of the work is to calibrate the Schmidt hammer exposure dating (SHD) method in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park in correlation with the dates previously obtained by Cosmogenic Radiation Exposure (CRE) dating methods. The dates were recalculated according to the new production models of 36Cl and 10Be cosmogenic isotopes. For this purpose, three glacial cirques were selected (Dos Hermanas, Laguna and Pepe Hernando), located on the eastern slope of Peñalara Peak, Spain (40°51'N, 3°57'O; 2428 m), the highest altitude of this mountain range. The application of the SHD method seems to be influenced neither by the different altitude of the samples nor by their height with respect to the current ground level. The degree of roughness of the rock surfaces (gneiss) has a slight influence, but does not change the actual volume of the results. The results of this work show a clear relationship between the CRE ages and the SHD R-values. The oldest landforms (31–19 ka) give mean values R < 50, both for moraine boulders and polished bedrock. The boulders of a rock glacier (16–15 ka) and the boulders of the innermost moraine yielded higher values: R-value >50. The youngest polished bedrock surface, located under the Peñalara Peak (12–11 ka), yielded R-value >60.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park for its help in fieldwork. The authors would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their corrections and numerous suggestions, both in the drafting and interpretation of the results. These corrections have considerably improved this work.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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Notes on contributors
Javier de Marcos
Javier de Marcos is a Professor of physical geography at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain). The research activity is guided, on one hand, by the quaternary deglaciation of the high mountain, through the detailed geomorphological analysis and the dating of glacial shapes through cosmogenic methods and, on the other hand, to the study of latest processes (LIA) and present processes, through the control and monitoring of experimental stations installed on the Peñalara Massif (Sierra de Guadarrama National Park). The main scientific results have been the development of the first absolute chronology of the deglaciation process of the Spanish Central System and the evaluation of the importance of the snow in the latest and modern processes of the Mediterranean high mountain. The geographic fields of research are focused on the Spanish Central System, Sierra Nevada, Peruvian Andes and the glaciated Mexican volcanoes. He has been involved as a full member of 15 research projects and he has published 23 research papers on the dynamics of deglaciation in mountains and environmental planning. A full member of 10 innovations projects towards the improvement of teaching validity (UCM). Member of the High Mountain Physical Geography excellence research group.
José Úbeda
José Úbeda is a Professor of physical geography at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain). His PhD was on the impact of climate change on tropical cryosphere (glaciers, rock glaciers and permafrost), using sensors to measure air and soil temperatures and CRE and SHED ages of glacial expansion and deglaciation phases in Perú. His postdoctoral projects delve into the same line of research (temperature monitoring and CRE & SHED dating in three study areas, in the north (Cordillera Blanca), center (Pariacaca) and volcanoes in the south of Peru (Misti, Chachani, Coropuna and Nevado Chila). Later he has expanded his research to new topics such as Tropical permafrost in volcanoes of Arequipa and numerical simulations on the future evolution of the largest tropical glaciers in the tropical world: Coropuna (arid Andes) and Quelccaya (humid Andes). He has participated in 15 research projects funded in public calls (in two projects as Principal Investigator) and he has published 17 research papers on geomorphology, cryosphere and climate change. Member of the High Mountain Physical Geography excellence research group.
Nuria Andrés
Nuria Andrés is a Professor of physical geography at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain). Her PhD was on the application of GIS to the study of hazards in tropical high volcanoes (Mexico and Peru). She has participated in 22 research projects funded in public calls and is currently leading a research project on the reconstruction of neoglacial oscillations in Iceland. She has published nearly a 100 research papers on the dynamics of deglaciation in mountains and its impact on geodiversity. Her research work focuses on the study of glacier and periglacial geomorphology in mountain areas through the application of different dating techniques and GIS. In addition to the Iberian mountains, she has conducted research in other mountain regions (Northern Iceland, Western United States, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, Peruvian Andes), which has given her a broad understanding of land surface processes in cold climate environments. She heads the High Mountain Physical Geography excellence research group.
David Palacios
David Palacios is a Full Professor of physical geography at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain). He has been the coordinator of Spanish National Projects, uninterruptedly since 1998 to the present, and Spanish coordinator of two European Projects, obtaining a maximum evaluation in their results; the founder and director for 12 years of the High Mountain Physical Geography excellence research group, where he has been the advisor of several doctoral theses; and the author of more than 200 international research papers, more than 100 chapters, and the editor of 5 books. In his research, he has shown a constant concern to know how, when, and why the deglaciation of the mountain and polar areas occurred during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene and its impact on geodiversity, biodiversity, and in the strategies for territorial planning. His areas of study extend to the Iberian Mountains, Northern Iceland, Western United States, Mexican Volcanoes, Peruvian Andes, Tierra del Fuego, Peninsula Antarctica, and Greenland.