Sequence and chronology of the Cuerpo de Hombre paleoglacier (Iberian Central System) during the last glacial cycle

The Cuerpo de Hombre paleoglacier occupies the upper sector of the Cuerpo de Hombre river basin, located on the northwest slope of the Sierra de Bejar Mountains (Iberian Central System). At the stage of the maximum ice extent during the last glacial cycle, this paleoglacier was one of the longest tongues emerging from the Sierra de Bejar plateau glacier. The study of the morphostratigraphic succession and the geometric and genetic relations between the geomorphological indicators of this paleoglacier has revealed its evolutionary sequence during the last glacial cycle. The comparison between this sequence and the one previously established by a regional evolutionary pattern shows that although they both coincide in general terms, some stages/substages of this pattern must be corrected or more clearly defined. The absolute chronology of the different stages was obtained using terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (10Be). The maximum ice extent of Cuerpo de Hombre paleoglacier has been dated to ∼25.0 ka (MIS2 and concurrent with the LGM). This chronology coincides with date obtained for other paleoglaciers in the Iberian Central System, but is slightly more modern than the regional chronology estimated as most likely for the maximum ice extent in these areas. Subsequent to reaching the maximum extent, the glacier had a retreat (minimum age ∼20.6 ka), followed by another stage of expansion or readvance, after which it stabilised until the start of the deglaciation stage (∼17.8 ka). In all previous work, the deglaciation stages in the Iberian Central System have been described as one continuous recession process. However, in the Cuerpo de Hombre paleoglacier, all the data point to stabilisations of considerable magnitude, and particularly to another stage of readvance of the glacier. Based on its chronology (minimum age ∼11.1 ka) and its evolutionary significance, this new readvance has been correlated with the Older Dryas stadial. Finally, the evolutionary context marked by the indicators and its chronology confirm that the whole of the Late Glacial sequence identified in Cuerpo de Hombre can be correlated with the traditionally established in northern Europe (climatic periods or stadials and interstadials): Oldest Dryas-Bolling-Older Dryas-Allerod-Younger Dryas. The minimum ages obtained for the cold periods (stadials) in this sequence in the Cuerpo de Hombre paleoglacier are (respectively): ∼17.5 ka, ∼13.9 ka and ∼11.1 ka. This complete sequence of the Late Glacial Period, including the stadials Older and Younger Dryas, had not been previously identified in any of the paleoglaciers in the Iberian Central System.