GROWING GLACIERS ON MT. WASHINGTON, N.H

The Laurentide Ice Sheet covered Mt. Washington during the Last Glacial Maximum (~27 ka). However, the well-developed cirques and U-shaped valleys of Mt. Washington suggest that self-sustaining mountain glaciers carved the bedrock repeatedly either prior to the Laurentide’s advance or after the Laurentide’s retreat from this site. It is unclear whether the climatic conditions after ~15 ka were cold or wet enough to result in producing glaciers on Mt. Washington. Here, we use a numerical glacier model to simulate small mountain glaciers on Mt. Washington. These simulations allow us to estimate a range of paleoclimate conditions necessary for glaciers to occupy these cirques and visualize the spatial extent of past glaciers.