Topographic forcing of the Patagonian Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum

Topographic forcing of the Patagonian Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Topographic forcing of the Patagonian Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum Fabrice Lambert, Fabian Riquelme-Barraza, Álvaro Gómez-Contreras, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6455451/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 08 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Variations of The Patagonian Ice Sheet (PIS) modified the southern Andean topography during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), but the related climate feedback mechanisms remain controversial. We tested the climate response to PIS topographic forcing using an active climate model. Our results indicate that a thicker ice-sheet generates a decrease in zonal winds at 850 hPa, a westward shift in precipitation, a temperature increase along the western margin of Eastern Patagonia, and an increase in cyclonic activity over Patagonia. A decrease in thickness generates the opposite feedback. The weaker topographic forcing during the early stages of PIS growth may explain spatially larger eastern pre-LGM glacier coverage. Ignoring the impact of changes in PIS topography on climate could also account for the divergence in thickness estimates. Our results advance the conventional interpretation of climate feedback mechanism of the Southern Westerly Winds role on Patagonian climate. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoclimate Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Atmospheric science Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Geomorphology Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Atmospheric dynamics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 08 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6455451","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":446607610,"identity":"661be4b1-755f-4a5e-b11c-5de4789db682","order_by":0,"name":"Fabrice Lambert","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAnUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPgYGNhAtB+Y9IEYLG0SLgTGYl0CKlsQG4rWwn0578HHPn/QNxw8wfiBOC0/udsMZzwxyN5xJYJYg0mG526R5DgC13ACyidPC/3ab9J8DBukGxGuRANrCcMAggRQtb7cb9hwwNpx5JrGZOL/w8+due/DjgJw83/HDBz98IEYLEmBsIFHDKBgFo2AUjAKcAAAm0C9rGzXl8wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2192-024X","institution":"Pontifical Catholic University of Chile","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fabrice","middleName":"","lastName":"Lambert","suffix":""},{"id":446607611,"identity":"9cd4b8b8-642a-4bdd-a74f-5c41eeebdbe9","order_by":1,"name":"Fabian Riquelme-Barraza","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Pontifical Catholic University of Chile","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fabian","middleName":"","lastName":"Riquelme-Barraza","suffix":""},{"id":446607612,"identity":"1259e592-cb22-4f6a-b8a1-eacad8caca07","order_by":2,"name":"Álvaro Gómez-Contreras","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Álvaro","middleName":"","lastName":"Gómez-Contreras","suffix":""},{"id":446607613,"identity":"f94b18c5-559e-4df5-b649-6913093c92c7","order_by":3,"name":"Nicolás Cosentino","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9023-2726","institution":"Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nicolás","middleName":"","lastName":"Cosentino","suffix":""},{"id":446607614,"identity":"aea245ee-e2ab-4f40-a1db-ab3d0c5bf443","order_by":4,"name":"Jiang Zhu","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0908-5130","institution":"National Center for Atmospheric Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiang","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhu","suffix":""},{"id":446607615,"identity":"97504b57-ecc9-47cc-bd1c-0564316cc49a","order_by":5,"name":"Esteban A. Sagredo","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4494-5423","institution":"Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Esteban","middleName":"A.","lastName":"Sagredo","suffix":""},{"id":446607616,"identity":"eb0b3340-8476-4e8d-acf9-26fe4e98e11e","order_by":6,"name":"María José Puentes-Nazal","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"María","middleName":"José","lastName":"Puentes-Nazal","suffix":""},{"id":446607617,"identity":"5cbc1f2c-0a5d-4d75-8006-f8570eaaa62d","order_by":7,"name":"Summer Ruppert","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Summer","middleName":"","lastName":"Ruppert","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-15 13:50:19","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6455451/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6455451/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02762-8","type":"published","date":"2025-10-08T04:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":93108715,"identity":"fb9a1687-f8c2-4076-8e05-5ea95b2dcf77","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-09 07:11:51","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1162503,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"RiquelmeSubmitted.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6455451/v1_covered_c86b01ab-0c39-4602-abc6-b5fd59fd858f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Topographic forcing of the Patagonian Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6455451/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6455451/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Variations of The Patagonian Ice Sheet (PIS) modified the southern Andean topography during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), but the related climate feedback mechanisms remain controversial. We tested the climate response to PIS topographic forcing using an active climate model. Our results indicate that a thicker ice-sheet generates a decrease in zonal winds at 850 hPa, a westward shift in precipitation, a temperature increase along the western margin of Eastern Patagonia, and an increase in cyclonic activity over Patagonia. A decrease in thickness generates the opposite feedback. The weaker topographic forcing during the early stages of PIS growth may explain spatially larger eastern pre-LGM glacier coverage. Ignoring the impact of changes in PIS topography on climate could also account for the divergence in thickness estimates. Our results advance the conventional interpretation of climate feedback mechanism of the Southern Westerly Winds role on Patagonian climate.","manuscriptTitle":"Topographic forcing of the Patagonian Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-04-28 03:44:53","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6455451/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"communications-earth-and-environment","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"commsenv","sideBox":"Learn more about [Communications Earth and Environment](https://www.nature.com/commsenv/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Communications Earth \u0026 Environment","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Communications Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"35b2d62e-7f64-4494-9556-1491e25848c3","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 28th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":47536883,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoclimate"},{"id":47536884,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Atmospheric science"},{"id":47536885,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Geomorphology"},{"id":47536886,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Atmospheric dynamics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-09T07:11:46+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-6455451","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02762-8","journal":{"identity":"communications-earth-and-environment","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Communications Earth \u0026 Environment"},"publishedOn":"2025-10-08 04:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"October 8th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-04-28 03:44:53","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s43247-025-02762-8","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02762-8","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6455451","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6455451","identity":"rs-6455451","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}