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Glacial anticyclone recorded in Palouse loess of northwestern United States

¹ Department of Geology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-2812, USA
² Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-6420, USA, and Department of Geology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-2812, USA
³ School of Geography, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
⁴ Department of Geography, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota 56301-4498, USA
⁵ Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada 89512, USA

Climate simulations for the Last Glacial Maximum using general circulation models typically show a glacial anticyclone that produced an easterly wind anomaly south of the North American ice sheets. Evidence of this phenomenon has not been found in eolian sedimentary deposits that record surface wind patterns. Luminescence ages of loess and accompanying paleoecologic records from opal phytoliths and paleosol units across the Columbia Plateau, Washington State, United States, document a decrease, up to fivefold, in regional dust production and accumulation from 35 ka to 15 ka. This interval corresponds to simulations indicating that a glacial anticyclone weakened prevailing south-southwesterly winds that have shaped the eolian landscape of the Columbia Plateau since at least 75 ka. At the same time that the glacial anticyclone suppressed dust production and accumulation, enhanced cold and dry conditions resulted in soil formation dominated by intense bioturbation in periglacial steppe accompanied by shallow calcium carbonate precipitation. This is the first evidence from eolian deposits in North America verifying that the glacial anticyclone altered surface wind patterns and affected eolian systems during the Last Glacial Maximum.

Key Words: loess • Last Glacial Maximum • glacial anticyclone • Columbia Plateau

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