Drainage Evolution In North America Since The Last Glacial Maximum
Wickert, Andrew D. 1 ; Anderson, Robert S. 2 ; Mitrovica, Jerry X. 3
1 University of Colorado
2 University of Colorado
3 Harvard University
Glacial cycles modified North American river systems by drastically changing drainage basin areas, patterns of precipitation, and meltwater delivery to channels. We reconstruct drainage basins and river discharges in North America from 20,000 years ago to present by combining the ICE-5G ice sheet reconstruction [Peltier, 2004] with a state-of-the-art model of sea level that includes isostatic, gravitational, and rotational solid Earth response to changing ice and water loads [Mitrovica and Milne, 2003; Kendall et al., 2005] and a paleoclimate general circulation model [Liu et al., 2009]. We present the histories of these rapidly-evolving drainage systems, which are responsible for shaping the modern river networks of North America.
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