Evidence of Quaternary glaciation in the Dominican Republic: Some implications for Caribbean paleoclimatology
Abstract The existence of glacial geomorphological and sedimentological features in the Cordillera Central of the Dominican Republic (3087 m maximum elevation), such as cirques, aretes, glacial channels, roches moutonnees, moraines, and bog-filled depressions, suggests the existence of former cirque glaciers and a snowline at 2200–2300 m. The present-day lower periglacial limit (defined as the elevation at which average minimum temperature reaches 0°C) is at approximately 2800 m. The difference between this glacial snowline and that determined in Central and South America, and Mexico, is explained as due to the “Massenerhebung” effect. At present, this effect predicts a lowering of the lower periglacial limit by 1100–1200 m, and a former (Late Pleistocene?) snowline at 2300–2500 m. These data suggest that the glacial average temperature gradient in the Dominican Republic was higher than today (possibly greater than −1°C per 100 m elevation), further suggesting a drier climate than today.