Late glacial 10Be ages for glacial landforms in the upper region of the Taibai glaciation in the Qinling Mountain range, China

Glacial landforms are well preserved on Taibai Mountain (3767 m), the main peak of the Qinling mountain range located south of the Loess Plateau and east of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The timing and extent of Quaternary glaciation in the study area is important for reconstructing Quaternary environmental change however numerical ages for glaciation in this study area have not previously been well resolved. Using terrestrial in situ cosmogenic nuclides we dated four samples collected from two glacially eroded rock steps in the upper part of a valley near the main peak, in an area previously identified as having been occupied by ice during the Taibai glaciation. The 10Be results are all late glacial in age: 18.6 ± 1.1 ka, 16.9 ± 1.0 ka, 16.9 ± 1.1 ka and 15.1 ± 1.0 ka. The spatial pattern of ages in the valley suggests fast retreat, with horizontal and vertical retreat rates estimated to be on the order of 0.4 and 0.09 m a−1, respectively. A simple extrapolation of these retreat rates from the ages at the two sample sites suggests that the glacier retreat began during Last Glacial Maximum and that glaciers disappeared from the main peak by about 15 ka.