Late Quaternary glaciation in the tropics: future research directions

Glacier snowline depressions in the tropics of 800-1000 m indicate an atmos pheric cooling of 5-7 degreesC during the late Pleistocene. Such a temperat ure depression and the presence of large glaciers in the tropics in the pas t suggests that on glacial-interglacial time scales the tropics have underg one substantial climatic and hydrologic change. However, uncertainties in t he chronology of glaciation, the response of glacial mass balance in the tr opics to a variety of climate forcings, and the relation of proxy records i n alpine regions to synoptic tropical paleoclimate. limit the full utility of the snowline proxy. Future research in these three areas will provide in formation on the phasing of climate change in the tropics in comparison to higher latitude regions and the correspondence of tropical glaciation to la rge-scale changes in precipitation. temperature, and solar radiation, (C) 2 001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.