Glaciers and ice caps through the Holocene: A pan–Arctic synthesis of lake–based reconstructions

Abstract

Abstract. The recent retreat of nearly all glaciers and ice caps (GICs) located in Arctic regions is one of the most clear and visible signs of ongoing climate change. This paper synthesizes published records of Holocene GIC fluctuations from lake archives, placing their recent retreat into a longer–term context. Our compilation includes sixty–six lake–based GIC records (plus one non–lake–based record from the Russian Arctic) from seven Arctic regions: Alaska; the archipelagos of the eastern Canadian Arctic; GICs peripheral to the Greenland Ice Sheet; Iceland; the Scandinavian peninsula; Svalbard; and the Russian high Arctic. For each region, and for the full Arctic, we summarize evidence for when GICs were smaller than today or absent altogether, indicating warmer than present summers, and evidence for when GICs regrew in lake catchments, indicating summer cooling. Consistent with orbitally driven high boreal summer insolation in the early Holocene, the pan–Arctic compilation suggests that the majority (50 % or more) of studied GICs were smaller than present or absent by ~10 ka. The regional compilations suggest even earlier GIC loss, and thus warmth, in the Russian Arctic and in Svalbard. We find the highest percentage (>90 %) of Arctic GICs smaller than present or absent in the middle Holocene ~7–6 ka, probably reflecting more spatially ubiquitous and consistent summer warmth during this period than in the early Holocene. Following this interval of widespread warmth, our compilation shows that GICs across the Arctic began to regrow, and summers began to cool by ~6 ka. Together, the pan–Arctic records also suggest two periods of enhanced GIC growth in the mid–to–late Holocene, from ~4.5–3 ka and after ~2 ka. The regional records show substantial variability in the timing of GIC regrowth within and between regions, suggesting that the Arctic did not cool synchronously despite the smooth and hemispherically symmetric decline in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. In agreement with other studies, this implies a combined response to glacier–specific characteristics such as topography, and to other climatic forcings and feedback mechanisms, perhaps driving periods of increased regional cooling. Today, the direction of orbital forcing continues to favor GIC expansion, however, the rapid retreat of nearly all Arctic GICs underscores the current dominance of anthropogenic forcing on GIC mass balance. Our review finds that in the first half of the Holocene, most of the Arctic’s small GICs became significantly reduced or melted away completely in response to summer temperatures that, on average, were only moderately warmer than today. In comparison, future projections of temperature change in the Arctic far exceed estimated early Holocene values in most locations, portending the eventual loss of most of the Arctic’s small GICs.

The imprint of catchment processes on Greenlandic ice cap proglacial lake records: analytical approaches and palaeoenvironmental significance

“…The resulting regional climate patterns and GIC behaviour have been reviewed in detail by others, spanning a range of proxies (e.g. Briner et al ., 2016; McKay et al ., 2018; Larsen et al ., 2019; Larocca and Axford, 2021; Osman et al ., 2021) and are outlined only briefly here.…”

“…Recent warming is driving major changes across the Arctic system including precipitation patterns, sea ice extent, and permafrost thaw (Box et al ., 2019, McCrystall et al ., 2021). Almost all Arctic GICs are retreating (Leclercq et al ., 2012; Larocca and Axford, 2021), and are expected to lose up to ~35% of their volume by the end of the century (Overland et al ., 2019). This continued retreat will be accompanied by ongoing catchment change and is therefore pertinent to the following review.…”

“…**Sifs sediments are exposed in section as part of a larger sequence, and a sediment log is not presented here. Larocca and Axford, 2021), and are expected to lose up to ~35% of their volume by the end of the century (Overland et al, 2019). This continued retreat will be accompanied by ongoing catchment change and is therefore pertinent to the following review.…”

Late-Holocene advances of the Greater Azau Glacier (Elbrus area, Northern Caucasus) revealed by 14C dating of paleosols

“…The reconstruction of the chronology and magnitude of glacier recession periods are more complicated. Often proglacial lake sediments are used for this purpose (Larocca and Axford, 2021;Larocca et al, 2020;Leemann and Niessen, 1994;Nesje, 2009). Another way to reconstruct the timing, duration and the scale of glacier retreat in the past is the analysis of organic material primarily of in situ wood (e.g.…”