Multiple independent records of local glacier variability on Nuussuaq, West Greenland, during the Holocene

Schweinsberg, Avriel D.; Briner, Jason P.; Licciardi, Joseph M.; Bennike, Ole; Lifton, Nathaniel A.; Graham, Brandon L.; Young, Nicolás E.; Schaefer, Joerg M.; Zimmerman, Susan

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.05.007

Cited by 21 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…During the late Holocene, glacier growths were observed in West Greenland following the regional Holocene Thermal Maximum (Briner et al, 2016; Schweinsberg et al, , ), while in core 204, an increase of very coarse silt concentration (Figure f) and of the presence of IRDs (Figure ) was observed after 4.8 cal ka BP. Interestingly, the highest contribution of basalts (WGMC#2, up to 30 wt.%) in core 204 is found between 2.0 and 2.4 cal ka BP, at the same time as a relatively high sea‐ice cover duration (~7 months/year; Caron, Rochon, et al, 2019) and a peak of reworked palynomorphs and freshwater indicator Halodinium (Figure g).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Quantifying Provenance and Transport Pathways of Holocene Sediments From the Northwestern Greenland Margin

Caron

Montero‐Serrano

St‐Onge

et al. 2020

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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The mineralogical and geochemical compositions of three sediment cores from the northwestern Greenland continental margin (AMD14-204 and AMD14-210) and Kane Basin (AMD14-Kane2B) were investigated using quantitative X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence in order to document the impact of ice-ocean interactions on the sediment provenance and transport pathways during the Holocene. Unmixing of the sediment composition and ratios such as quartz/clays and K/Fe indicate that detrital sediments in cores from the northwest Greenland margin are derived mainly from Prøven granite and reworked Archean gneiss, whereas sediments from Kane Basin are derived mainly from detrital carbonate (Ellesmere Island) and Proterozoic gneiss (Humboldt Glacier). Mineralogical and geochemical signatures also reveal that changes in detrital sediment provenance and transport in the region are strongly interconnected to regional ice stream dynamics, especially during the early Holocene with strong meltwater discharge from the Greenland Ice Sheet associated with the end of deglaciation. With the establishment of milder conditions during the mid-Holocene and reduced glacial activity once ice sheets retreated inland, sediment inputs via ocean currents became more effective. Thus, detrital proxies in core AMD14-204, located in the Upernavik cross-shelf trough, support the hypothesis of an intensification of the West Greenland Current influence after 7.7 cal ka BP, which eventually affected the regional sediment dynamic by a greater contribution from basalt to the sediment supply. Finally, our results suggest that the interactions between climate, glacial dynamics, and surface ocean circulation controlled the paleoenvironmental changes observed in the three cores.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Quantifying Provenance and Transport Pathways of Holocene Sediments From the Northwestern Greenland Margin

Caron

Montero‐Serrano

St‐Onge

et al. 2020

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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“…2017; Schweinsberg et al . 2019), robust moraine chronologies based on CRE dating remain limited in Greenland. As a result, it is difficult to determine the chronology of the Holocene maximum extent, the possible regional asynchronies of this maximum extent in Greenland and the external/internal climate forcing responsible for this change of behaviour.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Finally, two glacial advances were dated from a local glacier on the Nuussuaq Peninsula, with the largest advance occurring at 1.5–0.7 ka, and a second less extensive advance occurring during the LIA (Schweinsberg et al . 2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

Mountain glacier fluctuations during the Lateglacial and Holocene on Clavering Island (northeastern Greenland) from ¹⁰Be moraine dating

Biette

Jomelli

Chenet

et al. 2020

Boreas

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Despite an increasing interest in Greenlandic mountain glaciers over recent decades, their evolution during the Lateglacial and Holocene still needs to be better constrained. Here we present 25 10Be cosmic‐ray exposure (CRE) ages of boulders collected on moraines from three glaciers located on Clavering Island (northeastern Greenland). CRE ages span 16.29±0.79 to 0.37±0.05 ka and reveal three periods of moraine formation during the Lateglacial, the Early and the Late Holocene. Data show a multi‐modal distribution of the ages during the Lateglacial with exposure ages spanning from 16.29±0.79 to 12.31±1.3 ka. At least two glaciers experienced a greater expansion at the beginning of the Holocene than at the end of the Holocene, dated to 11.3±0.3 and 10.8±0.6 ka, respectively. At the end of the Holocene, glacial advances occurred during the Dark Ages Cold Period and during the Little Ice Age (LIA), synchronous with glacial advances documented in nearby lake sediments. This new CRE chronology highlights that the LIA extent is not the largest glacier advance in the Late Holocene in Clavering Island. This broadly corresponds with other mountain glaciers of western and northern Greenland, and does not appear to reflect northern high latitude summer insolation that would suggest progressive temperature decrease, but instead mimics recent regional continental temperature reconstructions that show a long term warming driven by different forcing.

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“…A brief episode of glacier expansion is noted at ~1.3 ka, followed by the onset of significant late Holocene glaciation shortly after ~1.05 ka. 385 Schweinsberg et al (2017Schweinsberg et al ( , 2019 present three Holocene records of glacier variability on Nuussuaq, West Greenland (Fig. 5; records 5, 9, and 10).…”

Section: Record 16mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5; records 5, 9, and 10). The Pauiaivik lake record suggests that Sermikassak glacier was smaller or absent between ~9.5-4.3 ka (Schweinsberg et al, 2019; Fig. 5, record 5).…”

Section: Record 16mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Larocca

Axford

2021

Preprint

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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.

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Multiple independent records of local glacier variability on Nuussuaq, West Greenland, during the Holocene

Cited by 21 publications

References 91 publications

Quantifying Provenance and Transport Pathways of Holocene Sediments From the Northwestern Greenland Margin

Quantifying Provenance and Transport Pathways of Holocene Sediments From the Northwestern Greenland Margin

Mountain glacier fluctuations during the Lateglacial and Holocene on Clavering Island (northeastern Greenland) from ¹⁰Be moraine dating

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

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Multiple independent records of local glacier variability on Nuussuaq, West Greenland, during the Holocene

Cited by 21 publications

References 91 publications

Quantifying Provenance and Transport Pathways of Holocene Sediments From the Northwestern Greenland Margin

Quantifying Provenance and Transport Pathways of Holocene Sediments From the Northwestern Greenland Margin

Mountain glacier fluctuations during the Lateglacial and Holocene on Clavering Island (northeastern Greenland) from 10Be moraine dating

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

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Mountain glacier fluctuations during the Lateglacial and Holocene on Clavering Island (northeastern Greenland) from ¹⁰Be moraine dating