Multiple independent records of local glacier variability on Nuussuaq, West Greenland, during the Holocene
Journal Article
·
· Quaternary Science Reviews
- Univ. at Buffalo, NY (United States)
- Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
- Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Copenhagen (Denmark)
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
- Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States)
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
The sensitivity of mountain glaciers to small-scale climate fluctuations makes records of their past extent among the best proxies for identifying spatio-temporal climate variability. Here we build on the few existing Holocene records of local glacier change in Greenland by using three independent geochronological methods—proglacial lake sediment analysis, cosmogenic 10Be surface-exposure dating, and in situ 14C burial modeling—to reconstruct continuous records of Holocene glacier variability on Nuussuaq, West Greenland. 10Be ages of perched boulders indicate eastern Nuussuaq was deglaciated between ~11.0 and 10.5 ka. Radiocarbon-dated sediments from two lakes on Nuussuaq contain mineral-rich layers between ~9.6 and 9.0 and ~8.7–8.0 cal ka BP that may be correlative with nearby ice sheet moraines deposited in the early Holocene. Multiple proxies for glacier size indicate frequent, high-amplitude glacier fluctuations superimposed on net glacier growth during the late Holocene, with significant ice expansion phases at ~3.7 ka, 2.8 ka, and throughout the past ~2 ka. Mean 10Be ages from five nested moraine crests confirm that local glacier extents on Nuussuaq culminated during both the Little Ice Age [~1470 C.E. (n=3) and 1750 C.E. (n=3)] and the preceding centuries (~520–1320 C.E.; n=11). Results reveal that local glaciers on Nuussuaq episodically advanced and retreated at centennial timescales throughout the Holocene, most likely in response to regional climate changes in West Greenland superimposed on the progressive insolation-driven cooling trend in the Northern Hemisphere. Our new 10Be moraine chronologies coupled with other glacier-size proxies corroborate an emerging pattern of significant summer cooling and glacier expansion in the centuries prior to the Little Ice Age in the Arctic.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Geographic Society; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344
- OSTI ID:
- 1872295
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-760292; 948950
- Journal Information:
- Quaternary Science Reviews, Journal Name: Quaternary Science Reviews Vol. 215; ISSN 0277-3791
- Publisher:
- ElsevierCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Quantifying Provenance and Transport Pathways of Holocene Sediments From the Northwestern Greenland Margin
|
journal | May 2020 |
Similar Records
10Be dating reveals early-middle Holocene age of the Drygalski Moraines in central West Greenland
Late Glacial and Holocene glacier fluctuations at Nevado Huaguruncho in the Eastern Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes
Using Cosmogenic 10Be Exposure Dating and Lichenometry to Constrain Holocene Glaciation in the Central Brooks Range, Alaska
Journal Article
·
Sun Sep 13 20:00:00 EDT 2015
· Quaternary Science Reviews
·
OSTI ID:2229585
Late Glacial and Holocene glacier fluctuations at Nevado Huaguruncho in the Eastern Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes
Journal Article
·
Thu Jul 09 20:00:00 EDT 2015
· Geology
·
OSTI ID:1809189
Using Cosmogenic 10Be Exposure Dating and Lichenometry to Constrain Holocene Glaciation in the Central Brooks Range, Alaska
Journal Article
·
Thu Jan 04 19:00:00 EST 2018
· Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
·
OSTI ID:2229588