TY - JOUR

T1 - Late glacial and Holocene glaciation history of North and Northeast Greenland

AU - Larsen, Nicolaj K.

AU - Sondergaard, Anne Sofie

AU - Levy, Laura B.

AU - Strunk, Astrid

AU - Skov, Daniel S.

AU - Bjørk, Anders

AU - Khan, Shfaqat A.

AU - Olsen, Jesper

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Northeast Greenland is the place where the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) experienced the largest areal changes since the Last Glacial Maximum. However, the age constraints of the last deglaciation are in some areas sparse. In this study, we use forty-seven new Be-10 cosmogenic exposure ages to constrain the deglaciation of the present-day ice-free areas in Northeast Greenland. Our results show that the outer coast region was deglaciated between 12.8 +/- 0.6 and 11.5 +/- 0.2 ka and the region close to the present ice margin was deglaciated 2 to 4 ka later between 9.2 +/- 0.3 to 8.6 +/- 0.3 ka. By combining our new results with previously published data from North and Northeast Greenland, we find that the ice sheet advanced to the shelf edge between 26 and 20 cal. ka BP. The outer coast was deglaciated between 12.8 and 9.7 ka and the present ice extent was reached between 10.8 to 5.8 ka. The ice margin continued to retreat farther inland during the Middle Holocene before it readvanced toward its Little Ice Age position. The deglaciation was probably forced by a combination of increased atmospheric and ocean temperatures, but local topography also played an important role. These results add to the growing knowledge about the glaciation history of the GrIS and add useful constraints for future ice sheet models.

AB - Northeast Greenland is the place where the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) experienced the largest areal changes since the Last Glacial Maximum. However, the age constraints of the last deglaciation are in some areas sparse. In this study, we use forty-seven new Be-10 cosmogenic exposure ages to constrain the deglaciation of the present-day ice-free areas in Northeast Greenland. Our results show that the outer coast region was deglaciated between 12.8 +/- 0.6 and 11.5 +/- 0.2 ka and the region close to the present ice margin was deglaciated 2 to 4 ka later between 9.2 +/- 0.3 to 8.6 +/- 0.3 ka. By combining our new results with previously published data from North and Northeast Greenland, we find that the ice sheet advanced to the shelf edge between 26 and 20 cal. ka BP. The outer coast was deglaciated between 12.8 and 9.7 ka and the present ice extent was reached between 10.8 to 5.8 ka. The ice margin continued to retreat farther inland during the Middle Holocene before it readvanced toward its Little Ice Age position. The deglaciation was probably forced by a combination of increased atmospheric and ocean temperatures, but local topography also played an important role. These results add to the growing knowledge about the glaciation history of the GrIS and add useful constraints for future ice sheet models.

KW - Greenland Ice Sheet

KW - cosmogenic exposure dating

KW - deglaciation

KW - LATE QUATERNARY HISTORY

KW - CENTRAL EAST GREENLAND

KW - RELATIVE SEA-LEVEL

KW - ICE-SHEET

KW - STORE-KOLDEWEY

KW - SCORESBY SUND

KW - JAMESON LAND

KW - ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY

KW - BE-10 CHRONOLOGY

KW - LATE PLEISTOCENE

U2 - 10.1080/15230430.2022.2094607

DO - 10.1080/15230430.2022.2094607

M3 - Journal article

VL - 54

SP - 294

EP - 313

JO - Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

JF - Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

SN - 1523-0430

IS - 1

ER -