Seven Million Years of Glaciation in Greenland

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Larsen, H. C., Saunders, A. D., Clift, P. D., Beget, J., Wei, W., Spezzaferri, S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1994
• Subjects: Greenland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.264.5161.952; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.264.5161.952

Glacial till, glaciomarine diamictites, and ice-rafted detritus found in marine cores collected off the shore of southeast Greenland record multiple Late Cenozoic glaciations beginning in the Late Miocene. Distinct rock assemblages and seismic stratigraphic control correlate the diamictites with glaciation of the southeast Greenland margin. Glaciers advanced to the sea during several intervals in the Pliocene and Pleistocene. North Atlantic glaciation may have nucleated in southern Greenland rather than further north because of the high mountains and the high levels of precipitation in this region.