Evidence of the largest Late Holocene mountain glacier extent in southern and southeastern Greenland during the middle Neoglacial from 10 Be moraine dating

• Published in: Boreas
• Main Authors: Biette, Melody, Jomelli, Vincent, Chenet, Marie, Braucher, Régis, Menviel, Laurie, Swingedouw, Didier, Rinterknecht, Vincent
• Other Authors: FP7 Environment, Australian Research Council
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2021
• Subjects: Greenland; East Greenland; east greenland current; glacier; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bor.12555; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/bor.12555; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/bor.12555; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1111/bor.12555

The timing of mountain glacier fluctuations is poorly constrained in some parts of Greenland during the Late Holocene. We present 31 10 Be cosmic‐ray exposure ages (CRE) of boulders collected from three mountain glacier moraines located in the Tasilap valley, in southeastern Greenland, and 10 10 Be CRE ages from one mountain glacier in the Isortup valley, in southern Greenland. For the first time in these areas, mountain glacier fluctuations are documented from moraine CRE for the Late Holocene period. Several glacier advances during the Late Holocene are revealed with exposure ages ranging from 3.90±0.26 to 0.4±0.04 ka. Moraines of three of the four glaciers investigated, dated to 3.75±0.13 ka ( n = 3), 3.3±0.19 ka ( n = 2) and 2.87±0.13 ka ( n = 3), show a common timing of the largest glacier expansion during the Late Holocene. Evidence of at least one individual moraine deposited at ~1.2 ka was found on all glaciers. Finally, the most recent period of glacial advance during the Late Holocene is documented by one glacier in each valley at ~0.66–0.70 ka. The maximum glacier extent at ~3 ka differs from the Late Holocene glacier maximum extent usually reported during the Little Ice Age in east Greenland based on moraine dating and lake sediments. We suggest that the combination of a stronger East Greenland Current and a weaker Irminger Current, potentially associated with increased sea‐ice concentration, superimposed on the long‐term decrease in summer insolation during the Late Holocene could be responsible for this large glacial advance at ~3 ka in southern and southeastern Greenland.