Sea-level rise in Southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment
The first records of Greenland Vikings date to 985 CE. Archaeological evidence yields insight into how Vikings lived, yet drivers of their disappearance in the 15th century remain enigmatic. Research suggests a combination of environmental and socioeconomic factors, and the climatic shift from the M...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:10151458 2023-06-11T04:12:02+02:00 Sea-level rise in Southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment Borreggine, Marisa Latychev, Konstantin Coulson, Sophie Powell, Evelyn M. Mitrovica, Jerry X. Milne, Glenn A. Alley, Richard B. 2023-04-17 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10151458/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37068242 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209615120 en eng National Academy of Sciences http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10151458/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37068242 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209615120 Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Physical Sciences Text 2023 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209615120 2023-05-07T01:13:11Z The first records of Greenland Vikings date to 985 CE. Archaeological evidence yields insight into how Vikings lived, yet drivers of their disappearance in the 15th century remain enigmatic. Research suggests a combination of environmental and socioeconomic factors, and the climatic shift from the Medieval Warm Period (~900 to 1250 CE) to the Little Ice Age (~1250 to 1900 CE) may have forced them to abandon Greenland. Glacial geomorphology and paleoclimate research suggest that the Southern Greenland Ice Sheet readvanced during Viking occupation, peaking in the Little Ice Age. Counterintuitively, the readvance caused sea-level rise near the ice margin due to increased gravitational attraction toward the ice sheet and crustal subsidence. We estimate ice growth in Southwestern Greenland using geomorphological indicators and lake core data from previous literature. We calculate the effect of ice growth on regional sea level by applying our ice history to a geophysical model of sea level with a resolution of ~1 km across Southwestern Greenland and compare the results to archaeological evidence. The results indicate that sea level rose up to ~3.3 m outside the glaciation zone during Viking settlement, producing shoreline retreat of hundreds of meters. Sea-level rise was progressive and encompassed the entire Eastern Settlement. Moreover, pervasive flooding would have forced abandonment of many coastal sites. These processes likely contributed to the suite of vulnerabilities that led to Viking abandonment of Greenland. Sea-level change thus represents an integral, missing element of the Viking story. Text Greenland Greenland Sea Ice Sheet PubMed Central (PMC) Greenland Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120 17 |
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English |
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Physical Sciences |
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Physical Sciences Borreggine, Marisa Latychev, Konstantin Coulson, Sophie Powell, Evelyn M. Mitrovica, Jerry X. Milne, Glenn A. Alley, Richard B. Sea-level rise in Southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment |
topic_facet |
Physical Sciences |
description |
The first records of Greenland Vikings date to 985 CE. Archaeological evidence yields insight into how Vikings lived, yet drivers of their disappearance in the 15th century remain enigmatic. Research suggests a combination of environmental and socioeconomic factors, and the climatic shift from the Medieval Warm Period (~900 to 1250 CE) to the Little Ice Age (~1250 to 1900 CE) may have forced them to abandon Greenland. Glacial geomorphology and paleoclimate research suggest that the Southern Greenland Ice Sheet readvanced during Viking occupation, peaking in the Little Ice Age. Counterintuitively, the readvance caused sea-level rise near the ice margin due to increased gravitational attraction toward the ice sheet and crustal subsidence. We estimate ice growth in Southwestern Greenland using geomorphological indicators and lake core data from previous literature. We calculate the effect of ice growth on regional sea level by applying our ice history to a geophysical model of sea level with a resolution of ~1 km across Southwestern Greenland and compare the results to archaeological evidence. The results indicate that sea level rose up to ~3.3 m outside the glaciation zone during Viking settlement, producing shoreline retreat of hundreds of meters. Sea-level rise was progressive and encompassed the entire Eastern Settlement. Moreover, pervasive flooding would have forced abandonment of many coastal sites. These processes likely contributed to the suite of vulnerabilities that led to Viking abandonment of Greenland. Sea-level change thus represents an integral, missing element of the Viking story. |
format |
Text |
author |
Borreggine, Marisa Latychev, Konstantin Coulson, Sophie Powell, Evelyn M. Mitrovica, Jerry X. Milne, Glenn A. Alley, Richard B. |
author_facet |
Borreggine, Marisa Latychev, Konstantin Coulson, Sophie Powell, Evelyn M. Mitrovica, Jerry X. Milne, Glenn A. Alley, Richard B. |
author_sort |
Borreggine, Marisa |
title |
Sea-level rise in Southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment |
title_short |
Sea-level rise in Southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment |
title_full |
Sea-level rise in Southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment |
title_fullStr |
Sea-level rise in Southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sea-level rise in Southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment |
title_sort |
sea-level rise in southwest greenland as a contributor to viking abandonment |
publisher |
National Academy of Sciences |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10151458/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37068242 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209615120 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Greenland Sea Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland Greenland Sea Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10151458/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37068242 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209615120 |
op_rights |
Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) . |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209615120 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
container_volume |
120 |
container_issue |
17 |
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1768387610870284288 |