Exceptional 20th century glaciological regime of a major SE Greenland outlet glacier

The early 2000s accelerated ice-mass loss from large outlet glaciers in W and SE Greenland has been linked to warming of the subpolar North Atlantic. To investigate the uniqueness of this event, we extend the record of glacier and ocean changes back 1700 years by analyzing a sediment core from Sermi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Andresen, Camilla S., Kokfelt, Ulla, Sicre, Marie-Alexandrine, Knudsen, Mads Faurschou, Dyke, Laurence M., Klein, Vincent, Kaczmar, Fanny, Miles, Martin W., Wangner, David
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
ATLANTIC SUBPOLAR GYRE
ATMOSPHERIC WEATHER REGIMES
LAST 2000 YEARS
NORTH-ATLANTIC
SOUTHEAST GREENLAND
EAST GREENLAND
ICE-SHEET
HELHEIM GLACIER
WEST GREENLAND
MASS-LOSS
Greenland
East Greenland
east greenland current
glacier
Ice Sheet
North Atlantic
Sea ice
Sermilik
Online Access:https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/1627aabc-3213-4015-9e05-92eedec524a1
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13246-x
https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/121248925/s41598_017_13246_x.pdf
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Summary:The early 2000s accelerated ice-mass loss from large outlet glaciers in W and SE Greenland has been linked to warming of the subpolar North Atlantic. To investigate the uniqueness of this event, we extend the record of glacier and ocean changes back 1700 years by analyzing a sediment core from Sermilik Fjord near Helheim Glacier in SE Greenland. We show that multidecadal to centennial increases in alkenone-inferred Atlantic Water SSTs on the shelf occurred at times of reduced solar activity during the Little Ice Age, when the subpolar gyre weakened and shifted westward promoted by atmospheric blocking events. Helheim Glacier responded to many of these episodes with increased calving, but despite earlier multidecadal warming episodes matching the 20th century high SSTs in magnitude, the glacier behaved differently during the 20th century. We suggest the presence of a floating ice tongue since at least 300 AD lasting until 1900 AD followed by elevated 20th century glacier calving due to the loss of the tongue. We attribute this regime shift to 20th century unprecedented low sea-ice occurrence in the East Greenland Current and conclude that properties of this current are important for the stability of the present ice tongues in NE Greenland.

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