Strong altitudinal control on the response of local glaciers to Holocene climate change in southwest Greenland

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Larsen, Nicolaj K., Strunk, Astrid, Levy, Laura B., Olsen, Jesper, Bjork, Anders, Lauridsen, Torben L., Jeppesen, Erik, Davidson, Thomas A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Greenland; Glacier fluctuations; Holocene; Paleoclimate; RELATIVE SEA-LEVEL; ICE-SHEET MARGIN; WEST GREENLAND; ARCTIC CANADA; SOUTHERN GREENLAND; LATEST PLEISTOCENE; BAFFIN-ISLAND; EAST GREENLAND; LAKE-SEDIMENTS; EUROPEAN ALPS; Arctic; Baffin Island; Baffin; Climate change; East Greenland; glacier; glacier*; Global warming; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/strong-altitudinal-control-on-the-response-of-local-glaciers-to-holocene-climate-change-in-southwest-greenland(31a38268-a607-448b-8da7-9a742868e2ed).html; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.05.008

Accelerating ice loss during recent years has made the Greenland Ice Sheet one of the largest single contributors to global sea level rise, accounting for 0.5 of the total 3.2 mm yr(-1). This loss is predicted to continue and will most likely increase in the future as a consequence of global warming. However, the sensitivity of glaciers and ice caps (GICs) in Greenland to prolonged warm periods is less well constrained and geological records documenting the long-term glacial history are needed to put recent observations into a broader perspective. Here we report the results from three proglacial lakes where fluctuations in local glaciers located at different altitudes in Kobbefjord, southwest Greenland have been recorded. Our results show that the lakes received meltwater from the initial deglaciation of the area similar to 9.2 cal. ka BP until similar to 8.7-7.9 cal. 1