Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event

The margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet retreated rapidly during the first few thousand years of the Holocene. During this period of relative warmth, known as the Holocene thermal maximum, ice core records identify a significant short-lived cooling event at approximately 8.4–8.0 ka cal. yr BP (the ‘GH...

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Published in:Quaternary Science Reviews
Main Authors: Long, A. J., Roberts, D. H., Dawson, S.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/01e9c588-d04d-4694-b8a2-1155b5b9cc30
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.002
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spelling ftunivdundeepure:oai:discovery.dundee.ac.uk:publications/01e9c588-d04d-4694-b8a2-1155b5b9cc30 2024-05-12T08:02:54+00:00 Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event Long, A. J. Roberts, D. H. Dawson, S. 2006-05 https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/01e9c588-d04d-4694-b8a2-1155b5b9cc30 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.002 eng eng https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/01e9c588-d04d-4694-b8a2-1155b5b9cc30 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Long , A J , Roberts , D H & Dawson , S 2006 , ' Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event ' , Quaternary Science Reviews , vol. 25 , no. 9-10 , pp. 904-922 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.002 article 2006 ftunivdundeepure https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.002 2024-04-17T14:33:09Z The margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet retreated rapidly during the first few thousand years of the Holocene. During this period of relative warmth, known as the Holocene thermal maximum, ice core records identify a significant short-lived cooling event at approximately 8.4–8.0 ka cal. yr BP (the ‘GH-8.2 event’) associated with a 5–7 °C fall in mean annual air temperature over the centre of the ice sheet. In this paper we constrain the history of the ice sheet margin in Disko Bugt (west Greenland) and that of a major ice stream, Jakobshavns Isbrae, during the early Holocene, which incorporates the interval of the GH-8.2 event. Our work is based on a new relative sea-level curve and minimum age estimates for the timing of deglaciation from two field sites, combined with a review of previously published research from the study area. We identify important differences in the chronology of ice margin recession during the early Holocene, most noticeably, the margin of Jakobshavns Isbrae retreated well inland of the adjacent ice sheet at this time. We conclude that the early Holocene ‘Fjord Stade’ moraines in Disko Bugt do not record a uniform ice sheet margin response to the GH-8.2 event. Rather, these moraines are diachronous and formed between c. 10–8 ka cal. yr BP, their age varying as a function of the interplay between topography and ice sheet/ice stream dynamics. We hypothesise that one cause for the lack of an identifiable response to the GH-8.2 event is because topographic controls dominated ice sheet behaviour at this time. In lowland areas, any increase in ice sheet mass balance was probably associated with an increase in calving rather than any major advance of a grounded ice sheet margin Article in Journal/Newspaper Disko bugt Greenland ice core Ice Sheet Discovery - University of Dundee Online Publications Greenland Quaternary Science Reviews 25 9-10 904 922
institution Open Polar
collection Discovery - University of Dundee Online Publications
op_collection_id ftunivdundeepure
language English
description The margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet retreated rapidly during the first few thousand years of the Holocene. During this period of relative warmth, known as the Holocene thermal maximum, ice core records identify a significant short-lived cooling event at approximately 8.4–8.0 ka cal. yr BP (the ‘GH-8.2 event’) associated with a 5–7 °C fall in mean annual air temperature over the centre of the ice sheet. In this paper we constrain the history of the ice sheet margin in Disko Bugt (west Greenland) and that of a major ice stream, Jakobshavns Isbrae, during the early Holocene, which incorporates the interval of the GH-8.2 event. Our work is based on a new relative sea-level curve and minimum age estimates for the timing of deglaciation from two field sites, combined with a review of previously published research from the study area. We identify important differences in the chronology of ice margin recession during the early Holocene, most noticeably, the margin of Jakobshavns Isbrae retreated well inland of the adjacent ice sheet at this time. We conclude that the early Holocene ‘Fjord Stade’ moraines in Disko Bugt do not record a uniform ice sheet margin response to the GH-8.2 event. Rather, these moraines are diachronous and formed between c. 10–8 ka cal. yr BP, their age varying as a function of the interplay between topography and ice sheet/ice stream dynamics. We hypothesise that one cause for the lack of an identifiable response to the GH-8.2 event is because topographic controls dominated ice sheet behaviour at this time. In lowland areas, any increase in ice sheet mass balance was probably associated with an increase in calving rather than any major advance of a grounded ice sheet margin
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Long, A. J.
Roberts, D. H.
Dawson, S.
spellingShingle Long, A. J.
Roberts, D. H.
Dawson, S.
Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event
author_facet Long, A. J.
Roberts, D. H.
Dawson, S.
author_sort Long, A. J.
title Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event
title_short Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event
title_full Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event
title_fullStr Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event
title_full_unstemmed Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event
title_sort early holocene history of the west greenland ice sheet and the gh-8.2 event
publishDate 2006
url https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/01e9c588-d04d-4694-b8a2-1155b5b9cc30
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.002
geographic Greenland
geographic_facet Greenland
genre Disko bugt
Greenland
ice core
Ice Sheet
genre_facet Disko bugt
Greenland
ice core
Ice Sheet
op_source Long , A J , Roberts , D H & Dawson , S 2006 , ' Early Holocene history of the West Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event ' , Quaternary Science Reviews , vol. 25 , no. 9-10 , pp. 904-922 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.002
op_relation https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/01e9c588-d04d-4694-b8a2-1155b5b9cc30
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op_doi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.002
container_title Quaternary Science Reviews
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