Understanding Arctic glacier sensitivity is key to predicting future response to air temperature rise. Previous studies have used proglacial lake sediment records to reconstruct Holocene glacier advance–retreat patterns in South and West Greenland, but high‐resolution glacier records from High Arctic Greenland are scarce, despite the sensitivity of this region to future climate change. Detailed geochemical analysis of proglacial lake sediments close to Zackenberg, northeast Greenland, provides the first high‐resolution record of Late Holocene High Arctic glacier behaviour. Three phases of glacier advance have occurred in the last 2000 years. The first two phases (c. 1320–800 cal. a BP) occurred prior to the Little Ice Age (LIA), and correspond to the Dark Ages Cold Period and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. The third phase (c. 700 cal. a BP), representing a smaller scale glacier oscillation, is associated with the onset of the LIA. Our results are consistent with recent evidence of pre‐LIA glacier advance in other parts of the Arctic, including South and West Greenland, Svalbard, and Canada. The sub‐millennial glacier fluctuations identified in the Madsen Lake succession are not preserved in the moraine record. Importantly, coupled XRF and XRD analysis has effectively identified a phase of ice advance that is not visible by sedimentology alone. This highlights the value of high‐resolution geochemical analysis of lake sediments to establish rapid glacier advance–retreat patterns in regions where chronological and morphostratigraphical control is limited.

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Lakes fed by Greenlandic mountain glaciers and ice caps (GICs) contain important archives of Arctic palaeoenvironmental change. GIC proglacial lake records have been increasingly used to reconstruct Holocene glacier behaviour, largely focusing on macrostratigraphy. However, despite the wide range of topographic settings and catchment characteristics, there has been little systematic analysis of the ways that catchment conditions are registered in the clastic sediments of GIC lakes. Such signals provide valuable insights into landscape processes and palaeoenvironmental conditions that are not routinely captured in other Quaternary glacial morphosedimentary archives. This review synthesises sedimentological and geochemical evidence from existing Holocene GIC proglacial lake records to establish: how catchment-wide conditions have been recorded in the lacustrine sequences; and our ability to isolate these signals to enhance palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Our review shows that with careful sedimentological and targeted (bio)geochemical analyses coupled with a clear process-based understanding, catchment and in-lake signals can be effectively identified in the microstratigraphic and mineral grain record. Such signals include wind patterns, mass wasting, precipitation events and seasonal lake ice cover, that can complement broader palaeoclimatic proxy evidence. The approaches collated here, if more widely applied, could considerably enhance environmental reconstructions not only in Greenland, but in glaciated catchments elsewhere.

Global environmental change is one of the most pressing issues facing future generations. Equipping schoolchildren with a clear understanding of physical geography is therefore a key educational priority. Effectively engaging schoolchildren with complex scientific ideas can be challenging, but with the appropriate tools, scientists can play a valuable role in developing meaningful science communication experiences. Climate Explorers addressed these issues by forging a collaboration between physical geography and social science academics, and 320 UK school students and their teachers in seven primary (elementary) schools. Using insights from co-production techniques and storytelling, the project aimed to 1) produce new open access, online climate science education resources, and 2) test co-production and storytelling approaches to physical geography science engagement. Our findings demonstrated that school children responded especially well to working with ‘real life’ scientists, where meaningful and memorable educational interactions were forged through the use of narratives, personal experiences and tailored language. Here we summarise our approach, and provide templates that can be readily applied by scientists working across the physical geography spectrum anywhere in the world. The flexibility of the templates means that they can be adapted and developed for a range of formats, from small-scale community workshops to national-scale educational initiatives, for delivery both in-person or online. We hope that our approach will provide a springboard to transform and enhance physical geography science communication more broadly.

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