Reconstructing Holocene Glacier and Climate Fluctuations From Lake Sediments in Vårfluesjøen, Northern Spitsbergen

The deglaciation history and Holocene environmental evolution of northern Wijdefjorden, Svalbard, are reconstructed using sediment cores and acoustic data (multibeam swath bathymetry and sub‐bottom profiler data). Results reveal that the fjord mouth was deglaciated prior to 14.5±0.3 cal. ka BP and deglaciation occurred stepwise. Biomarker analyses show rapid variations in water temperature and sea ice cover during the deglaciation, and cold conditions during the Younger Dryas, followed by minimum sea ice cover throughout the Early Holocene, until c. 7 cal. ka BP. Most of the glaciers in Wijdefjorden had retreated onto land by c. 7.6±0.2 cal. ka BP. Subsequently, the sea‐ice extent increased and remained high throughout the last part of the Holocene. We interpret a high Late Holocene sediment accumulation rate in the northernmost core to reflect increased sediment flux to the site from the outlet of the adjacent lake Femmilsjøen, related to glacier growth in the Femmilsjøen catchment area. Furthermore, increased sea ice cover, lower water temperatures and the re‐occurrence of ice‐rafted debris indicate increased local glacier activity and overall cooler conditions in Wijdefjorden after c. 0.5 cal. ka BP. We summarize our findings in a conceptual model for the depositional environment in northern Wijdefjorden from the Late Weichselian until present.

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“…ka BP ( Fig. 1; Bartels et al 2017;Røthe et al 2018). The inner part of Woodfjorden deglaciated around 10.0 cal.…”

Section: Deglaciationmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…During the Early Holocene, glaciers in Spitsbergen were comparably small (Mangerud & Svendsen 1990Svendsen & Mangerud 1997;Forwick & Vorren 2009;Baeten et al 2010;Røthe et al 2015Røthe et al , 2018. However, glaciers most likely persisted throughout the entire Holocene (Hald et al 2004;Forwick & Vorren 2009).…”

Section: Postglacial Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Quaternary glacier and sea‐ice history of northern Wijdefjorden, Svalbard

Allaart

Müller

Schomacker

et al. 2020

Boreas

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“…Smaller ice caps are also being studied with such models (e.g. Zekkolari et al, 2017;Schäfer et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From 1991 to 1997 the glacier surged, leading to a 2 km advance of the glacier front (Mansell et al, 2012). Røthe et al (2015) made a reconstruction of the equilibriumline altitude (ELA) for the Holocene, derived from a thorough analysis of lake sediments in the catchment of the small glacier Karlbreen in north-west Spitsbergen. Karlbreen is located only about 25 km to the west of Monacobreen, and the ELA reconstruction thus offers a unique possibility to simulate the evolution of Monacobreen through Holocene times.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the late Holocene and future evolution of Monacobreen, northern Spitsbergen

Oerlemans

2018

The Cryosphere

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Monacobreen is a 40 km long surge-type tidewater glacier in northern Spitsbergen. During 1991During -1997 Monacobreen surged and advanced by about 2 km, but the front did not reach the maximum Little Ice Age (LIA) stand. Since 1997 the glacier front is retreating at a fast rate ( ∼ 125 m a −1 ). The questions addressed in this study are as follows: (1) Can the late Holocene behaviour of Monacobreen be understood in terms of climatic forcing?, and (2) What will be the likely evolution of this glacier for different scenarios of future climate change?Monacobreen is modelled with a minimal glacier model, including a parameterization of the calving process as well as the effect of surges. The model is driven by an equilibriumline altitude (ELA) history derived from lake sediments of a nearby glacier catchment in combination with meteorological data from 1899 onwards. The simulated glacier length is in good agreement with the observations: the maximum LIA stand, the front position at the end of the surge, and the 2.5 km retreat after the surge (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016) are well reproduced (the mean difference between observed and simulated glacier length being 6 % when scaled with the total retreat during 1900-2016). The effect of surging is limited. Directly after a surge the initiated mass balance perturbation due to a lower mean surface elevation is about −0.13 m w.e. a −1 , which only has a small effect on the longterm evolution of the glacier. The simulation suggests that the major growth of Monacobreen after the Holocene climatic optimum started around 1500 BCE. Monacobreen became a tidewater glacier around 500 BCE and reached a size comparable to the present state around 500 CE. For the mid-B2 scenario (IPCC, 2013), which corresponds to a ∼ 2 m a −1 rise of the ELA, the model predicts a volume loss of 20 % to 30 % by the year 2100 (relative to the 2017 volume). For a ∼ 4 m a −1 rise in the ELA this is 30 % to 40 %. However, much of the response to 21st century warming will still come after 2100.

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“…Previous lake sediment studies from Nordaustlandet have focused on palaeoecological and palaeoclimatic reconstructions [10][11][12]19 , and have not been targeting proglacial threshold lakes that potentially contain glacial on/off signals [20][21][22] . Data highlighting Holocene glacier variations on Svalbard are important to understanding the observed recent ice loss and place it in a long-term perspective [22][23][24][25][26] . The aim of this study is (1) to reconstruct the late Holocene glacier fluctuations of Etonbreen, based on threshold lake sediment cores from Kløverbladvatna, and (2) to decipher the postglacial relative sea level changes in Palanderbukta, Wahlenbergfjorden, based on radiocarbon dating of raised beach ridges.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Postglacial Relative Sea Level Change and Glacier Activity in the Early and Late Holocene: Wahlenbergfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard

Schomacker¹,

Farnsworth²,

Inǵólfsson³

et al. 2019

Geological Society of America Abstracts With Programs

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Postglacial relative sea level change and glacier activity in the early and late holocene: Wahlenbergfjorden, nordaustlandet, svalbard. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1-13. Sediment cores from Kløverbladvatna, a threshold lake in Wahlenbergfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard were used to reconstruct Holocene glacier fluctuations. Meltwater from Etonbreen spills over a threshold to the lake, only when the glacier is significantly larger than at present. Lithological logging, loss-on-ignition, ITRAX scanning and radiocarbon dating of the cores show that Kløverbladvatna became isolated from Wahlenbergfjorden c. 5.4 cal. kyr BP due to glacioisostatic rebound. During the Late Holocene, laminated clayey gyttja from lacustrine organic production and surface runoff from the catchment accumulated in the lake. The lacustrine sedimentary record suggests that meltwater only spilled over the threshold at the peak of the surge of Etonbreen in AD 1938. Hence, we suggest that this was the largest extent of Etonbreen in the (mid-late) Holocene. In Palanderbukta, a tributary fjord to Wahlenbergfjorden, raised beaches were surveyed and organic material collected to determine the age of the beaches and reconstruct postglacial relative sea level change. The age of the postglacial raised beaches ranges from 10.7 cal. kyr BP at 50 m a.s.l. to 3.13 cal. kyr BP at 2 m a.s.l. The reconstructed postglacial relative sea level curve adds valuable spatial and chronological data to the relative sea level record of Nordaustlandet.Nordaustlandet is a key locality for understanding the glacial history of Svalbard. Recent studies suggest that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), ice domes in the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet were centered over the southern opening of the Hinlopen Strait and Nordaustlandet 1-3 . This is not compatible with postglacial isostatic rebound evidence reconstructed from raised beaches around the Svalbard archipelago, which suggests a maximum LGM ice load over Kong Karls Land to the southeast of Nordaustlandet 4,5 . The location of LGM ice domes, timing, and implications for ice sheet dynamics is still debated 6,7 . Postglacial relative sea level changes on Nordaustlandet and eastern Spitsbergen are not well constrained in time and space. Blake 8 reconstructed the relative sea level history of Lady Franklinfjorden in northwest Nordaustlandet, and suggested a Late Weichselian-Holocene marine limit of at least 50 m above high tide (a.h.t.). A study 9 from Svartknausflya at the south coast of Nordaustlandet suggested a marine limit of more than 70 m a.h.t. Marine isolation ages from lakes on Nordaustlandet provide ancillary information about the postglacial relative sea level changes [10][11][12] .At present, about 80% of Nordaustlandet is glaciated, mainly by the two ice caps Austfonna (7800 km 2 ) and the smaller Vestfonna (2455 km 2 ) 1,13,14 . The location between these two ice caps makes the inner part of Wahlenbergfjorden an important site for studying Holocene glacier variations. Flink et al. 15 suggested that the Wahlenbe...

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Reconstructing Holocene Glacier and Climate Fluctuations From Lake Sediments in Vårfluesjøen, Northern Spitsbergen

Cited by 31 publications

References 86 publications

Late Quaternary glacier and sea‐ice history of northern Wijdefjorden, Svalbard

Late Quaternary glacier and sea‐ice history of northern Wijdefjorden, Svalbard

Modelling the late Holocene and future evolution of Monacobreen, northern Spitsbergen

Postglacial Relative Sea Level Change and Glacier Activity in the Early and Late Holocene: Wahlenbergfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard

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