The Holocene History of Nares Strait: Transition from Glacial Bay to Arctic-Atlantic Throughflow

Abstract

26 The holoceNe hisTory of Nares sTraiT B y a N N e e . J e N N i N g s , c h r i s T i N a s h e l d o N , T h o m a s m . c r o N i N , P i e r r e f r a N c u s , J o s e P h s T o N e r , a N d J o h N a N d r e w s Transition from glacial Bay to arctic-atlantic Throughflow Oceanography | Vol.24, No.3 26 moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (modis) image from august 2002shows the summer thaw around ellesmere island, canada (west), and Northwest greenland (east). as summer progresses, the snow retreats from the coastlines, exposing the bare, rocky ground, and seasonal sea ice melts in fjords and inlets. Between the two landmasses, Nares strait joins the arctic ocean (north) to Baffin Bay (south). From http: //visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=3975 T h e c h a N g i N g a r c T i c o c e a N | s P e c i a l i s s u e o N T h e i N T e r N aT i o N a l P o l a r y e a r ( 2 0 0 7 -2 0 0 9)

Simulation of the Greenland Ice Sheet over two glacial–interglacial cycles: investigating a sub-ice- shelf melt parameterization and relative sea level forcing in an ice-sheet–ice-shelf model

“…There is minimal correlation with the timings of the SAT forcing. In all simulations, the timing of final deglaciation of the NW margin was too late compared to observations (∼ 10-9 ka BP), but the spatial pattern as inferred by Jennings et al (2011) of a retreat initiated first at the western margin and later to the east is replicated. This is due to the faster ice velocity within the narrow outlet fjords to the west, i.e.…”

“…The grounded ice margin reached south into the north of Baffin Bay and out along the Arctic coastline to the north. Dating one of the few sediment cores from the offshore NW margin (Table 1), Jennings et al (2011) documented that the retreat of the grounded ice from the Kane and Hall basins initiated after 10.3 ka BP. The margin retreated in an "un- zipping manner", first from the west (Kane Basin) and later to the east (Hall Basin), driven in part by the retreat of IIS back onto Ellesmere Island.…”

The Greenland Ice Sheet during the last glacial cycle: Current ice loss and contribution to sea-level rise from a palaeoclimatic perspective

“…Ice-rafted debris is relatively abundant in many marine sediment cores from east/northeast Greenland during the Early Holocene, indicating that marine-terminating outlet glaciers, also known as tidewater glaciers, were releasing icebergs that reached the inner and middle shelf areas (Andrews et al, 1997;Evans et al, 2002;Jennings et al, 2002;Lloyd et al, 2005;Jennings et al, 2011) (Fig. 7).…”

“…Schlitzer, 2007). In Greenland ΔR values between 0 and 350 years have been applied (Hjort, 1973;Lloyd, 2006;Jennings et al, 2011), and it should be noted that in some cases different authors have used different ΔR values for the same area (Coulthard et al, 2010). One way to establish ΔR values is to compare marine radiocarbon ages with volcanic ash horizons (tephra) of known age (e.g.…”

Establishment of modern circulation pattern at c. 6000 cal a BP in Disko Bugt, central West Greenland: opening of the Vaigat Strait

“…Between 10 000 and 9000 cal a BP re‐appearance of the WGC in the Disko Bugt area is reported (Funder and Weidick, ; Lloyd et al ., ; Long et al ., ; Weidick and Bennike, ; Funder et al ., ). Initial WGC warming at this time has also been reported from the far north of Baffin Bay (Knudsen et al ., ; Jennings et al ., ). Recent benthic foraminifera‐based studies from the Disko Bugt area (Lloyd et al ., ; Perner et al ., , 2013) highlight the prominent influence of ocean temperature variability on ice margin stability/position on a range of time scales during the Holocene.…”