The response of the southern Greenland ice sheet to the Holocene thermal maximum

Larsen, Nicolaj K.; Kjær, Kurt H.; Lecavalier, Benoit; Bjørk, Anders A.; Colding, Sune; Huybrechts, Philippe; Jakobsen, Karina E.; Kjeldsen, Kristian K.; Knudsen, Karen-Louise; Odgaard, Bent Vad; Olsen, Jesper

doi:10.1130/g36476.1

Cited by 97 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Based on a synthesis of geologic data like ours, Young and Briner (2015) suggested that the minimum extent of the western GrIS was experienced between~4 and~2 ka. This timing is later, but similar to the minimum GrIS extent (7e4 ka) depicted by Larsen et al (2015). However, both compilations show that in most sectors, the GrIS was steadily retreating, with some pauses during moraine deposition, from~10 to 5 ka.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…This was followed by a minimum ice extent between~5.4 and 0.6 ka. Reconstructions of land-terminating ice margins elsewhere in western and southern Greenland also reveal ice margin stability in the early Holocene followed by minimum extent during the latter portion of the Holocene (e.g., Larsen et al, 2011Larsen et al, , 2015. In particular, the ice margin at Paakitsoq (80 km south of our field site) was reconstructed to have been relatively stable between~7.9 and 5.4 ka, followed by its minimum extent between 5.4 and 0.24 ka Håkansson et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alternatively, the Drygalski Moraines may be analogous to the Ørkendalen (~6.8 ka) or Fjord Stade (Tasiussaq~8.2 ka; and Marrait~9.3 ka; Fig. 1) moraine systems dated south of the Drygalski Moraines in West Greenland (Levy et al, 2012;Young et al, 2013a). Determining the age of the Drygalski Moraines and assessing the temporal significance of their deposition offers an opportunity to add to our understanding of the spatial variability of ice margin change during the Holocene.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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10Be dating reveals early-middle Holocene age of the Drygalski Moraines in central West Greenland

Cronauer

Briner

Kelley

et al. 2016

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

10Be dating reveals early-middle Holocene age of the Drygalski Moraines in central West Greenland

Cronauer

Briner

Kelley

et al. 2016

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…While the presence of a relic of the Laurentide ice sheet may be the origin of modeldata mismatches in the climate of eastern North America (Wohlfahrt et al, 2004), the effect is local and small. Cosmogenic surface exposure ages and threshold lake records (Carlson et al, 2014;Larsen et al, 2015;Sinclair et al, 2016) also suggest that by 6 ka, the Greenland ice sheet was similar in extent to present. The ice-sheet distribution and elevations, land-sea mask, continental topography and oceanic bathymetry should all be prescribed as the same as in piControl in the midHolocene simulation (Table 1).…”

Section: Paleogeography and Ice Sheetsmentioning

confidence: 80%

The PMIP4 contribution to CMIP6 – Part 2: Two interglacials, scientific objective and experimental design for Holocene and Last Interglacial simulations

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Two interglacial epochs are included in the suite of Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP4) simulations in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). The experimental protocols for simulations of the mid-Holocene (midHolocene, 6000 years before present) and the Last Interglacial (lig127k, 127 000 years before present) are described here. These equilibrium simulations are designed to examine the impact of changes in orbital forcing at times when atmospheric greenhouse gas levels were similar to those of the preindustrial period and the continental configurations were almost identical to modern ones. These simulations test our understanding of the interplay between radiative forcing and atmospheric circulation, and the connections among large-scale and regional climate changes giving rise to phenomena such as land-sea contrast and highlatitude amplification in temperature changes, and responses of the monsoons, as compared to today. They also provide an opportunity, through carefully designed additional sensitivity experiments, to quantify the strength of atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and land-surface feedbacks. Sensitivity experiments are proposed to investigate the role of freshwater forcing in triggering abrupt climate changes within interglacial epochs. These feedback experiments naturally lead to a focus on climate evolution during interglacial periods, which will be examined through transient experiments. Analyses of the sensitivity simulations will also focus on interactions between extratropical and tropical circulation, and the relationship between changes in mean climate state and climate variability on annual to multi-decadal timescales. The comparative abundance of paleoenvironmental data and of quantitative climate reconstructions for the Holocene and Last Interglacial make these two epochs ideal candidates for systematic evaluation of model performance, and such comparisons will shed new light on the importance of external feedbacks (e.g., vegetation, dust) and the ability of state-of-the-art models to simulate climate changes realistically.

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“…Thus, this record provides well-dated constraints on the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) in this area, which refine previous estimates extrapolated for this region (Kaufman et al, 2004) and is similar to the interval when the Greenland Ice Sheet margin was behind its present limit, broadly constrained to ca. 7-4 ka (Larsen et al, 2015).…”

Section: Holocene Glacier Fluctuations In Southeast Greenlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glacier response to North Atlantic climate variability during the Holocene

2015

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Abstract. Small glaciers and ice caps respond rapidly to climate variations, and records of their past extent provide information on the natural envelope of past climate variability. Millennial-scale trends in Holocene glacier size are well documented and correspond with changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. However, there is only sparse and fragmentary evidence for higher-frequency variations in glacier size because in many Northern Hemisphere regions glacier advances of the past few hundred years were the most extensive and destroyed the geomorphic evidence of ice growth and retreat during the past several thousand years. Thus, most glacier records have been of limited use for investigating centennial-scale climate forcing and feedback mechanisms. Here we report a continuous record of glacier activity for the last 9.5 ka from southeast Greenland derived from high-resolution measurements on a proglacial lake sediment sequence. Physical and geochemical parameters show that the glaciers responded to previously documented Northern Hemisphere climatic excursions, including the "8.2 ka" cooling event, the Holocene Thermal Maximum, Neoglacial cooling, and 20th century warming. In addition, the sediments indicate centennial-scale oscillations in glacier size during the late Holocene. Beginning at 4.1 ka, a series of abrupt glacier advances occurred, each lasting ∼ 100 years and followed by a period of retreat, that were superimposed on a gradual trend toward larger glacier size. Thus, while declining summer insolation caused long-term cooling and glacier expansion during the late Holocene, climate system dynamics resulted in repeated episodes of glacier expansion and retreat on multi-decadal to centennial timescales. These episodes coincided with ice rafting events in the North Atlantic Ocean and periods of regional ice cap expansion, which confirms their regional significance and indicates that considerable glacier activity on these timescales is a normal feature of the cryosphere. The data provide a longer-term perspective on the rate of 20th century glacier retreat and indicate that recent anthropogenic-driven warming has already impacted the regional cryosphere in a manner outside the natural range of Holocene variability.

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The response of the southern Greenland ice sheet to the Holocene thermal maximum

Cited by 97 publications

References 33 publications

10Be dating reveals early-middle Holocene age of the Drygalski Moraines in central West Greenland

10Be dating reveals early-middle Holocene age of the Drygalski Moraines in central West Greenland

The PMIP4 contribution to CMIP6 – Part 2: Two interglacials, scientific objective and experimental design for Holocene and Last Interglacial simulations

Glacier response to North Atlantic climate variability during the Holocene

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