Records of Local Glacier Variability in Western Greenland During the Holocene From Lake Sediments, Ice-cap-killed Vegetation, and 10Be Dating

Abstract:

Local mountain glaciers and ice caps are common and widespread along the periphery of Greenland and provide valuable paleoclimatic records because they respond sensitively to climate change. In contrast to extensive research on Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) margin changes, the relative timing of mountain glaciation during the Holocene is poorly documented. Here, we use a multi-proxy approach to document the timing of local glacier advance and retreat throughout the past ~10 ka in western Greenland by combining: (1) proglacial lake sediment analysis, (2) ¹⁴C-dating of ice-cap-killed in situ plants, and (3) cosmogenic ¹⁰Be dating. Radiocarbon-dated sediment cores from Sikuiui and Pauiaivik lakes, eastern Nuussuaq, provide minimum-limiting ages for local deglaciation of 9.4 ± 0.06 and 8.8 ± 0.16 ka, respectively, and are in agreement with ¹⁰Be ages of regional deglaciation that average 10.9 ± 0.7 ka (n=8). Radiocarbon ages (n=54) of in situ plants along retreating cold-based ice cap margins reveal net snowline lowering beginning ~5 ka and are concurrent with the onset of Neoglaciation recorded in both lake systems. Modes of vegetation kill dates highlight distinct ice cap expansion phases at ~3.7, ~3.0, ~1.5 ka, and during the Little Ice Age. The most pronounced snowline lowering event ~4-3 ka is expressed in both lake records by deposition of mineral-rich sediments between ~4.5 and 2.5 ka. Ice cap expansion phases are broadly correlative with elevated minerogenic input in both lakes with some modes in the vegetation ages occurring just prior to increases in mineral-rich sediment input. Published studies of the western GIS margin suggest a major cooling event between ~4.3-3.2 ka, which overlaps with periods of enhanced local glacier activity and ice cap expansion in our dataset. Lastly, the dominant ice cap expansion episode ~3.7 ka in western Greenland is synchronous with a significant snowline lowering event on Baffin Island, suggesting a common climate forcing across Baffin Bay during the late Holocene.