Late-Holocene Fluctuations of the Greenland Ice Sheet: Insights from a south Greenland threshold lake

Abstract:

Several centennial-scale climate fluctuations during the late-Holocene make it an ideal test case for examining the effects of climate change on sea level at societally-relevant timescales. Across much of the Arctic, glaciers and ice sheets reached their maximum late-Holocene extent during the Little Ice Age (LIA, 1400-1900 C.E.), approximately coincident with the global temperature minima observed during this time. However, ongoing work suggests the south Greenland Ice Sheet (sGrIS) may have behaved differently during the late-Holocene, with several outlet glaciers retreating, rather than advancing, during the LIA, possibly due to regional warming in the region different from the Arctic trend. The Qassimiut lobe, a low-lying piedmont-like extension of the sGrIS, may be especially sensitive to late-Holocene climate changes. Geomorphic evidence outboard of Naujaat Sermia, an outlet glacier draining the Qassimiut lobe, suggests three distinct periods of land exposure. We hypothesize these occurred during the last deglacial period, after an advance from near or behind the present margin during the Neoglacial, and during warming following the Little Ice Age in the last 1-2 centuries. Here, we present data from threshold lake cores immediately outboard of the presumed Neoglacial moraine. A sharp contact divides glacial sands and silts from organic gyttja, indicating glacial retreat from the moraine and subsequent meltwater diversion. The contact is accompanied by several geochemical changes, including increased Fe/Ti ratios, increased Br, and decreased Si and K, indicating a switch from more clastic to organic sedimentation. Radiocarbon ages from eight macrofossils immediately above this contact are calibrated to 1350-1950 C.E., suggesting the ice sheet may have retreated from its late-Holocene maximum during the Little Ice Age, but the wide range in ages suggests reworking of organic material may be significant in this region.