Journal article
Holocene history of the Helheim Glacier, southeast Greenland
University of Copenhagen1
Aarhus University2
Swansea University3
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark4
Geodesy, National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark5
University of California at Irvine6
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland7
National Museum of Denmark8
Helheim Glacier ranks among the fastest flowing and most ice discharging outlets of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). After undergoing rapid speed-up in the early 2000s, understanding its long-term mass balance and dynamic has become increasingly important. Here, we present the first record of direct Holocene ice-marginal changes of the Helheim Glacier following the initial deglaciation.
By analysing cores from lakes adjacent to the present ice margin, we pinpoint periods of advance and retreat. We target threshold lakes, which receive glacial meltwater only when the margin is at an advanced position, similar to the present. We show that, during the period from 10.5 to 9.6 cal ka BP, the extent of Helheim Glacier was similar to that of todays, after which it remained retracted for most of the Holocene until a re-advance caused it to reach its present extent at c. 0.3 cal ka BP, during the Little Ice Age (LIA).
Thus, Helheim Glacier's present extent is the largest since the last deglaciation, and its Holocene history shows that it is capable of recovering after several millennia of warming and retreat. Furthermore, the absence of advances beyond the present-day position during for example the 9.3 and 8.2 ka cold events as well as the early-Neoglacial suggest a substantial retreat during most of the Holocene.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2018 |
Pages: | 145-158 |
ISSN: | 1873457x and 02773791 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.06.018 |
ORCIDs: | 0000-0002-4919-792X , 0000-0002-0117-1106 , Kjeldsen, K. K. , 0000-0002-8871-5179 , 0000-0001-5219-1310 , 0000-0002-5249-1812 and 0000-0002-4445-5520 |