Early Holocene climate oscillations recorded in three Greenland ice cores

A new ice core chronology for the Greenland DYE-3, GRIP, and NGRIP ice cores has been constructed, making it possible to compare the δ18O and accumulation signals recorded in the three cores on an almost annual scale throughout the Holocene. We here introduce the new time scale and investigate δ18O and accumulation anomalies that are common to the three cores in the Early Holocene (7.9–11.7ka before present).

Three time periods with significant and synchronous anomalies in the δ18O and accumulation signals stand out: the well-known 8.2ka event, an event of shorter duration but of almost similar amplitude around 9.3ka before present, and the Preboreal Oscillation during the first centuries of the Holocene.

For each of these sections, we present a δ18O anomaly curve and a common accumulation signal that represents regional changes in the accumulation rate over the Greenland ice cap.