scholarly journals The Greenland ice sheet - a model for its culmination and decay during and after the last glacial maximum

1996 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 137-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svend Funder ◽  
Louise Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Distribution ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Field Work ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Nares Strait ◽  
The North ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Insolation Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

Ice margin reconstructions of the Greenland ice sheet during LGM (c. 21-16 ka) and 10 ka are based on published onshore field evidence supplemented with recent studies on the East Greenland shelf and results of current field work in the Scoresby Sund area Additional evidence comes from the pattern of Holocene uplift and the frequency distribution of more than 1000 14C-dates. During LGM, only southern Greenland (south of lat. 69°-72°N) saw a major expansion of the ice sheet with thick cover over the present coastline and onto the shelf. In the north, outlet glaciers filled fjord basins, including the Nares Strait between Canada and Greenland, and piedmont glaciers descended from coastal mountains onto the coastline, but the glaciers did not cover the shelf. Break up probably began after c. 15 ka, and took place in two discrete steps. First, the shelf and major inlets were cleared of marine based ice. There was little thinning of the ice on land, and in the northern parts there was little change at all. The driving factor during this step was calving caused by rising sea level. This lasted until c. 10 ka, but may have been consumated before the Younger Dry as. The second step began with a glacier-readvance between 10 and 9.5 ka, and after this the fjord glaciers began to retreat rapidly. Within a few millenia all the presently ice free land was exposed. The frequency distribution of 14C-dates show that the nearshore marine and terrestrial biotopes emerged in this period. The discharge of ice was both by calving and melting, and the driving force was probably increased insolation. Maximum Holocene uplift was attained in areas of the 10 ka ice margin, indicating that the uplift is essentially a response to the melting and unloading of ice that began at this time. In suppport of this, recent results in West, North and East Greenland indicate that the age of the marine limits decline towards the outer coasts, away from the 10 ka ice margin.

Marine geophysical evidence for former expansion and flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet across the north-east Greenland continental shelf

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Evans ◽  
Colm Ó Cofaigh ◽  
Julian A. Dowdeswell ◽  
Peter Wadhams
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
North East ◽  
The North

scholarly journals The deglaciation of coastal areas of southeast Greenland

The Holocene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 1535-1544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence M Dyke ◽  
Anna LC Hughes ◽  
Camilla S Andresen ◽  
Tavi Murray ◽  
John F Hiemstra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The North ◽  
Exposure Ages ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

Large marine-terminating glaciers around the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet have retreated, accelerated and thinned over the last two decades. Relatively little is known about the longer term behaviour of the Greenland Ice Sheet, yet this information is valuable for assessing the significance of modern changes. We address this by reporting 11 new beryllium-10 (10Be) exposure ages from previously uninvestigated coastal areas across southeast Greenland. The new ages are combined with existing data from the region to assess the timing of glacier retreat after the Last Glacial Maximum. The results show that deglaciation occurred first in the north of the region (~68°N) and progressed southwards. This north–south progression is attributed to the influence of the warm Irminger Current on the ice margin. Areas in the south of the region were isolated from the warm waters by the shallow bathymetry of the continental shelf. This demonstrates that oceanographic forcing paced the deglaciation of southeast Greenland through the Younger Dryas and early Holocene. In most areas of southeast Greenland bedrock ages are systematically older than their counterpart boulder samples; this offset is likely the result of inherited 10Be content in bedrock surfaces. This suggests that subglacial erosion during the last glacial cycle was insufficient to completely remove pre-existing 10Be content. Alternatively, this pattern may be the signature of a substantial retreat and advance cycle prior to final Holocene deglaciation.

scholarly journals Calculated Patterns of Accumulation on the Greenland Ice Sheet

1967 ◽  
Vol 6 (48) ◽  
pp. 795-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Mock
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Transition Zone ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Regression Techniques ◽  
Independent Parameters ◽  
North Greenland

All available mean annual accumulation data on the Greenland ice sheet (excluding the Thule peninsula) have been collected and analyzed using multiple regression techniques to develop equations capable of predicting mean annual accumulation. The analysis was carried out for north Greenland, south Greenland, and for the transition zone between the two major regions. The resulting equations show that mean annual accumulation can be predicted from the independent parameters latitude, longitude and elevation. The patterns of accumulation are shown in a series of isohyetal (contours of accumulation in terms of water) maps. The major feature shown is a well defined asymmetry in accumulation; a pronounced east-slope maximum in south Greenland and an equally pronounced west-slope maximum in north Greenland. Poleward of lat. 69° N., isohyets decrease in elevation to the north. Mean annual accumulation ranges from >90 g./cm.2in south-east Greenland to <15 g./cm.2in north-east Greenland. A brief discussion of mass balance estimates of the Greenland ice sheet and of the relevance of this study to them is included.

scholarly journals Objective identification of climate states from Greenland ice cores for the last glacial period

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 1209-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Peavoy ◽  
C. Franzke
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The North ◽  
Core Project ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. We present statistical methods to systematically determine climate regimes for the last glacial period using three temperature proxy records from Greenland: measurements of δ18O from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2), the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) and the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP). By using Bayesian model comparison methods we find that, in two out of three data sets, a model with 3 states is very strongly supported. We interpret these states as corresponding to: a gradual cooling regime due to iceberg influx in the North Atlantic, sudden temperature decrease due to increased freshwater influx following ice sheet collapse and to the Dansgaard-Oeschger events associated with sudden rebound temperature increase after the thermohaline circulation recovers its full flux. We find that these models are far superior to those that differentiate between states based on absolute temperature differences only, which questions the appropriateness of defining stadial and interstadial climate states. We investigate the recurrence properties of these climate regimes and find that the only significant periodicity is within the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 data at 1450 years in agreement with previous studies.

10Be ages from central east Greenland constrain the extent of the Greenland ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum

2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (19-21) ◽  
pp. 2316-2321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Håkansson ◽  
Jason Briner ◽  
Helena Alexanderson ◽  
Ala Aldahan ◽  
Göran Possnert
Keyword(s):  
Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

scholarly journals Calculated Patterns of Accumulation on the Greenland Ice Sheet

1967 ◽  
Vol 6 (48) ◽  
pp. 795-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Mock
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Transition Zone ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Regression Techniques ◽  
Independent Parameters ◽  
North Greenland

All available mean annual accumulation data on the Greenland ice sheet (excluding the Thule peninsula) have been collected and analyzed using multiple regression techniques to develop equations capable of predicting mean annual accumulation. The analysis was carried out for north Greenland, south Greenland, and for the transition zone between the two major regions. The resulting equations show that mean annual accumulation can be predicted from the independent parameters latitude, longitude and elevation. The patterns of accumulation are shown in a series of isohyetal (contours of accumulation in terms of water) maps. The major feature shown is a well defined asymmetry in accumulation; a pronounced east-slope maximum in south Greenland and an equally pronounced west-slope maximum in north Greenland. Poleward of lat. 69° N., isohyets decrease in elevation to the north. Mean annual accumulation ranges from >90 g./cm.2 in south-east Greenland to <15 g./cm.2 in north-east Greenland. A brief discussion of mass balance estimates of the Greenland ice sheet and of the relevance of this study to them is included.

scholarly journals The NorthGRIP deep drilling programme

2002 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorthe Dahl-Jensen ◽  
Niels S. Gundestrup ◽  
Heinz Miller ◽  
Okitsugu Watanabe ◽  
Sigfús J. Johnsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Internal Layers ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The North ◽  
Climatic Period ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractThe North Greenland Icecore Project (NorthGRIP) was initiated in 1995 as a joint international programme involving Denmark, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Sweden, Iceland, the U.S.A., France and Switzerland. the main goal was to obtain undisturbed high-resolution information about the Eemian climatic period (115–130 kyr BP). the records from the Greenland Icecore Project (GRIP) and Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) in central Greenland are different and disturbed down in the ice covering this period. Internal radio-echo sounding layers show that NorthGRIP, placed 325 km north-northwest of GRIP at the Summit of the Greenland ice sheet, is located on a gently sloping ice ridge with very flat bedrock and internal layers found so high that an undisturbed Eemian record is possible. Internal layers much farther above bedrock than their apparent counter parts at GRIP suggest that conditions are favourable for recovery of an undisturbed Eemian record. So far, a 1351 mdeep ice core (NorthGRIP1) and a 3001 mdeep ice core (NorthGRIP 2) have been recovered. the ice thickness is expected to be 3080 m, and the ice temperature at 3001 m is –5.6°C, so we expect basal melting at the bedrock. Most of the Eemian ice will be melted away, leaving only the last part and the transition between the Eem and the Last Glacial Period. At 3001 m the age of the ice is 110 kyr BP and the annual layers are of the order 1 cm.With modern methods the annual layers can be resolved, resulting in detailed information on the decline of the warm Eemian period into the Last Glacial Period.

Ketilidian structure and the rapakivi suite between Lindenow Fjord and Kap Farvel, South-East Greenland

2000 ◽  
pp. 50-59
Author(s):  
Brian Chadwick ◽  
Adam A. Garde ◽  
John Grocott ◽  
Ken J.W. McCaffrey ◽  
Mike A. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Region ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Natural Environment Research Council ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic Processes ◽  
Field Investigations ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Bad Weather ◽  
North Eastern Part

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Chadwick, B., Garde, A. A., Grocott, J., McCaffrey, K. J., & Hamilton, M. A. (2000). Ketilidian structure and the rapakivi suite between Lindenow Fjord and Kap Farvel, South-East Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 186, 50-59. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v186.5215 _______________ The southern tip of Greenland is underlain by the Palaeoproterozoic Ketilidian orogen (e.g. Chadwick & Garde 1996; Garde et al. 1998a). Field investigations in the summer of 1999 were focused on the structure of migmatites (metatexites) and garnetiferous granites (diatexites) of the Pelite Zone in the coastal region of South-East Greenland between Lindenow Fjord and Kap Farvel (Figs 1, 2). Here, we first address the tectonic evolution in the Pelite Zone in that region and its correlation with that in the Psammite Zone further north. Then, the structure and intrusive relationships of the rapakivi suite in the Pelite Zone are discussed, including particular reference to the interpretation of the controversial outcrop on Qernertoq (Figs 2, 8). Studies of the structure of the north-eastern part of the Julianehåb batholith around Qulleq were continued briefly from 1998 but are not addressed here (Fig. 1; Garde et al. 1999). The field study was keyed to an interpretation of the Ketilidian orogen as a whole, including controls of rates of thermal and tectonic processes in convergent settings. Earlier Survey field work (project SUPRASYD, 1992–1996) had as its principal target an evaluation of the economic potential of the orogen (Nielsen et al. 1993). Ensuing plate-tectonic studies were mainly funded in 1997–1998 by Danish research foundations and in 1999 by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK. The five-week programme in 1999 was seriously disrupted by bad weather, common in this part of Greenland, and our objectives were only just achieved. Telestation Prins Christian Sund was the base for our operations (Fig. 2), which were flown with a small helicopter (Hughes MD-500).

The Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden glacier project, North-East Greenland: a study of ice sheet response to climatic change

1997 ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Højmark Thomsen ◽  
Niels Reeh ◽  
Ole B. Olesen ◽  
Carl Egede Bøggilde ◽  
Wolfgang Starzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Change ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
North East ◽  
Integrated Research ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Advance Research ◽  
Inland Ice

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Højmark Thomsen, H., Reeh, N., Olesen, O. B., Egede Bøggilde, C., Starzer, W., Weidick, A., & Higgins, A. K. (1997). The Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden glacier project, North-East Greenland: a study of ice sheet response to climatic change. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 176, 95-103. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v176.5073 _______________ Glaciological research was initiated in 1996 on the floating glacier tongue filling Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden in NorthEast Greenland (Fig. 1), with the aim of acquiring a better understanding of the response of the Greenland ice sheet (Inland Ice) to changing climate, and the implications for future sea level. The research is part of a three year project (1996–98) to advance research into the basic processes that contribute to changes in the ocean volume with a changing climate. Five nations are participants in the project, which is supported by the European Community (EC) Environment and Climate Programme. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the Danish Polar Center are the Danish partners in the project, both with integrated research themes concentrated on and around Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden.

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