Geological Society of America

T51 Looking to the Past to Understand the Future: Glacial Chronology and Process

Sunday, 22 October 2017
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Chelan 2

EARLY HOLOCENE EVOLUTION OF THE LAURENTIDE AND GREENLAND ICE SHEETS

Paper number: T51-7
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 3:05 PM – 3:20 PM

Authors

Nicolas Young Presenting Author
Columbia University, Palisades, NY
Gifford Miller
Univ of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Jason P. Briner
University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Joerg M. Schaefer
Columbia University, Palisades, NY
Sarah Crump
University of Colorado BoulderINSTAAR, Boulder, CO
Alia J. Lesnek
University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Simon L. Pendleton
University of Colorado – Boulder, Boulder, CO

Abstract

Gauging the sensitivity of ice sheets to short-term climate variability is at the forefront of the scientific community’s and public’s interest because short-term ice-sheet change will drive 21^st century sea-level rise. Do ice sheets react abruptly to centennial-scale climate forcing, or are millennial-scale climate trends required to elicit a large-scale ice-sheet response? The early Holocene is of particular interest because both the Laurentide and Greenland ice sheets were rapidly retreating at this time within a climate regime that was as warm or warmer than today, yet at least two abrupt (centennial scale) cooling events interrupted this warmth. Reconstructions of ice-sheet behavior through the early Holocene provide an ideal test for assessing the sensitivity of ice sheets to temperature change, both warming and cooling, on human-relevant timescales. Here, we present initial results from an extensive ¹⁰Be dating campaign aimed at gauging how both the Laurentide and Greenland ice sheets evolved through the earth Holocene in the Baffin Bay region. We will present ¹⁰Be results from two locations on Baffin Island and southwestern Greenland that host prominent moraine sequences: a land-terminating margin, and a location that hosts moraines deposited by both an ice sheet and an independent mountain glacier system. We will highlight the similarities and differences between our reconstructed ice-margin chronologies on opposite sides of Baffin Bay.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-297341

© Copyright 2017 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.