A Holocene fjord record from Greenland reveals exceptional Atlantic water influence during minimum ice-sheet extent
Kvorning, A.B.; Heikkila, M.; Pearce, C.; Seidenkrantz, M.-S.; Simpson, G.L.; Meire, L.; Kuijpers, A.; Larsen, N.K.; Ribeiro, S. (2025). A Holocene fjord record from Greenland reveals exceptional Atlantic water influence during minimum ice-sheet extent. Commun. Earth Environ. 6(1): 326. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02282-5
In: Communications Earth & Environment. Springer Nature: London. ISSN 2662-4435; e-ISSN 2662-4435, more
|   |
| Author keywords |
Palaeoceanography; Palaeoclimate |
| Authors | | Top |
- Kvorning, A.B.
- Heikkila, M.
- Pearce, C.
|
- Seidenkrantz, M.-S.
- Simpson, G.L.
- Meire, L., more
|
- Kuijpers, A.
- Larsen, N.K.
- Ribeiro, S.
|
| Abstract |
The Holocene Thermal Maximum has been considered an analog for near-future climate. Terrestrial records show that this period culminated in Southwest Greenland with the Greenland Ice Sheet retreating behind its present-day position. However, there is a paucity of Holocene coastal marine records proximal to the ice sheet from which to infer marine conditions. Here we present a multi-proxy record from Nuup Kangerlua covering the past ~10,500 years, supported by a one-year sediment trap time-series. We infer modern sea-surface conditions comparable to those following the fjord’s deglaciation from 10,000 to 8000 calibrated years before present. Warmer temperatures led to a period of pronounced meltwater discharge and peak marine productivity by 7500 calibrated years before present. We detect an exceptional oceanographic regime with no recent analog from ~7000 to 3000 calibrated years before present, when reduced ice-sheet extent was coeval with entrainment of subpolar mode water (of Atlantic origin) into the fjord. |
|
