Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-hvd4g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-08T22:42:51.983Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Implications for Deglaciation Chronology from New AMS Age Determinations in Central West Greenland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Frank G. M. van Tatenhove ,
Jaap J. M. van der Meer  and
Eduard A. Koster
Frank G. M. van Tatenhove
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Centre of Geo-Ecological Research (ICG), Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018 VZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jaap J. M. van der Meer
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Centre of Geo-Ecological Research (ICG), Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018 VZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Eduard A. Koster
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, ICG, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

New evidence has been obtained for the age of the Umı̂vı̂t/Keglen and Ørkendalen moraine systems close to the present ice sheet margin in central West Greenland. The Umı̂vı̂t/Keglen moraine system is dated at 7500 to 6500 14C yr B.P., which is older than the previously assumed date of 7300 to 6000 14C yr B.P. The Ørkendalen system is now dated at 6200 to 5600 14C yr B.P. against earlier estimates of 300 to 700 14C yr B.P. The new age is based on AMS radiocarbon-dated organic material within depressions between morainic ridges belonging to the Ørkendalen system. A major implication of the new age is that ice margin positions prevailed for about 6000 years behind the present ice sheet margin. The retreat behind the present margin could be substantial, and in the light of deglaciation rates prior to the Ørkendalen phase, may be ca. 10's of kilometers rather than kilometers. Circumstantial evidence is found for the retreat of the ice sheet margin behind its present position during the Holocene climatic optimum. The results, placed into a time frame of deglaciation since the last glacial maximum, enable comparison with Greenland ice sheet models and ice core records.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 245 - 253
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bennike, O. Hansen, K. B. Knudsen, K. L. Penny, D. N., and Rasmussen, K. L. (1994). Quaternary marine stratigraphy and geochronology in central west Greenland. Boreas 23 , 194–215.Google Scholar
Beget, J. E. (1983). Radiocarbon-dated evidence of worldwide early Holocene climate change. Geology 11 , 389–393.Google Scholar
Brett, C. P., and Zarudzki, E. F. K. (1979). “Project Westmar. A Shallow Marine Geophysical Survey on the West Greenland Shelf.” Rapport 87, Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Copenhagen.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dansgaard, W. Johnsen, S. J. Clausen, H. B. Dahl-Jensen, D. Gundestrup, N. S. Hammer, C. U. Hvidberg, C. S. Steffensen, J. P. Sveinbjörnsdottir, A. E. Jouzel, J., and Bond, G. (1993). Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250-kyr ice-core record. Nature 364 , 218–220. Dijkmans, J. W. A. (1990). Aspects of geomorphology and thermoluminescence dating of cold-climate eolian sands. Ph.D. thesis, Utrecht University.Google Scholar
Dijkmans, J. W. A., and Törnqvist, T. E. (1991). “Modern Periglacial Eolian Deposits and Landforms in the Søndre Strømfjord area. West Greenland and Their Paleo-environmental Implications.” Meddelelser om Grønland Geoscience, Vol. 25, Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Eisner, W. R. Törnqvist, T. E. Koster, E. A. Bennike, O., and Van Leeuwen, J. F. N. (1995). Paleoecological studies of a Holocene lacustrine record from the Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) region of west Greenland. Quaternary Research 43 , 55–66.Google Scholar
Ericson, K. I. (1987). “Environments and Processes of Deposition of Till-Like Sediments at the Margin of Russels Glacier near Sondre Stromfjord, West Greenland.” Report 9, University of Stockholm, Department of Quaternary Research, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Funder, S. (1989). Quaternary geology of the ice-free areas and adjacent shelves of Greenland. In “Quaternary Geology of Canada and Greenland” (Fulton, R. J., Ed.), pp. 741–792. Geological Survey of Canada.Google Scholar
Kelly, M. (1980). “The Status of the Neo-glacial in Western Greenland.” Rapport 96, Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Kelly, M. (1985). A review of the Quaternary geology of Western Greenland. In “Quaternary Environments Eastern Canadian Arctic, Baffin Bay and Western Greenland” (Andrews, J. T., Ed.), pp. 467–501. Allen & Unwin, Boston.Google Scholar
Mook, W. G., and Van der Plassche, O. (1986). Radiocarbon dating. In “Sea-Level Research: A Manual for the Collection and Evaluation of Data” (Van der Plassche, O., Ed.), pp. 525–560. Geo Books, Norwich, England.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Östmark, K. I. E. (1988). “Till Genesis in Areas of Crystalline Bedrock with Undulating Topography. Examples from West Greenland and Central Sweden.” Report 11, University of Stockholm, Department of Quaternary Research, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Braziunas, T. F. (1993). Modelling atmospheric 14C influences and 14C ages of marine samples to 10,000 BC. Radiocarbon 35 , 137–189.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P. J. (1993). Extended 14C data base and revised Calib 3.0 14C age calibration program. Radiocarbon 35 , 215–230.Google Scholar
Sugden, D. E. (1972). Deglaciation and isostasy in the Sukkertoppen Ice Cap area, West Greenland. Arctic and Alpine Research 4 , 97–117.Google Scholar
Ten Brink, N. W. (1974). Glacio-isotasy: New data from West Greenland and geophysical implications. Geological Society of America Bulletin 85 , 219–228.Google Scholar
Ten Brink, N. W. (1975). “Holocene History of the Greenland Ice-Sheet Based on radiocarbon-Dated Moraines in West-Greenland.” Meddelelser om Grønland, Vol. 201 (4), Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Ten Brink, N. W., and Weidick, A. (1974). Greenland ice sheet history since the last glaciation. Quaternary Research 4 , 429–440.Google Scholar
Törnqvist, T. E., and Bierkens, M. F. P. (1994). How smooth should curves be for calibration of radiocarbon ages? Radiocarbon 36 , 11–26.Google Scholar
Van Tatenhove, F. G. M. (1995). The dynamics of Holocene deglaciation in west Greenland with emphasis on recent ice-marginal processes. Ph.D. thesis, University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Weidick, A. (1968). “Observations on Some Holocene Glacier Fluctuations in West Greenland.” Meddelelser om Grønland, Vol. 165(6), Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Weidick, A. (1972). “Holocene Shore-Line and Glacial Stages—An Attempt at Correlation.” Rapport 41, Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Weidick, A. (1985). Review of glacier changes in west Greenland. Zeitsch rift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie 21 , 310–309.Google Scholar
Weidick, A. Oerter, H. Reeh, N. Thomsen, H. H., and Thoring, L. (1990). The recession of inland ice margin during the Holocene climatic optimum in the Jacobshavn Isfjord area of West Greenland. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 82 , 389–399.Google Scholar
Weidick, A. (1993). Neoglacial change of ice cover and the related response of the Earth’s crust in West Greenland. In Rapport 159, pp. 121–126, Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Copenhagen.Google Scholar