Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-09T09:33:46.243Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A continuous record of Holocene eolian activity in West Greenland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Nico W. Willemse ,
Eduard A. Koster ,
Babette Hoogakker  and
Frank G.M. van Tatenhove
Nico W. Willemse*
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.115, NL-3508 TC Utrecht, Netherlands
Eduard A. Koster
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.115, NL-3508 TC Utrecht, Netherlands
Babette Hoogakker
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.115, NL-3508 TC Utrecht, Netherlands
Frank G.M. van Tatenhove
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, NL-1018 VZ Amsterdam, Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author. Email Address:n.willemse@geog.uu.nl
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Eolian landforms are widespread alongside proglacial valley-sandurs in West Greenland and comprise low-relief sand sheets, climbing dunes, and upland loess. Sedimentary facies mainly reflect distance to outwash-source zones and the influence of vegetation cover. The sediments show stratification types typical for poorly to moderately vegetated sand-sheets, alternately laminated silt/peat sequences, and unstratified loess. Twenty-five accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dates provide the basis for the chronostratigraphy of the inland eolian deposits. 14C dates from interstratified sand-sheets suggest that the bulk of eolian sands were deposited prior to 3400 cal yr B.P. and after 550 cal yr B.P. This two-phase formation for the inland dunes most likely reflects local changes in proglacial floodplain development and meltwater rerouting associated with a significant recession of the Greenland ice sheet during the mid Holocene climate optimum. Subsequent floodplain regeneration and renewed sand-sheet formation after 550 cal yr B.P. followed when the ice margin readvanced to its present position. In contrast, atmospheric deposition of regionally derived silt in upland peat mires has been continuous since at least 4750 cal yr B.P. Silt influx data demonstrate a strongly episodic history of the intensity of eolian activity over the past five millennia, which tentatively reflects alternating periods of (winter) aridity associated with the variable incursion of maritime air masses over the interior ice-free areas of West Greenland.

Keywords

Eolian stratigraphyHoloceneGreenlandSand sheetsEolian sedimentologyArctic environmental change
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 59 , Issue 3 , May 2003 , pp. 322 - 334
Copyright
Elsevier Science (USA)

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

Andrews, J.T, Webber, P.J, and Nichols, H A late Holocene pollen diagram from Pangnirtung Pass, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 27, (1979). 1 28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barlow, L.K, Rogers, J.C, Serreze, M.C, and Barry, R.G Aspects of climate variability in the North Atlantic sector. discussion and relation to the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 high-resolution isotopic signal. Journal of Geophysical Research 102/C12, (1997). 26333 26344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bégin, C, Michaud, Y, and Filion, L Dynamics of a Holocene cliff-top dune along Mountain River, Northwest Territories, Canada. Quaternary Research 44, (1995). 392 404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennike, O Paleoecology and paleoclimatology of a late Holocene peat deposit from Brændevinsskær, Central West Greenland. Arctic and Alpine Research 24, (1992). 249 252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennike, O Palaeoecological studies of Holocene lake sediments from West Greenland. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology. Palaeoecology 155, (2000). 285 304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dijkmans, J.W.A, and Törnqvist, T.E Modern periglacial eolian deposits and landforms in the Søndre Strømfjord area, West Greenland and their palaeoenvironmental implications. Meddelelser om Grønland. Geoscience 25, (1991). 1 39.Google Scholar
Eisner, W.R, Törnqvist, T.E, Koster, E.A, Bennike, O, and Van Leeuwen, J.F.N Paleoecological studies of a Holocene lacustrine record from the Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) region of West Greenland. Quaternary Research 43, (1995). 55 66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filion, L A relationship between dunes, fire and climate recorded in the Holocene deposits of Quebec. Nature 309, (1984). 543 546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredskild, B Holocene palaeo-winds and climatic changes in West Greenland as indicated by long-distance transported and local pollen in lake sediments. Mörner, N.A, and Karlen, W Climatic Changes on a Yearly to Millennial Basis. (1984). Reidel, Dordrecht. 163 171.Google Scholar
Fredskild, B Holocene pollen records from West Greenland. Andrews, J.T Quaternary Environments. Eastern Canadian Arctic, Baffin Bay, and Western Greenland. (1985). Allen and Unwin, Boston. 643 681.Google Scholar
Fredskild, B, and Holt, S The West Greenland “Greens”—Favourite caribou summer-grazing areas and Late Holocene climatic changes. Geografisk Tidsskrift 93, (1993). 30 38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Funder, S., (1989). Quaternary geology of the ice-free areas and adjacent shelves of Greenland. in: Fulton, R.J. (Ed.), Quaternary Geology of Canada and Greenland, Geology of Canada., Vol. 1, Geological Society of Canada, pp. 741–792.Google Scholar
Grønnow, B., Meldgaard, M., and Berglund Nielsen, J. (1983). Aasivissuit—The Great Summer Camp. Archaeological, ethnographical and zoo-archaeological studies of a caribou-hunting site in West Greenland. Meddelelser om Grønland, Man and Society 5., 96 ppGoogle Scholar
Hasholt, B, and Sogaard, H Et forsog pa en klimatisk-hydrologisk regionindeling af Holsteinborg kommune (Sisimiut). Geografisk Tidsskrift 77, (1978). 72 92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Humlum, O Late-Holocene climate in central West Greenland. meteorological data and rock-glacier isotope evidence. The Holocene 9, (1999). 581 594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, J.A.D., (1889). Undersogelse af Gronlands vestkyst fra 64–67 n.b.. Meddelelser om Gronland Bd 8, (2)Google Scholar
Kapsner, W.R, Alley, R.B, Shuman, C.A, Anandakrishan, S, and Grootes, P.M Dominant influence of atmospheric circulation on snow accumulation in Greenland over the past 18,000 years. Nature 373, (1995). 52 54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keen, R.A Temperature and circulation anomalies in the eastern Canadian Arctic summer 1946–76. Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research Occasional Paper. Boulder 34, (1980). 159 pp Google Scholar
Lea, P.D Pleistocene periglacial eolian deposits in southwestern Alaska. sedimentary facies and depositional processes. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 60, (1990). 582 591.Google Scholar
McGowan, S, Ryves, D.B, and Anderson, N.J Holocene records of effective precipitation in West Greenland. The Holocene 13, (2003). 239 249.Google Scholar
McKenna Neuman, C, and Gilbert, R Aeolian processes and landforms in glaciofluvial environments of southeastern Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Nickling, W.G Aeolian Geomorphology. (1986). Allen and Unwin, Boston. 213 235.Google Scholar
Nichols, N, Kelly, P.M, and Andrews, J.T Holocene palaeo-wind evidence from palynology in Baffin Island. Nature 273, (1978). 140 142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noren, A.J, Bierman, P.R, Steig, E.J, Lini, A, and Southon, J Millennial-scale storminess variability in the northeastern United States during the Holocene epoch. Nature 419, (2002). 821 824.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O’Brien, S.R, Mayewski, P.A, Meeker, L.D, Meese, D.A, Twickler, M.S, and Whitlow, S.I Complexity of Holocene climate as reconstructed from a Greenland ice core. Science 270, (1995). 1962 1963.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pissart, A Dépôts et phénomènes éoliens sur L’île de Banks, Territoires du Nord-Ouest, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 14, (1977). 2462 2480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruz, M.H, and Allard, M Sedimentary structures of cold-climate coastal dunes, Eastern Hudson Bay, Canada. Sedimentology 42, (1995). 725 734.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryves, D.B, McGowan, S, and Anderson, N.J Development and evaluation of a diatom-conductivity model from lakes in West Greenland. Freshwater Biology 47, (2002). 995 1014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuckenrath, R, Miller, G.H, and Andrews, J.T Problems of radiocarbon dating Holocene organic-bearing sediments, Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research 11, (1979). 109 120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Reimer, P.J, and Braziunas, T.F High-precision radiocarbon age calibration for terrestrial and marine samples. Radiocarbon 40, (1998). 1127 1151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ten Brink, N.W., (1975). Holocene history of the Greenland Ice-Sheet based on radiocarbon-dated moraines in West Greenland. Meddelelser om Grønland 201, (4)Google Scholar
Van den Broeke, M.R, and Gallée, H Observation and simulation of barrier winds at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 122, (1996). 1365 1383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Wateren, F.M Processes of glaciotectonism. Henzies, J Modern Glacial Environments. Processes, Dynamics and Sediments. Glacial Environments. Vol. 1, (1995). Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. 309 335.Google Scholar
Van Tatenhove, F.G, Van der Meer, J.J.M, and Koster, E.A Implications for deglaciation chronology from new AMS-age determinations in central West Greenland. Quaternary Research 45, (1996). 245 253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weidick, A Neoglacial change of ice cover and related response of the Earth’s crust in West Greenland. Grønlands Geologiske Underśogelse Rapport 159, (1993). 121 126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weidick, A, Oerter, H, Reeh, N, Thomsen, H.H, and Thorning, L The recession of the Inland Ice margin during the Holocene climatic optimum in the Jakobshavn Isfjord area of West Greenland. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology. Palaeoecology 82, (1990). 389 399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willemse, N.W Arctic Natural Archives, lake and eolian sedimentary records from West Greenland. Netherlands Geographical Studies 272, (2000). 192 pp Utrecht Google Scholar
Willemse, N.W Holocene sedimentation history of the shallow Kangerlussuaq lakes, West Greenland. Meddelelser om Grønland, Geoscience 41, (2002). 48 pp CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willemse, N.W, and Törnqvist, T.E Holocene century-scale temperature variability from West Greenland lake records. Geology 27, (1999). 580 584.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, L.D, and Bradley, R.S Paleoclimatology of the Baffin Bay Region. Andrews, J.T Quaternary environments. Eastern Canadian Arctic, Baffin Bay and Western Greenland. (1985). Allen and Unwin, Boston. 741 772.Google Scholar