CAREER: South Greenland's Holocene Climate History Reconstructed Using Three Paleolimnological Approaches
General
Organisation
Department
Project start
01.01.2015
Project end
31.12.2020
Type of project
ARMAP/NSF
Project theme
Geoscience
Project topic
Meteorology
Geology
Link to project website
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 60.65358, -45.523069
Fieldwork start
09.08.2016
Fieldwork end
15.08.2016
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 67.0179977417, -50.69400024414
Fieldwork start
16.08.2016
Fieldwork end
19.08.2016
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 60.869207, -45.720591
Fieldwork start
04.08.2016
Fieldwork end
09.08.2016
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 61.1605, -45.426
Fieldwork start
30.07.2016
Fieldwork end
19.08.2016
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 60.380466, -44.295853
Fieldwork start
01.08.2016
Fieldwork end
04.08.2016
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 61.1605, -45.426
Fieldwork start
01.01.2017
Fieldwork end
31.12.2017
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 67.0179977417, -50.69400024414
Fieldwork start
13.07.2018
Fieldwork end
15.08.2018
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 61.1605, -45.426
Fieldwork start
14.07.2018
Fieldwork end
13.08.2018
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 59.9705, -45.1738
Fieldwork start
19.07.2019
Fieldwork end
26.07.2019
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 60.5252, -45.7383
Fieldwork start
26.07.2019
Fieldwork end
02.08.2019
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 61.3683, -45.0105
Fieldwork start
02.08.2019
Fieldwork end
08.08.2019
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 67.0179977417, -50.69400024414
Fieldwork start
12.08.2019
Fieldwork end
15.08.2019
SAR information
Fieldwork / Study
Fieldwork country
Greenland
Fieldwork region
Greenland, Mid-West
Fieldwork location
Geolocation is 61.1605, -45.426
Fieldwork start
16.07.2019
Fieldwork end
12.08.2019
SAR information
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Project details
02.09.2020
Science / project plan
.
Science / project summary
This NSF CAREER project supports a multi-pronged effort at deciphering and understanding the climate history of southern Greenland over the last eleven thousand years, and an educational effort focused on public communication of science and K-12 science literacy. Paleoclimate data provide our only empirical observations of how the arctic system responds to major sustained climate change. It is especially urgent to understand how past climate change unfolded on Greenland, because mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet will drive a large fraction of future sea level rise. Existing data from south Greenland hint that climate trends there may differ from trends observed elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere on a range of timescales, with potential consequences for future temperature change and thus for ice sheet mass balance. This research will assess the apparent divergence through the Holocene (the last 11,000 years), by developing a suite of climate reconstructions from lakes in southernmost Greenland. Climate records to be generated include quantitative temperature reconstructions based on insect (chironomid) assemblages and reconstructions of precipitation isotopes (reflecting changes in atmospheric circulation) using an emerging method based on chironomid oxygen-18. A third approach -- reconstructions of alpine glacier fluctuations using sediments from glacial threshold lakes -- will constrain local ice mass balance and help to further characterize local atmospheric climate through the Holocene, especially its influence on the ice sheet. This work will double the number of continuous, quantitative Holocene terrestrial temperature reconstructions available from Greenland beyond the ice sheet, contributing to community-wide efforts to understand how the arctic system responds to sustained climate change. Data will be incorporated into paleodata syntheses, in keeping with the PI's track record of participation in such efforts, and will allow for better tests of climate and ice sheet models. Independent reconstructions of Holocene precipitation isotopes will be used to assess whether changes in atmospheric circulation accompanied past climate change, and thus might accompany future climate change. By constraining summer temperatures and local glacier mass balance, and comparing results with glacial geologic studies, this work will help clarify the role of atmospheric climate at the ice sheet margin in driving ice sheet changes. This work will also advance two methods: It will validate and apply an emerging isotopic proxy with potential for widespread application, and the PI will lead international collaborative development of a new calibration dataset for the chironomid paleothermometer. This grant will train at least two Ph.D. students and at least five undergraduates in international polar research, and will advance the professional development of a pre-tenure geoscientist who has a demonstrated commitment to the broader impacts of her research. Multiple collaborations, including with glacial geologists and paleoecologists at five foreign institutions, will be advanced. A new seminar will train graduate students in sustainability-relevant STEM fields in skills for communicating science beyond academia, contributing to broad training of the future STEM workforce. This project will provide sustained professional development for K-12 teachers, who in turn will bring climate and energy science to Chicago-area classrooms, promoting innovative STEM education for students in one of the largest U.S. urban school districts (Chicago's District 299).
Title | Project start | End date | Organisation | Department | Project study region |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GEUS Fjeldskredsscreening 2020 | 01.01.2020 | 31.12.2020 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, Mid-West | |
Hidden habitats - what lurks beneath the Greenland seas? | 15.07.2020 | 24.07.2020 | Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR) | Greenland Climate Research Centre | Greenland, South-West |
A 1.4 million year record of black carbon and biomass burning in the eastern Arctic from the Lake El'gygytgyn and other sediment cores (P2C2) | 01.01.2018 | 31.12.2021 | Desert Research Institute | Desert Research Institute, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences | |
Cosmogenic surface exposure dating of Arctic NW Laurentide ice-sheet deglaciation: implications for abrupt climate change | 01.01.2019 | 31.12.2019 | Oregon State University | Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences | |
MOSAiC ACA / MOSAIC IceBird | 12.03.2020 | 10.09.2020 | Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI) | Arctic Ocean | |
Space Weather in Greenland | 01.06.2020 | 30.09.2020 | Technical University of Denmark (DTU) | DTU Space | Greenland, North-East |
Paleochronometry as a control problem for recovering holocene climate variations over the Greenland Ice Sheet | 01.01.2019 | 31.12.2022 | University of Texas at Austin | University of Texas at Austin, Department | |
UNAS | 01.05.2018 | 31.12.2019 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, South-West | |
Dimension Stone project | 17.01.2018 | 15.12.2019 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, South-West | |
GEUS Fjeldskredscreening 2019 | 01.07.2019 | 25.08.2019 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, Mid-West | |
NE Greenland 1:100,000 scale geological mapping | 01.01.2018 | 30.12.2020 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, North-East | |
NE Greenland 1:100,000 scale geological mapping | 15.07.2019 | 22.08.2019 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, North-East | |
Collaborative Research: What Controls Calving? A Greenland-wide Test of Terminus Change Mechanisms | 01.01.2019 | 31.12.2020 | University of Maine | University of Maine, Department | |
Baffin Bay Ice-Ocean-Sediment Interaction (BIOS) | 18.08.2019 | 09.09.2019 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Baffin Bay | |
Upper Neoproterozoic to lower Palaeozoic stratigraphy and palaeontology of NE-Greenland | 01.08.2019 | 12.08.2019 | University of Copenhagen | Natural History Museum of Denmark | Greenland, North-East |
Dimension stones in Greenland | 28.05.2019 | 03.06.2019 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, South-West | |
Measuring mantle hydrogen content to map ore-forming fluids and model plate tectonics | 01.01.2018 | 31.12.2021 | Macquarie University | Macquarie University, dept. | Greenland, Mid-West |
Collaborative Research: What Controls Calving? A Greenland-wide Test of Terminus Change Mechanisms | 01.01.2017 | 31.12.2020 | University of Idaho | University of Idaho, dept. | |
Collaborative Research: Testing the Impact of Climate Change on the Greenland Ice Sheet: Combining Past Climate Records with a Coupled Climate and Ice-Sheet Model | 01.01.2014 | 31.12.2016 | University of Massachusetts | University of Massachusetts, Amherst, dept. | |
Collaborative Research: Ice sheet sensitivity in a changing Arctic system - using Geologic data and modeling to test the stable Greenland Ice Sheet hypothesis | 01.01.2015 | 31.12.2019 | University of California | University of California, Irvine, dept. | Greenland, Mid-West |
NEEM basal ice, assessing the attributes of a cold, deep, dark ecosystem | 01.01.2012 | 31.12.2014 | Montana State University | Montana State University, dept. | |
Ethane measurements in Greenland ice cores: Developing a preindustrial record | 01.01.2012 | 31.12.2014 | University of California | University of California, Irvine, dept. | |
Greenland Ice Sheet Monitoring Network (GLISN) Operations | 01.01.2014 | 31.12.2020 | Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) | Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), dept. | Greenland, Mid-East |
Collaborative Research: The fingerprint of abrupt temperature events throughout Greenland during the last glacial period | 01.01.2018 | 31.12.2021 | Penn State University | Penn State University, Department | Greenland Ice Sheet |
EAGER: Exploring a community driven data-model framework for testing the stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet | 01.01.2018 | 31.12.2019 | University at Buffalo | University at Buffalo, Department | |
Collaborative Research: Ice sheet sensitivity in a changing Arctic system - using Geologic data and modeling to test the stable Greenland Ice Sheet hypothesis | 01.01.2015 | 31.12.2019 | University of Montana | University of Montana, Department | Greenland, Mid-West |
Collaborative Research: Ice sheet sensitivity in a changing Arctic system - using Geologic data and modeling to test the stable Greenland Ice Sheet hypothesis | 01.01.2015 | 31.12.2019 | University at Buffalo | University at Buffalo, Department | Greenland Ice Sheet |
Neglected fluxes: Understanding the evolution of weathering as continental ice sheets retreat | 01.01.2016 | 31.12.2019 | University of Florida | University of Florida, Department of Geological Sciences | Greenland, Mid-West |
Collaborative Research: P2C2: Contributions of northern cold-climate peatlands and lakes to abrupt changes in atmospheric methane during the last deglaciation | 01.01.2013 | 31.12.2016 | Penn State University | Penn State University, Department | |
Collaborative Research: P2C2 -- Statistical estimation of past ice sheet volumes from paleo-sea level records | 01.01.2012 | 31.12.2015 | Rutgers University New Brunswick | Rutgers University New Brunswick, Department | |
Collaborative Research: The fingerprint of abrupt temperature events throughout Greenland during the last glacial period | 01.01.2018 | 31.12.2021 | University of Colorado Boulder | University of Colorado Boulder, Department | Greenland Ice Sheet |
Collaborative Research: The fingerprint of abrupt temperature events throughout Greenland during the last glacial period | 01.01.2018 | 31.12.2021 | Oregon State University | Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences | Greenland Ice Sheet |
Collaborative Research: Testing the Impact of Climate Change on the Greenland Ice Sheet: Combining Past Climate Records with a Coupled Climate and Ice-Sheet Model | 01.01.2014 | 31.12.2016 | Oregon State University | Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences | |
Collaborative Research: Ice sheet sensitivity in a changing Arctic system - using Geologic data and modeling to test the stable Greenland Ice Sheet hypothesis | 01.01.2015 | 31.12.2019 | Columbia University | Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | Greenland, Mid-West |
Workshop proposal: The future shape of a Greenland GNSS Observation Network | 01.01.2017 | 31.12.2017 | Dartmouth College | Dartmouth College, Department | |
Collaborative Research: A new radiostratigraphy of the Greenland Ice Sheet and critical boundary conditions for the next generation of ice-sheet models | 01.01.2012 | 31.12.2014 | University of Alaska | University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department | |
Relative velocity changes using ambient seismic noise at Okmok and Redoubt volcanoes, Alaska | 01.01.2013 | 31.12.2015 | University of Wisconsin | University of Wisconsin, Madison, Space Science and Engineering Center | |
CO2 evasion from the Greenland ice sheet | 01.01.2014 | 31.12.2016 | Northwestern University | Northwestern University, Department | Greenland, Mid-West |
Collaborative Research: P2C2: Contributions of northern cold-climate peatlands and lakes to abrupt changes in atmospheric methane during the last deglaciation | 01.01.2013 | 31.12.2016 | University of Alaska | University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department | |
Geophysical constraints on the crust and upper-mantle structure of Greenland (UPPA-GL) | 01.01.2013 | 31.12.2017 | Columbia University | Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | Greenland, Mid-West |
Response of the Labrador Sea and south Greenland Ice Sheet to the mid-Pliocene climate optimum: sedimentary, magnetic and geochemical evidence from the Eirik Drift | 01.01.2014 | 31.12.2016 | Oregon State University | Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences | |
Collaborative Research: Ice Core Studies Reconstructing Greenland Climate During the Eemian and Beyond | 01.01.2012 | 31.12.2014 | University of Rhode Island | University of Rhode Island, Department | |
Collaborative Research: Ice Core Studies Reconstructing Greenland Climate During the Eemian and Beyond | 01.01.2012 | 31.12.2014 | University of Michigan | University of Michigan, Department | |
Collaborative Research: Ice Core Studies Reconstructing Greenland Climate During the Eemian and Beyond | 01.01.2012 | 31.12.2014 | Oregon State University | Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences | |
Collaborative Research: P2C2 -- Statistical estimation of past ice sheet volumes from paleo-sea level records | 01.01.2012 | 31.12.2015 | Harvard University | Harvard University, Department | |
Quantifying Greenland Iceberg Melt Rates using Remotely-sensed Data | 01.01.2014 | 31.12.2016 | University of Maine | University of Maine, Department | |
Collaborative Research: Ice sheet sensitivity in a changing Arctic system - using Geologic data and modeling to test the stable Greenland Ice Sheet hypothesis | 01.01.2015 | 31.12.2019 | University of Washington | School of Oceanography | Greenland, Mid-West |
Collaborative Research: What Controls Calving? A Greenland-wide Test of Terminus Change Mechanisms | 01.01.2017 | 31.12.2019 | University of Maine | University of Maine, Department | |
Upernavik - photogrammetric mapping | 27.08.2018 | 03.09.2018 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, North-West | |
Saqqaq - photogrammetic mapping | 12.08.2018 | 26.08.2018 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, Mid-West | |
Mapping of glacial flour in the Nuuk region | 09.08.2018 | 28.08.2018 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, South-West | |
Dimension Stone project | 21.08.2018 | 04.09.2018 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, South-West | |
NE Greenland 1:100 000 scale geological mapping 2018-2019 | 01.08.2018 | 27.08.2018 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, North-East | |
UpDeep - Fieldwork 2018 | 03.07.2018 | 17.07.2018 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, South-West | |
Mapping the coastal zone of North East Greenland | 25.07.2018 | 15.08.2018 | Asiaq Greenland Survey | Remote Sensing | Greenland, North-East |
Maintenance of seismic earthquake monitoring station in the GLISN network | 04.08.2017 | 04.08.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, South-East | |
Maintenance of seismic earthquake monitoring station in the GLISN network | 10.08.2017 | 10.08.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland Ice Sheet | |
Establishment of new seismic earthquake monitoring station in the GLISN network | 09.08.2017 | 19.08.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, Mid-West | |
Re-establishment of new seismic earthquake monitoring station in the GLISN network | 08.09.2017 | 10.09.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, Mid-West | |
Skaergaard | 01.08.2017 | 15.09.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, South-East | |
HiTech AlkCarb | 22.06.2017 | 06.07.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, South-West | |
Permian–Triassic of East and Northeast Greenland: Evaluation of play analogues for the Norwegian continental shelf | 17.07.2018 | 23.08.2018 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, North-East | |
Saqqaq | 31.07.2017 | 05.08.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, Mid-West | |
A new geological map (Agatdal 50K) | 14.08.2017 | 28.08.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, Mid-West | |
Relative sea level changes in Mestersvig | 18.04.2017 | 02.05.2017 | Aarhus University (AU) | Department of Geoscience | Greenland, North-East |
UpDeep | 24.07.2017 | 03.08.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, Mid-West | |
Architecture and mineral potential of Karrat Group | 10.07.2017 | 03.08.2017 | Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) | Greenland, Mid-West |