Strong Altitudinal Control on Local Glacier's Response to Holocene Climate Change in Southwest Greenland

The sensitivity of glaciers and ice caps (GICs) in Greenland to prolonged warm periods is poorly constrained and geological records documenting the long-term glacial history are needed to put recent observations into a broader perspective. Here we report the results from three proglacial lakes where fluctuations in local glaciers located at different altitudes in Kobbefjord, southwest Greenland have been recorded. Our results show that the lakes received meltwater from the initial deglaciation of the area 9.2 cal. ka BP until 8.7-7.9 cal. ka BP when the meltwater input ceased as the glaciers most likely disappeared. Regrowth of glaciers began again at 5.5 cal. ka BP at 1,370 m a.s.l., 3.6 cal. ka at 1,170 m a.s.l., and 1.6 cal. ka BP at 1,000 m a.s.l., clearly reflecting strong altitudinal control of the GIC response to Neoglacial cooling. Our results highlight that GICs in Kobbefjord, southwest Greenland are primarily influenced by changes in summer air temperatures and winter precipitation and that they are facing a rapid decay that most likely will result in their disappearance within the next centuries as a consequence of global warming.