PROJECT
SEDIMICE - Linking sediments with ice-sheet response and glacier retreat in Greenland

Helheim map
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The SEDIMICE project is focused on climate variability in the Southeast Greenland region (64-68 degree North). The aim is to reconstruct past fluctuations in marine-terminating outlet glacier dynamics (including iceberg and meltwater production) and the interaction with oceanographic changes. This is done on the basis of sediment cores retrieved from fjords and the shelf and we specifically focus on the instrumental period and try to put it in context with centennial to millenial changes.

The contribution of the Greenland ice sheet to globally rising sea level has increased ten-fold since 2003 and is now at more than ½ mm per year. This increase means that the Greenland ice sheet is one of the most significant contributors of water to the rising global sea level, and there are therefore concerns about its long term stability.
Evidence is emerging that rising temperatures of specific ocean currents play a vital role in the recent acceleration of large fast flowing glaciers, such as Jakobshavn Isbrae in West Greenland and Helheim in East Greenland. The question is whether these incursions of warmer waters are part of a recurrent phenomenon and indeed how exactly they influence the glaciers. SEDIMICE investigates past ice fluctuations with regard to magnitude, possible causes and effects.

From cruises conducted in 2009, 2010 and 2011 we now have a large repository of marine sediment cores from Sermilik Fjord by Helheim Glacier and the fjords by Ikertivaq and Køge Bugt Glacier complexes as well as from the shelf in the region. The cores are dated by means of ¹⁴C, ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs and analysed with regard to ice rafted debris (IRD), benthic foraminifera, diatoms and biomarkers. In this way the interaction between Irminger water, sea surface temperature and iceberg rafting beyond the instrumental timeperiod can be evaluated. Further, by comparing these records with similar types of records from Jakobshavn Isbrae in West Greenland and other North Atlantic palaeoclimate records with regard to any bipolarity in climate variability, the possible underlying driver mechanisms such as the NAO and AMO can be investigated.

By combining sediment studies with modern climate studies we aim to extend the knowledge from meteorological time series further back in time. The advantage of palaeoclimate studies is that "noise" is filtered out and the more consistent climate signal becomes more prominent. This kind of knowledge should provide an important contribution to the ongoing discussion about natural climate variability and the consequences of anthropogenically driven climate change.


Researchers involved: Camilla Snowman Andresen, Antoon Kuijpers, Niels Nørgaard-Pedersen, Kaarina Weckström, Jørn Bo Jensen, Andreas P. Ahlstrøm, (The National Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland), Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz, Mette Juncker Hansen and Aleksandra Kapusta (University of Aarhus), Kurt Kjær (Geological museum at the Museum of Natural History).

Helheim glacier
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Core retrieval
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Sunset over Sermilik Fjord
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Cores are analysed for content of ice rafted debris
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• Helheim region Workshop March 2010
• Invitation for logistic cooperation in southern East Greenland
  Several have shown interest in GEUS's ongoing 2009 to 2014 project "Mineral Resource Assessment South East Greenland (MRAP-SEG)" and, related hereto, the logistical platform that is present in southern East Greenland during this period.