RT Journal Article
T1 Late Glacial deglaciation of the Zackenberg area, NE Greenland
A1 Garcia-Oteyza, J.
A1 Oliva, M.
A1 Palacios Estremera, David
A1 Fernández Fernández, José María
A1 Schimmelpfennig, I.
A1 De Andrés de Pablo, Nuria
A1 Antoniades, D.
A1 Christiansen, H.H.
A1 Humlum, O.
A1 Léanni, L.
A1 Jomelli, V.
A1 Ruiz-Fernández, J.
A1 Rinterknecht, V.
A1 Lane, T.P.
A1 Adamson, K.
A1 Aumaître, Georges
A1 Bourlès, Didier
A1 Keddadouche, Karim
AB The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is a key component of the global climate system. However, our current understanding of the spatio-temporal oscillations and landscape transformation of the GrIS margins since the last glacial cycle is still incomplete. The objective of this work is to study the deglaciation of the Zackenberg Valley (74°N, 20°E), NE Greenland, and the origin of the derived landforms. Based on extensive fieldwork and high-detail geomorphological mapping we identified the different types of landforms, from which those of glacial and paraglacial origin were used to understand the processes driving regional environmental evolution. We applied cosmic-ray exposure (CRE) dating to 32 samples taken from erosive and depositional glacial landforms distributed across the valley. Geomorphological evidence shows that >800-m-thick Late Quaternary glacier filled the valleys and fjords and covered mountain summits. In subsequent phases, as ice thickness decreased, the glacier was limited to the interior of the valley, leaving several lateral moraines. The deglaciation of the Zackenberg Valley that started by ~13.7–12.5 ka also accelerated slope paraglacial processes. Many blocks from lateral moraines were remobilized and fell, reaching the valley floor where they covered the thinning glacier tongue; transforming it into a debris-covered glacier that subsequently melted gradually. By ca. 10.5 ka, the last remnants of glacial ice disappeared from the Zackenberg Valley floor, a chronology of deglaciation that is similar to that observed in other sites across NE Greenland. The results of this work must be considered in similar studies, reinforcing the need to support CRE ages of the different geomorphological phases with paleoclimatic data from other sedimentary records.
PB Elsevier
SN 0169-555X
YR 2022
FD 2022-03
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123374
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123374
LA eng
NO Garcia-Oteyza, Oliva, Palacios, Fernández-Fernández, Schimmelpfennig, Andrés, et al. Late Glacial deglaciation of the Zackenberg area, NE Greenland. Geomorphology. 2022;401:1-21
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
NO Generalitat de Catalunya (España)
NO Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Francia)
NO Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Francia)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 27 feb 2026