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New observations on the relative sea level and deglacial history of Greenland from Innaarsuit, Disko Bugt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Antony J. Long ,
David H. Roberts  and
Morten Rasch
Antony J. Long*
Affiliation:
Environmental Research Center, Department of Geography, University of Durham, Science Site, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
David H. Roberts
Affiliation:
Environmental Research Center, Department of Geography, University of Durham, Science Site, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Morten Rasch
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author.Email Address:a.j.long@durham.ac.uk (A. J. Long).
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Abstract

Relative sea level (RSL) data derived from isolation basins at Innaarsuit, a site on the south shores of the large marine embayment of Disko Bugt, West Greenland, record rapid RSL fall from the marine limit (ca. 108 m) at 10,300–9900 cal yr B.P. to reach the present sea level at 3500 cal yr B.P. Since 2000 cal yr B.P., RSL rose ca. 3 m to the present. When compared with data from elsewhere in Disko Bugt, our results suggest that the embayment was deglaciated later and more quickly than previously thought, at or slightly before 10,300 cal yr B.P. The northern part of Disko Bugt experienced less rebound (ca. 10 m at 6000 cal yr B.P.) compared with areas to the south. Submergence during the late Holocene supports a model of crustal down-warping as a result of renewed ice-sheet growth during the neoglacial. There is little evidence for west to east differences in crustal rebound across the southern shores of Disko Bugt.

Keywords

GreenlandIsolation basinGlacio-isostasyNeoglacial
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 60 , Issue 2 , September 2003 , pp. 162 - 171
Copyright
University of Washington

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