Tracking millennial-scale Holocene glacial advance and retreat using osmium isotopes: Insights from the Greenland ice sheet

Alan D. Rooney; David Selby; Jeremy M. Llyod; David H. Roberts; Andreas Luckge; Bradley B. Sageman; Nancy G. Prouty

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.02.021

Tracking millennial-scale Holocene glacial advance and retreat using osmium isotopes: Insights from the Greenland ice sheet

Quaternary Science Reviews

By: Alan D. Rooney, David Selby, Jeremy M. Llyod, David H. Roberts, Andreas Luckge, Bradley B. Sageman, and Nancy G. Prouty

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.02.021

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Abstract

High-resolution Os isotope stratigraphy can aid in reconstructing Pleistocene ice sheet fluctuation and elucidating the role of local and regional weathering fluxes on the marine Os residence time. This paper presents new Os isotope data from ocean cores adjacent to the West Greenland ice sheet that have excellent chronological controls. Cores MSM-520 and DA00-06 represent distal to proximal sites adjacent to two West Greenland ice streams. Core MSM-520 has a steadily decreasing Os signal over the last 10 kyr (¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os = 1.35–0.81). In contrast, Os isotopes from core DA00-06 (proximal to the calving front of Jakobshavn Isbræ) highlight four stages of ice stream retreat and advance over the past 10 kyr (¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os = 2.31; 1.68; 2.09; 1.47). Our high-resolution chemostratigraphic records provide vital benchmarks for ice-sheet modelers as we attempt to better constrain the future response of major ice sheets to climate change. Variations in Os isotope composition from sediment and macro-algae (seaweed) sourced from regional and global settings serve to emphasize the overwhelming effect weathering sources have on seawater Os isotope composition. Further, these findings demonstrate that the residence time of Os is shorter than previous estimates of ∼10⁴ yr.

Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Tracking millennial-scale Holocene glacial advance and retreat using osmium isotopes: Insights from the Greenland ice sheet
Series title	Quaternary Science Reviews
DOI	10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.02.021
Volume	138
Year Published	2016
Language	English
Publisher	Elsevier
Contributing office(s)	Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Description	13 p.
First page	49
Last page	61
Online Only (Y/N)	N
Additional Online Files (Y/N)	N
Google Analytic Metrics	Metrics page