Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/cpd-11-5401-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/cpd-11-5401-2015
17 Nov 2015
 | 17 Nov 2015
Status: this preprint was under review for the journal CP but the revision was not accepted.

Impact of Holocene climate variability on lacustrine records and human settlements in South Greenland

T. Guillemot, V. Bichet, A. Simonneau, D. Rius, C. Massa, E. Gauthier, H. Richard, and M. Magny

Abstract. Due to its sensitivity to climate changes, south Greenland is a particularly suitable area to study past global climate changes and their influence on locale Human settlements. A paleohydrological investigation was therefore carried out on two river-fed lakes: Lake Qallimiut and Little Kangerluluup, both located close to the Labrador Sea in the historic farming center of Greenland. Two sediment cores (QAL-2011 and LKG-2011), spanning the last four millennia, were retrieved and showed similar thin laminae, described by high magnetic susceptibility and density, high titanium and TOC / TN atomic ratio, and coarse grain size. They are also characterized either by inverse grading followed by normal grading or by normal grading only and a prevalence of red amorphous particles and lignocellulosic fragments, typical of flood deposits.

Flood events showed similar trend in both records: they mainly occurred during cooler and wetter periods characterized by weaker Greenlandic paleo-temperatures, substantial glacier advances, and a high precipitation on the Greenlandic Ice Sheet and North Atlantic ice-rafting events. They can therefore be interpreted as a result of ice and snow-melting episodes. They occurred especially during rapid climate changes (RCC) such as the Middle to Late Holocene transition around 2250 BC, the Sub-boreal/Sub-atlantic transition around 700 BC and the Little Ice Age (LIA) between AD 1300 and AD 1900, separated by cycles of 1500 years and driven by solar forcing. These global RCC revealed by QAL-2011 and LKG-2011 flood events may have influenced Human settlements in south Greenland, especially the paleo-Eskimo cultures and the Norse settlement, and have been mainly responsible for their demise.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this preprint. The responsibility to include appropriate place names lies with the authors.
T. Guillemot, V. Bichet, A. Simonneau, D. Rius, C. Massa, E. Gauthier, H. Richard, and M. Magny
 
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Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement
T. Guillemot, V. Bichet, A. Simonneau, D. Rius, C. Massa, E. Gauthier, H. Richard, and M. Magny
T. Guillemot, V. Bichet, A. Simonneau, D. Rius, C. Massa, E. Gauthier, H. Richard, and M. Magny

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Short summary
To reconstruct past climate changes and their influence on Human settlements, we have study lacustrine sediments retrieved from two Greenlandic lakes (Lake Qallimiut and Little Kangerluluup), recording at high resolution past environmental changes. 37 flood events are identified in these cores, resulting of ice and snow-melting episodes. They are mainly occurred during cooler and wetter periods and and have been mainly responsible for the Human demise.