Quaternary evolution and ice sheet history of contrasting landscapes in Uummannaq and Sukkertoppen, western Greenland

Abstract

Abstract Constraining the history of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) is important for improving our understanding of ice sheet dynamics and landscape evolution processes. We analyzed in situ cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al in 26 rock samples from two high-elevation landscapes adjacent to the GIS, minimally eroded by past glaciations and of differing character in Uummannaq (n = 16) and Sukkertoppen (n = 10), western Greenland. The Uummannaq region is characterized by a marine embayment with islands and peninsulas, where the margin of the GIS is marine-based, whereas the Sukkertoppen landscape resides within the wide terrestrial fringe outboard of the land-terminating portion of the southwestern GIS margin. We targeted landscapes for sampling with highly weathered surfaces adjacent to cold-based portions of extant ice caps (indicated by preservation of fragile, dead vegetation emerging from beneath retreating ice margins). Paired isotope results require differing surface histories between the two areas. Many surfaces in the Uummannaq region have minimum exposure durations up to ca. 300 kyr, but with no significant burial. Most surfaces in the Sukkertoppen region, however, yield complex exposure histories with minimum cumulative exposure durations up to ca. 100 kyr and minimum cumulative burial durations up to ca. 400 kyr, yielding minimum total surface histories of up to 500 ka. These findings suggest that parts of the Uummannaq landscape may have been continuously exposed throughout much of the middle and late Quaternary. On the other hand, the high-altitude surfaces in the Sukkertoppen region were largely preserved beneath minimally-erosive, cold-based ice during the same period. Data from the Uummannaq region thus stand in contrast not only to the Sukkertoppen region, but also to other sites surrounding Baffin Bay reported in previous studies. We hypothesize that surfaces in the Uummannaq region may have remained as nunataks above the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ice sheet surface, as well as prior glacial maxima, due to significant ice surface drawdown by the Uummannaq Ice Stream System (UISS).