| PALEOLIMNOLOGY |
Utilizing physical sediment variability in glacier-fed lakes for continuous glacier reconstructions during the Holocene, northern
Folgefonna, western Norway
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Bakke, J., O. Lie, A. Nesje, S. Olaf Dahl, O. Paasche. 2005. Utilizing physical sediment variability in glacier-fed lakes
for continuous glacier reconstructions during the Holocene, northern Folgefonna, western Norway. The Holocene Vol. 15, No.
2, pp. 161-176
| Data Coverage |
North: 60.35 * South: 60.25 |
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West: 6.45 * East: 6.98 |
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Altitude: 490 m |
Start Year: 5932 cal yr BP * End Year: 19 cal yr BP
Data: Please Cite Data Contributors!
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Summary: The maritime plateau glacier of northern Folgefonna in western Norway has a short (subdecadal) response time to climatic
shifts, and is therefore well suited for reconstructing high-resolution glacier fluctuations. The reconstruction presented
here is based on physical parameters of glaciolacustrine sediments retrieved from two glacier-fed lakes and a peat bog north
of the ice cap. Bulk density and modelled glacier net mass balance for the last 200 years show a remarkably similar pattern,
where maximum sediment yield lags the glacier net mass balance by~10 years. The record of glacier variations has been transferred
into an equilibrium- line altitude (ELA) variation curve. Glaciers respond primarily to changes in summer temperature and
winter precipitation. At present there is a high correlation between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and measured
(since the early 1960s) net mass balance on maritime glaciers in western Norway (r= ~0.8). Reconstructed glacier variations
from maritime western Norway are therefore considered indicative of the strength of the westerly airflow associated with
NAO during the Holocene. The early phase of mid- Holocene glacier growth (5200 cal. yr BP) was characterized by gradual glacier
expansion culminating in the first Subatlantic glacial event at 2300 cal. yr BP. The climate during the last 2200 years has
favoured increased glacier activity at Folgefonna. High-amplitude shifts in ELA may be explained by unstable modes of the
westerlies causing significant variability of winter precipitation. During the last 2000 years, Folgefonna expanded and
decayed with significant decadal variability. During the latest period of the 'Mediaeval Warm Epoch', Folgefonna advanced.
The Neoglacial maximum, however, was reached during the 'Little Ice Age' at AD 1750 and AD 1870. The northern Folgefonna
glacial record is compared to other Holocene glacier records in Scandinavia.
More Info on Paleolimnology |
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Complete XML Record: noaa-lake-5449
(Last Revised: 2007-09-05 )
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