Baffin Island, Canada 2000 Year Ice Retreat 14C Data Anderson, R.K.; Miller, G.H.; Briner, J.P.; Lifton, N.A.; DeVogel, S.B. Anderson, R.K. Miller, G.H. Briner, J.P. Lifton, N.A. DeVogel, S.B. Arctic earth science/paleoclimate/others (M09-B107v>LATITUDE 71.04155>LONGITUDE -74.66817) Observational records show that the area of ice caps on northern Baffin Island, Arctic Canada has diminished by more than 50% since 1958. Fifty 14C dates on dead vegetation emerging beneath receding ice margins document the persistence of some of these ice caps since at least 350 AD. In situ cosmogenic 14C in rock surfaces, and 14C in plant macrofossils from lake-sediment cores demonstrate that the plateau remained ice-free through the middle Holocene, but has supported ice caps for more than 2000 of the past 2800 years. The rapid disappearance of these ice caps over the past century, despite decreasing summer insolation, further demonstrates the unusual character of 20th Century warmth. Widespread ice-cap expansion ~1280 AD early in the Little Ice Age, and intensified expansion ~1450 AD, coincide with peak stratospheric volcanic aerosol loading and reduced solar luminosity, suggesting that these mechanisms may have initiated ice-cap growth, subsequently maintained by strong positive feedbacks. STUDY NOTES: Radiocarbon (14C) dates on dead vegetation emerging beneath receding ice margins on Baffin Island, Arctic Canada. 14C dates range from ~200 to ~2000 years before present. Areas sampled lie between ~67°N and 72°N, and between 64°N and 83°W. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Anderson, R.K. Investigator : Miller, G.H. Investigator : Briner, J.P. Investigator : Lifton, N.A. Investigator : DeVogel, S.B. 2011-06-12 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/11179 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/radiocarbon/baffin2008c14.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/radiocarbon/baffin2008c14.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/radiocarbon/baffin2008c14.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/radiocarbon/baffin2008c14.xls English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/11179 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/radiocarbon/baffin2008c14.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/radiocarbon/baffin2008c14.xls Anderson, R.K., G.H. Miller, J.P. Briner, N.A. Lifton, and S.B. DeVogel. 2008. A millennial perspective on Arctic warming from 14C in quartz and plants emerging from beneath ice caps. Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L01502, doi:10.1029/2007GL032057. START YEAR: 225 14C yr BP * END YEAR: 225 14C yr BP -74.66817 71.04155 -74.66817 71.04155