noaa-cave-13868
Upper Grindelwald Glacier Holocene Fluctuation Reconstruction
Luetscher, M.; Hoffmann, D.L.; Frisia, S.; Spötl, C.
Upper Grindelwald Glacier Holocene Fluctuation Reconstruction
2013-02-22
NCDC-Paleoclimatology
ONLINE Files
Pending
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/13868
Investigator
M.
Luetscher
Investigator
D.L.
Hoffmann
Investigator
S.
Frisia
Investigator
C.
Spötl
earth science
paleoclimate
speleothems
depth,null,null,millimeter,null,speleothems,null,null,N,null
earth science
paleoclimate
climate reconstructions|speleothems
ice sheet elevation,null,null,meter,null,climate reconstructions|speleothems,null,null,N,speleothem petrography; meters above modern sea level
earth science
paleoclimate
speleothems
delta 18O,calcium carbonate,null,per mil VPDB,null,speleothems,raw,isotope ratio mass spectrometry,N,null
earth science
paleoclimate
speleothems
notes,null,null,null,null,speleothems,null,null,C,null
earth science
paleoclimate
climate reconstructions|speleothems
ice sheet elevation,null,unspecified error lower bound,meter,null,climate reconstructions|speleothems,null,null,N,speleothem petrography
earth science
paleoclimate
climate reconstructions|speleothems
ice sheet elevation,null,unspecified error upper bound,meter,null,climate reconstructions|speleothems,null,null,N,speleothem petrography
earth science
paleoclimate
climate reconstructions|speleothems
age,null,null,calendar year before present,null,climate reconstructions|speleothems,null,null,N,present defined as 2000 CE
earth science
paleoclimate
speleothems
delta 13C,calcium carbonate,null,per mil VPDB,null,speleothems,raw,isotope ratio mass spectrometry,N,null
earth science
paleoclimate
speleothems
other
earth science
paleoclimate
speleothems
carbon isotopes
earth science
paleoclimate
speleothems
oxygen isotopes
geoscientificInformation
Glaciers and Ice Sheets Reconstruction
9314 cal yr BP
2000 cal yr BP
Complete
46.6167
46.6167
8.083
8.083
1840
1840
Continent
Europe
Western Europe
Switzerland
Milchbach Cave>LATITUDE 46.6167>LONGITUDE 8.083
None
Please cite original publication, online resource, dataset and publication DOIs (where available), and date accessed when using downloaded data. If there is no publication information, please cite investigator, title, online resource, and date accessed. The appearance of external links associated with a dataset does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the Department of Commerce/NOAA does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this Department of Commerce/NOAA Web site.
English
DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI
National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data
DATA Center Contact
Bruce
Bauer
bruce.a.bauer@noaa.gov
paleo@noaa.gov
303-497-6280
303-497-6513
325 Broadway, E/NE31
Boulder
CO
80305-3328
USA
online
ASCII
M. Luetscher, D.L. Hoffmann, S. Frisia, C. Spötl. 2011.
Holocene glacier history from alpine speleothems, Milchbach cave, Switzerland.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 302, Issues 1-2, pp. 95-106.
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.11.042
Mountain glaciers and their sediments are prominent witnesses of climate change, responding sensitively to even small modifications in meteorological parameters. Even in such a classical and thoroughly studied area as the European Alps the record of Holocene glacier mass-balance is only incompletely known. Here we explore a novel and continuous archive of glacier fluctuations in a cave system adjacent to the Upper Grindelwald Glacier in the Swiss Alps. Milchbach cave became partly ice-free only recently and hosts Holocene speleothems. Four coeval stalagmites show consistent petrographic and stable isotopic changes between 9.2 and 2.0 ka which can be tied to abrupt modifications in the cave environment as a result of the closing and opening of multiple cave entrances by the waxing and waning of the nearby glacier. During periods of Holocene glacier advances, columnar calcite fabric is characterized by d18O values of about -8.0‰ indicative of speleothem growth under quasi-equilibrium conditions, i.e. little affected by kinetic effect related to forced degassing or biological processes. In contrast, fabrics formed during periods of glacier minima are typical of bacterially mediated calcite precipitation within caves overlain by an alpine soil cover. Moreover, d18O values of the bacterially mediated calcite fabrics are consistent with a ventilated cave system fostering kinetic fractionation. These data suggest that glacier retreats occurred repeatedly before 5.8 ka, and that the amplitudes of glacier retreats became substantially smaller afterwards. Our reconstruction of the Upper Grindelwald Glacier fluctuations agrees well with paleoglaciological studies from other sites in the Alps and provides a higher temporal resolution compared to traditional analyses of peat and wood remains found in glacier forefields.
STUDY NOTES: Petrographic and stable isotope changes in Milchbach cave speleothems are tied to abrupt changes
in the cave environment associated with Grindelwald glacier fluctuations. Phases of major glacier
retreats occurred repeatedly before 5.8 ka but short term glacier advances are identified at
8.2 ka and 9.2 ka. The reconstructed history of glacier oscillations is constrained by 37
independent U/Th dates.
The fluctuations of the Upper Grindelwald Glacier are inferred from the estimated altitude
of the ice surface at the cave entrance. The error is constrained by the altitude of the
different cave entrances, but some uncertainty remains as to the lowest elevation.
GET DATA
https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/europe/switzerland/milchbach2011grindelwald-elev.txt
GET DATA
https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/europe/switzerland/milchbach2011mb5.txt
GET DATA
https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/europe/switzerland/milchbach2011mb6.txt
GET DATA
https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/europe/switzerland/milchbach2011mb3.txt
GET DATA
https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/europe/switzerland/milchbach2011mb2.txt
USA/NOAA
DIF
Version 9.8.4
2018-12-11
2018-12-11