Glacier Extent During the Younger Dryas and 8.2-ka Event on Baffin Island, Arctic Canada

Abstract

Cooling Year-Round Ice cores from Greenland show that several abrupt cooling events occurred during the last glacial period and early Holocene—two of the most dramatic being the Younger Dryas [which lasted from around 12.9 to 11.7 thousand years ago (ka)] and 8.2-ka event (which began around 8200 years ago and lasted for ∼150 years). Wintertime temperatures in Greenland during the Younger Dryas seem to have been relatively lower than summertime temperatures although it is not clear if the 8.2-ka event experienced the same pattern of seasonal cooling. Young et al. (p. 1330 ) report observations of the positions of the leading edge of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and mountain glaciers on Baffin Island during the 8.2-ka event and find that mountain glaciers were larger than their predecessors during the Younger Dryas. It seems that cooling during the 8.2-ka event was more evenly distributed across the seasons than it was during that earlier cold period.