近日，美国肯塔基大学Caleb K. Walcott-George团队研究了全新世变暖对格陵兰岛西北部普拉德霍巨丘冰川消融的响应。2026年1月5日出版的《自然—地球科学》杂志发表了这项成果。
对未来海平面上升的预测得益于对过去第四纪间冰期期间冰盖对变暖响应的理解。由于比现代时期规模更小阶段的地质记录大多仍埋藏在现代冰盖之下，因此对全新世中期（距今约8000至4000年前）格陵兰岛内陆冰盖退缩程度的限制有限。
研究组在格陵兰岛西北部的普拉德霍圆顶钻取了509米深的冰碛和冰层，以获取冰下物质，从而为格陵兰岛西北部冰盖对全新世变暖的响应提供直接证据。他们介绍了冰下沉积物的红外激发发光测量结果，表明峰顶下方的地面在7.1±1.1千年前曾暴露于阳光之下。研究组提出的普拉德霍圆顶完全冰消期与格陵兰岛北部其他冰盖范围缩小的时期一致，这与普拉德霍圆顶冰柱的仅间冰期δ18O值和冰深-年龄模型相吻合。该研究结果表明，格陵兰岛西北部冰盖对全新世早期变暖有显著响应，根据古气候数据估算，变暖幅度为+3至5°C。这一夏季温度范围与预测的公元2100年变暖幅度相似。
附：英文原文
Title: Deglaciation of the Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland in response to Holocene warming
Author: Walcott-George, Caleb K., Brown, Nathan D., Briner, Jason P., Balter-Kennedy, Allie, Young, Nicols E., Kuhl, Tanner, Moravec, Elliot, Anandakrishnan, Sridhar, Stevens, Nathan T., Keisling, Benjamin, DeConto, Robert M., Gkinis, Vasileios, MacGregor, Joseph A., Schaefer, Joerg M.
Issue&Volume: 2026-01-05
Abstract: Projections of future sea-level rise benefit from understanding the response of past ice sheets to warming during past Quaternary interglacials. Constraints on the extent of inland Greenland Ice Sheet retreat during the Middle Holocene (~8–4 thousand years before present) are limited because geological records of a smaller-than-modern phase largely remain beneath the modern ice sheet. We drilled through 509 metres of firn and ice at Prudhoe Dome, northwestern Greenland, to obtain sub-ice material yielding direct evidence for the response of the northwest Greenland ice sheet to Holocene warmth. Here we present infrared stimulated luminescence measurements from sub-ice sediments that indicate that the ground below the summit was exposed to sunlight 7.1±1.1 thousand years ago. This proposed complete deglaciation of Prudhoe Dome, coeval to reduced extent at other ice caps across northern Greenland, is consistent with interglacial-only δ18O values from the Prudhoe Dome ice column and ice depth–age modelling. Our results point to a substantial response of the northwest Greenland ice sheet to early Holocene warming, estimated to be +3–5°C from palaeoclimate data. This range of summer temperatures is similar to projections of warming by 2100 CE.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01889-9
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01889-9