近日，美国阿默斯特学院Nicholas Holschuh团队报道了携带的碎片记录了格陵兰冰盖在最后一次间冰期后的再生。相关论文发表在2026年3月24日出版的《自然—地球科学》杂志上。
无线电回波探测数据显示，格陵兰冰盖北部深处存在强烈变形的结构。这些结构的几何形态已得到充分研究，但其物理性质仍知之甚少。
研究组利用雷达条带成像技术探究了它们的散射特征。强烈而弥散的背向散射表明，这些结构并非单纯的变形大气降雪层，而是包含源自冰下的碎屑构成的独特层位。在许多地方，这些碎屑被输运至冰床上方1,000多米处，改变了冰体强度，并以当前冰盖模型未涵盖的方式集中了变形作用。尽管格陵兰岛北部广泛分布着这些结构，但在格陵兰岛和南极洲其他类似冰川环境中却未见存在。
基于其几何形态、分布及组成，研究组认为它们是冰盖在末次间冰期（约12万年前）从最小范围重新扩张过程中，经历瞬态基底热条件所形成的。该研究结果表明，末次间冰期时冰盖规模显著缩小，陆地冰盖在重新扩张过程中存在涌动行为，成像碎屑层上下可能保存有古老冰体，并揭示了在模拟格陵兰冰盖动力学的模型中引入物质异质性的必要性。
附：英文原文
Title: Entrained debris records regrowth of the Greenland Ice Sheet after the last interglacial
Author: Holschuh, Nicholas, Christianson, Knut, Dienstfrey, William, Hills, Benjamin, Hoffman, Andrew O., Paden, John, Winter, Kate, Zuraw, Ruth
Issue&Volume: 2026-03-24
Abstract: Radio echo sounding data reveal intensely deformed structures deep within the northern Greenland Ice Sheet. The geometry of these structures has been well studied, but their physical properties remain poorly understood. Here we investigate their scattering characteristics using radar swath imaging. Strong, diffuse backscattering implies that these features are not simply deformed meteoric layers, but instead contain distinct horizons of subglacially sourced debris. In many places, this debris is transported more than 1,000m above the bed, altering ice strength and concentrating deformation in ways not captured by current ice-sheet models. These structures are widespread across northern Greenland, despite being absent in comparable glaciological settings elsewhere in Greenland and Antarctica. Based on their geometry, distribution and composition, we argue they formed as a result of transient basal thermal conditions experienced as the ice sheet regrew from its minimum extent during the last interglacial period (around 120,000 years ago). Our results suggest a substantially reduced ice sheet during the last interglacial, surging behaviour during regrowth of terrestrial ice sheets, the potential for old-ice preservation above and below imaged debris layers, and the need for material heterogeneity in models designed to reproduce the dynamics of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-026-01950-1
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-026-01950-1