Early break-up of the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream during the Last Glacial Maximum

We present 18 new cosmogenic ¹⁰Be exposure ages that constrain the breakup time of the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream (NCIS) and the initial retreat of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet from the Southwest coast of Norway following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Seven samples from glacially transported erratics on the island Utsira, located in the path of the NCIS about 400 km up-flow from the LGM ice front position, yielded an average ¹⁰Be age of 22.0 ± 2.0 ka. The distribution of the ages is skewed with the 4 youngest all within the range 20.2–20.8 ka. We place most confidence on this cluster of ages to constrain the timing of ice sheet retreat as we suspect the 3 oldest ages have some inheritance from a previous ice free period. Three additional ages from the adjacent island Karmøy provided an average age of 20.9 ± 0.7 ka, further supporting the new timing of retreat for the NCIS. The ¹⁰Be ages from Utsira and Karmøy suggest that the ice stream broke up about 2000 years earlier than the age assignment based on ¹⁴C ages on foraminifera and molluscs from marine sediment cores. We postulate that the Scandinavian Ice Sheet flowed across the Norwegian Channel to Denmark and onto the North Sea plateau during early phases of the LGM. When the NCIS started to operate this ice supply to the North Sea was cut off and the fast flow of the NCIS also led to a lowering of the ice surface along the Norwegian Channel and thereby drawdown of the entire ice sheet. This facilitated rapid calving of the ice front in the North Sea and we reconstruct a large open bay across the entire northern North Sea by ∼20 ka based on our ¹⁰Be ages in the east and radiocarbon ages from marine cores in the west. Additional ¹⁰Be ages show that the mainland slightly east of the islands Utsira and Karmøy remained ice covered until about 16 ka, indicating almost no net ice-margin retreat for the 4000 years between 20 and 16 ka. After 16 ka the ice margin retreated quickly up-fjord

Glacier maxima in Baffin Bay during the Medieval Warm Period coeval with Norse settlement

The climatic mechanisms driving the shift from the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) to the Little Ice Age (LIA) in the North Atlantic region are debated. We use cosmogenic beryllium-10 dating to develop a moraine chronology with century-scale resolution over the last millennium and show that alpine glaciers in Baffin Island and western Greenland were at or near their maximum LIA configurations during the proposed general timing of the MWP. Complimentary paleoclimate proxy data suggest that the western North Atlantic region remained cool, whereas the eastern North Atlantic region was comparatively warmer during the MWP—a dipole pattern compatible with a persistent positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. These results demonstrate that over the last millennium, glaciers approached their eventual LIA maxima before what is considered the classic LIA in the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, a relatively cool western North Atlantic region during the MWP has implications for understanding Norse migration patterns during the MWP. Our results, paired with other regional climate records, point to nonclimatic factors as contributing to the Norse exodus from the western North Atlantic region

Holocene evolution of the western Greenland Ice Sheet: Assessinggeophysical ice-sheet models with geological reconstructions ofice-margin change

Geophysical ice-sheet models are used to predict future ice-sheet dimensions and, in turn, these projections help estimate the magnitude of eustatic sea-level rise. Before models can confidently predict ice-sheet behavior, they must be validated by being able to duplicate the geological record of ice-sheet change. Here, we review geological records of Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) change, with emphasis on the warmer-than-present middle Holocene, and compare these records to published studies that numerically simulate GrIS behavior through the Holocene. Geological records are concentrated in West and Southwest Greenland, which are also the regions where the GrIS margin likely experienced the greatest distance of inland retreat during the middle Holocene. Several records spanning from Melville Bugt to Jakobshavn Isfjord in western Greenland indicate the GrIS achieved its minimum extent between ~5 and 3 ka, and farther south in the Kangerlussuaq region, new data presented here indicate the ice margin reached its minimum extent between ~4.2 and 1.8 ka. In the Narsarsuaq region in southern Greenland, the GrIS likely achieved its minimum configuration between ~7 and 4 ka. We highlight key similarities and discrepancies between these reconstructions and model results, and finally, we suggest that despite some degree of inland retreat, the West and Southwest GrIS margin remained relatively stable and close to its current position through the Holocene thermal maximum

A 10Be chronology of south-western Scandinavian Ice Sheet history during the Lateglacial period

We present 34 new cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages that constrain the Lateglacial (Bølling–Preboreal) history of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet in the Lysefjorden region, south-western Norway. We find that the classical Lysefjorden moraines, earlier thought to be entirely of Younger Dryas age, encompass three adjacent moraines attributed to at least two ice sheet advances of distinctly different ages. The 10Be age of the outermost moraine (14.0 ± 0.6 ka; n = 4) suggests that the first advance is of Older Dryas age. The innermost moraine is at least 2000 years younger and was deposited near the end of the Younger Dryas (11.4 ± 0.4 ka; n = 7). After abandonment of the innermost Lysefjorden Moraine, the ice front receded quickly towards the head of the fjord, where recession was interrupted by an advance that deposited the Trollgaren Moraine at 11.3 ± 0.9 ka (n = 5). 10Be ages from the inboard side of the Trollgaren Moraine suggest final retreat by 10.7 ± 0.3 ka (n = 7). The late culmination of the Younger Dryas advance contrasts with other sectors of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet where the margin appears to have culminated earlier during the Younger Dryas stadial, followed by retreat during the middle and late part of the Younger Dryas

Scale Invariance in disordered systems: the example of the Random Field Ising Model

We show by numerical simulations that the correlation function of the random field Ising model (RFIM) in the critical region in three dimensions has very strong fluctuations and that in a finite volume the correlation length is not self-averaging. This is due to the formation of a bound state in the underlying field theory. We argue that this non perturbative phenomenon is not particular to the RFIM in 3-d. It is generic for disordered systems in two dimensions and may also happen in other three dimensional disordered systems

Supernovae 2016bdu and 2005gl, and their link with SN 2009ip-like transients: another piece of the puzzle

Supernova (SN) 2016bdu is an unusual transient resembling SN 2009ip. SN 2009ip-like events are characterized by a long-lasting phase of erratic variability which ends with two luminous outbursts a few weeks apart. The second outburst is significantly more luminous (about 3 mag) than the first. In the case of SN 2016bdu, the first outburst (Event A) reached an absolute magnitude M(r) ~ -15.3 mag, while the second one (Event B) occurred over one month later and reached M(r) ~ -18 mag. By inspecting archival data, a faint source at the position of SN 2016bdu is detectable several times in the past few years. We interpret these detections as signatures of a phase of erratic variability, similar to that experienced by SN 2009ip between 2008 and mid-2012, and resembling the currently observed variability of the luminous blue variable SN 2000ch in NGC 3432. Spectroscopic monitoring of SN 2016bdu during the second peak initially shows features typical of a SN IIn. One month after the Event B maximum, the spectra develop broad Balmer lines with P Cygni profiles and broad metal features. At these late phases, the spectra resemble those of a typical Type II SN. All members of this SN 2009ip-like group are remarkably similar to the Type IIn SN 2005gl. For this object, the claim of a terminal SN explosion is supported by the disappearance of the progenitor star. The similarity with SN 2005gl suggests that all members of this family may finally explode as genuine SNe, although the unequivocal detection of nucleosynthesised elements in their nebular spectra is still missing.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS on April 10, 2017; re-submitted on June 23 including suggestions from the referee. 24 pages, 12 figures, 5 table

SN 2009E: a faint clone of SN 1987A

In this paper we investigate the properties of SN 2009E, which exploded in a relatively nearby spiral galaxy (NGC 4141) and that is probably the faintest 1987A-like supernova discovered so far. Spectroscopic observations which started about 2 months after the supernova explosion, highlight significant differences between SN 2009E and the prototypical SN 1987A. Modelling the data of SN 2009E allows us to constrain the explosion parameters and the properties of the progenitor star, and compare the inferred estimates with those available for the similar SNe 1987A and 1998A. The light curve of SN 2009E is less luminous than that of SN 1987A and the other members of this class, and the maximum light curve peak is reached at a slightly later epoch than in SN 1987A. Late-time photometric observations suggest that SN 2009E ejected about 0.04 solar masses of 56Ni, which is the smallest 56Ni mass in our sample of 1987A-like events. Modelling the observations with a radiation hydrodynamics code, we infer for SN 2009E a kinetic plus thermal energy of about 0.6 foe, an initial radius of ~7 x 10^12 cm and an ejected mass of ~19 solar masses. The photospheric spectra show a number of narrow (v~1800 km/s) metal lines, with unusually strong Ba II lines. The nebular spectrum displays narrow emission lines of H, Na I, [Ca II] and [O I], with the [O I] feature being relatively strong compared to the [Ca II] doublet. The overall spectroscopic evolution is reminiscent of that of the faint 56Ni-poor type II-plateau supernovae. This suggests that SN 2009E belongs to the low-luminosity, low 56Ni mass, low-energy tail in the distribution of the 1987A-like objects in the same manner as SN 1997D and similar events represent the faint tail in the distribution of physical properties for normal type II-plateau supernovae.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures (+7 in appendix); accepted for publication in A&A on 3 November 201