Deglaciation of the Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland in response to Holocene warming

Caleb K. Walcott-George; Nathan D. Brown; Jason P. Briner; Allie Balter-Kennedy; Nicolás E. Young; Tanner Kuhl; Elliot Moravec; Sridhar Anandakrishnan; Nathan T. Stevens; Benjamin Keisling; Robert M. DeConto; Vasileios Gkinis; Joseph A. MacGregor; Joerg M. Schaefer

doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01889-9

Deglaciation of the Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland in response to Holocene warming

Caleb K. Walcott-George
, Nathan D. Brown
, Jason P. Briner
, Allie Balter-Kennedy
, Nicolás E. Young
, Tanner Kuhl
, Elliot Moravec
, Sridhar Anandakrishnan
, Nathan T. Stevens
, Benjamin Keisling
, Robert M. DeConto
, Vasileios Gkinis
, Joseph A. MacGregor
, Joerg M. Schaefer

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	189-194
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Geoscience
Volume	19
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01889-9
State	Published - Feb 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.

Funding

We thank the people and government of Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) for allowing us to conduct research on the island. Thank you to R. Erickson, F. R. Harmon and the National Science Foundation Ice Drilling Program for drill operations; J. Þorbjörnsson and T. Nave for field support; Polar Field Services, especially K. Cosper, for field logistics; Kenn Borek Air, Air Greenland and M. Vogt at Volcano Heli for flights; and Pituffik Space Base for pre- and post-field support. NSF grants 1933938 (J.P.B.), 1933927 (J.M.S., N.E.Y.), 1934477 (R.M.D.), 1933802 (S.A.) supported this research. V.G. acknowledges funding from the Danish Research Foundation (grant ‘Iso-DeepIce’ 10.46540/2032-00228B). J.M.S. acknowledges support from the Vetlesen Foundation.

Funders	Funder number
Pituffik Space Base
G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation
Danmarks Grundforskningsfond
NSF
Danish National Research Foundation
Vetlesen Foundation
Polar Field Services
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program	1934477, 1933938, 1933927, 1933802

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Access to Document

10.1038/s41561-025-01889-9

Cite this

Walcott-George, C. K., Brown, N. D., Briner, J. P., Balter-Kennedy, A., Young, N. E., Kuhl, T., Moravec, E., Anandakrishnan, S., Stevens, N. T., Keisling, B., DeConto, R. M., Gkinis, V., MacGregor, J. A., & Schaefer, J. M. (2026). Deglaciation of the Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland in response to Holocene warming. Nature Geoscience, 19(2), 189-194. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01889-9

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title = "Deglaciation of the Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland in response to Holocene warming",

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 (\textasciitilde{}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.",

author = "Walcott-George, \{Caleb K.\} and Brown, \{Nathan D.\} and Briner, \{Jason P.\} and Allie Balter-Kennedy and Young, \{Nicol{\'a}s E.\} and Tanner Kuhl and Elliot Moravec and Sridhar Anandakrishnan and Stevens, \{Nathan T.\} and Benjamin Keisling and DeConto, \{Robert M.\} and Vasileios Gkinis and MacGregor, \{Joseph A.\} and Schaefer, \{Joerg M.\}",

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Walcott-George, CK, Brown, ND, Briner, JP, Balter-Kennedy, A, Young, NE, Kuhl, T, Moravec, E, Anandakrishnan, S, Stevens, NT, Keisling, B, DeConto, RM, Gkinis, V, MacGregor, JA & Schaefer, JM 2026, 'Deglaciation of the Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland in response to Holocene warming', Nature Geoscience, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 189-194. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01889-9

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AU - Balter-Kennedy, Allie

AU - Young, Nicolás E.

AU - Kuhl, Tanner

AU - Moravec, Elliot

AU - Anandakrishnan, Sridhar

AU - Stevens, Nathan T.

AU - Keisling, Benjamin

AU - DeConto, Robert M.

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N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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Deglaciation of the Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland in response to Holocene warming

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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