Late glacial and Holocene fluctuations of local glaciers and the Greenland Ice Sheet, eastern and western Greenland

The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is responding sensitively to climate change and its meltwater has the potential to influence global sea level. Recently, large changes in the GrIS have occurred including increased velocities of outlet glaciers and melt over ∼97% of the ice sheet. One means to understand modern and help predict future changes in the GrIS is to examine how it responded to past climate conditions. In this dissertation I provide a longer-term perspective of changes in the GrIS as well as in smaller, independent glaciers near the ice sheet margins (i.e., "local" glaciers). My research documents the past extents of the GrIS in central East and southern West Greenland during the Holocene Epoch (11,600 yrs ago-present) and provides evidence for climate conditions along the ice sheet margin during late glacial time (∼17,500-11,600 yrs ago) and the Holocene Epoch.;I use geomorphic mapping, surface exposure dating and lake sediment analyses to demonstrate that the GrIS and local glaciers in central East Greenland were receding during the Younger Dryas cold event (∼12,900-11,600 yrs ago) and deposited the Milne Land stade moraines at the end of the Younger Dryas. I hypothesize that these ice marginal fluctuations were primarily influenced by air or ocean surface temperatures. I document the Holocene fluctuations of a local glacier that completely disappeared indicating peak warm conditions between ∼9.3 and 6.0 cal kyr BP. The formation of this glacier at 2.6 cal kyr BP and its persistence from ∼1.9 cal kyr BP-present suggests cold conditions during late Holocene time. I also use geomorphic mapping and surface exposure dating to document the extents of the GrIS in southern West Greenland, near Kangerlussuaq. I show that the Keglen, Orkendalen and Historical moraines were deposited at 7.3 ka, 6.3 ka, and by ∼AD 1950, respectively. These data indicate that the GrIS was as small as or smaller than at present during much of middle and late Holocene time. Finally, I synthesize my results and discuss possible causes of GrIS marginal changes in central East and southern West Greenland including changes in air and ocean temperatures and changes in sea level.