Paleoclimate

Greenland fjords, modulated by ice-ocean interactions, are among the most productive ecosystems in the Arctic and have sustained the livelihood of local communities in Greenland for millennia. Understanding the impact of the ongoing cryosphere changes on Greenland fjord productivity has important socio-economic implications and it also advances knowledge of the CO₂ ocean sink, buffering climate change.

Read more: Greenland fjord productivity under climate change (GreenShift)

Ocean and sea ice variability in northern Baffin Bay (Danish-Canadian collaboration)

Read more: Greenland fjord productivity under climate change (GreenShift)

En række store havområder uden havis er ekstremt vigtige for livet i Arktis om vinteren, men deres fremtid er usikker på grund af global opvarmning. GEUS-forsker har netop fået penge til at klarlægge dette.

Det vides med sikkerhed, at Indlandsisen vil øge sin afsmeltning i et fremtidigt varmere klima. Der er dog stor usikkerhed om, præcis hvor meget vi skal forvente, at havniveauet vil stige som følge heraf. Denne store usikkerhed hænger sammen med, at vi ikke forstår de nøjagtige fysiske processer involveret i afsmeltning af særligt udløbsgletsjere, dvs. de gletsjere, der munder ud i havet.

Read more (in danish): Kan fossilt DNA fra mikroalger forudsige skæbnen for Arktis’ havis?

Det vides med sikkerhed, at Indlandsisen vil øge sin afsmeltning i et fremtidigt varmere klima. Der er dog stor usikkerhed om, præcis hvor meget vi skal forvente, at havniveauet vil stige som følge heraf. Denne store usikkerhed hænger sammen med, at vi ikke forstår de nøjagtige fysiske processer involveret i afsmeltning af særligt udløbsgletsjere, dvs. de gletsjere, der munder ud i havet.

Read more (in danish): Fortidens ændringer i Indlandsisen og havstrømmene omkring Grønland

Overall aim is to provide data and results that can shed light on ice-ocean-climate interactions around Greenland and support an IODP proposal on the Cenozoic evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet (CENICE); 909full2.

Fossil fuel consumption over the last century has resulted in a drastic increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (ρC0₂) from pre-industrial levels of ~280 ppm, to over 400 ppm in September 2018  –  values not exceeded  for millions of years. According to IPPC the increased CO₂ have impact not only on temperatures but also on the sea-level. It is estimated that by the end of this century the sea-level will have increased up to 100 cm. The low topography and long coastline makes Denmark especially sensitive to even minor sea-level changes.

Read more: SealMICO2

Characterize high Arctic paleoenvironments during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse world (incl. OAE 2) using marine sediment cores from Baffin Bay, recovered by IODP Expedition 344S.

IODP proposal (909full2) to drill along a transect across the northwest Greenland margin extending from the shelf to Baffin Bay where thick Cenozoic sedimentary successions primarily reflect the evolution of the northern GrIS (NGrIS). The overall aim is to investigate the full range of forcing and feedbacks - oceanic, atmospheric, orbital, tectonic - that influence the GrIS over a range of time scales, as well as conditions prevailing at the time of glacial inception and deglacial to interglacial periods.

Building Holocene marine limit and relative sea-level databases.

The main objective is to gain understanding of the controls on both natural and polluted groundwater quality across Europe using the combined expertise and data held by European geological surveys / EuroGeoSurveys - this include the age and travel time distribution of European groundwater e.g. the occurence of paleowaters ( >10 Ky) recharged during the late Pleistocene.

Demonstrate the potentials of the harmonization of information about Europe’s groundwater resources through cross-border demonstrations projects, through harmonized characterization approaches for Karst and Chalk aquifers and through a first information product at Pan-European scale where available data is compiled and integrated to produce a map of the fresh groundwater resources of Europe including documented occurence of paleowaters within 10 x 10 km grids.

Reconstructing ocean and ice sheet change on Greenland during the common era. Final goal is to quantify ice sheet melt variability and asses it's influence on climate variability in Northwest europe.

Understanding North Atlantic (incl. Denmark) ocean variability and Greenland ice sheet change during the Eemian.

20th century climate and glacier change in Disko Bugt, West Greenland.

The project will deal with events linked to large igneous provinces and/or extraterrestrial impacts; ETE, OAE1a, KPg and PETM.