A Synchronous Atmosphere-Cryosphere-land Response to Climate on the Northern Antarctic Peninsula Since the Mid-Holocene

Abstract West Antarctica plays a pivotal role in sea level rise in projected scenarios with global socioenvironmental and economic consequences. Therefore, describing its recent and past climate history and changes is essential for identifying the main climate controls and past responses. To better understand the climatic sensitivity of this region, we analyzed sedimentary records from newly surveyed proglacial lacustrine profiles dated from the middle Holocene to the present on the North Antarctic Peninsula. We combined atmosphere-glacier-land databases that evidenced a close coupling among these compartments during intense melting events. Our analyses furthermore suggest that a short Neoglacial phase from ~2,000 kyr BP until the onset of the 20th century was possibly influenced by a combined long-term decline in total solar irradiance, Andean volcanism and ENSO.