The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1467-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1467-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
28 Mar 2024
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 28 Mar 2024

Subglacial valleys preserved in the highlands of south and east Greenland record restricted ice extent during past warmer climates

Guy J. G. Paxman, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Aisling M. Dolan, and Michael J. Bentley

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Editorial statement
The history and extent of the Greenland ice sheet is a widely debated and poorly understood question. In this study, the authors show that the childhood of the Greenland ice sheet took place in the southern and eastern highlands of Greenland, and further suggest that the continental ice sheet we observe today first emerged between 7 million years and 2.6 million years ago.
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Short summary
This study uses airborne radar data and satellite imagery to map mountainous topography hidden beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet. We find that the landscape records the former extent and configuration of ice masses that were restricted to areas of high topography. Computer models of ice flow indicate that valley glaciers eroded this landscape millions of years ago when local air temperatures were at least 4 °C higher than today and Greenland’s ice volume was < 10 % of that of the modern ice sheet.
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