Glacier‐fed lakes as palaeoenvironmental archives

Abstract

Glaciers show a sensitive and rapid response to climate shifts. Associated changes in ice extent drive variations in the production of rock flour, the suspended product of glacial erosion. These glacigenic sediments may accumulate in downstream lakes, continuously recording glacier history. Consequently, the lacustrine sediment records of such glacier‐fed lakes represent valuable palaeoenvironmental archives that help constrain past climate variability. In this paper, we discuss the multi‐disciplinary methodological toolbox that is applied to fingerprint a glacier signal from such lake sediments. Special emphasis is placed on dating methods, which transform stratigraphical data into climate time series, allowing us to distinguish leads and lags between archives. We also elaborate on techniques that are used to validate sediment‐based glacier signals and resolve their climate signature. Finally, we conclude with a brief outlook on new research avenues such as proxy data–climate model comparisons.