Palaeoclimate, Palaeoenvironment, Speleologenesis
Faculty
Research Group Moseley
Research Topic
Research Interest
The Arctic region is expected to experience some of the greatest climate and environmental changes in the next centuries, of which the consequences will be felt worldwide. Improving understanding of how the Arctic will develop in a warmer world is therefore of paramount importance, and one way to achieve this is to look at periods of warmer climate in the recent geological past. Speleothem deposits (secondary mineral deposits found in caves) offer huge potential to improve our knowledge of palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental change, but historically the field has been limited to the tropics and mid-latitudes. Recently, speleothem deposits were discovered in Northeast Greenland that were deposited during times of milder climate. They are now being analysed using U-series dating, stable isotopes and trace elements to improve understanding of climate change in this sensitive region.

Team
- Gabriella Koltai, PhD
- Anika Donner, MSc
- Lena Friedrich, MSc
- Paul Töchterle, MSc

Team
Gabriella Koltai, PhD

Team
Anika Donner, MSc

Team
Lena Friedrich, MSc

Team
Paul Töchterle, MSc
Selected Publications
- Smith, P., & Moseley, G.E. (2022). The karst and palaeokarst of North and North-East Greenland – physical records of cryptic geological intervals. GEUS Bulletin, 49 Link
- Moseley, G.E., Edwards, R.L., Lord, N.S. Spötl, C., Cheng, H. Speleothem record of mild and wet mid-Pleistocene climate in northeast Greenland. Science Advances 7: eabe1260 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe1260 (2021) Link
- Schuster, L., Maussion, F., Langhamer, L., Moseley, G.E. Lagrangian detection of precipitation moisture sources for an arid region in northeast Greenland: relations to the North Atlantic Oscillation, sea ice cover and temporal trends from 1979 to 2017. Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 1-17, DOI: 10.5194/wcd-2-1-2021 (2021) Link
- Moseley, G.E. History of exploration in northeast Greenland. Cave and Karst Science 47, 55-59 (2020) Link
- Smith, M.P., Rasmussen, J.A. The geology of the Centrumsø area of Kronprins Christian Land, northeast Greenland, and lithological constraints on speleogenesis. Cave and Karst Science 47, 60-65 (2020) Link
- Sole, A.J., Ignéczi, Á., Smith, M.P., Clark, C.D. Investigations to constrain retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet: glacial geomorphology and sampling for cosmogenic exposure dating of the Centrumsø area, Kronprins Christian Land, northeast Greenland. Cave and Karst Science 47, 66-73 (2020) Link
- Moseley, G.E., Barton, H.A., Spötl, C., Töchterle, P., Smith, M.P., Bjerkenås, S.E., Blakeley, C., Hodkinson, P.D., Shone, R.C., Sivertsen, H.C., Wright, M. Cave discoveries and speleogenetic features in northeast Greenland. Cave and Karst Science 47, 74-87 (2020) Link
- Barton, H.A., Breley, G.J., Smith, M.P. Microbiological observations in the caves of Grottedal, Kronprins Christian Land, northeast Greenland. Cave and Karst Science 47, 88-92 (2020) Link
- Barton, H.A., Breley, G.J., Töchterle, P., Moseley, G.E. Cryogenic features of the permafrost ice caves of Grottedal, northeast Greenland. Cave and Karst Science 47, 93-99 (2020) Link
- Tischler, J., Töchterle, P., Moseley, G.E. Characterization of northeast Greenland cave sediments. Cave and Karst Science 47, 100-103 (2020) Link
- Donner, A., Töchterle, P., Moseley, G.E. Basic meteorological observations in the Centrumsø region of northeast Greenland. Cave and Karst Science 47, 104-106 (2020) Link
- Moseley, G.E., Rosvold, J., Gotfredsen, A.B., Hajdas, I., Gilg, O., Gregersen, K.M., Spötl, C., and Edwards, R.L.. First pre-modern record of the gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) in north-east Greenland. Polar Research 38, DOI: 10.33265/polar.v38.3539 (2019) Link
- Moseley, G.E. 2016. Northeast Greenland Caves Project Expedition Report. 96 pp. ISBN: 978-3-9504355-0-4
- Moseley, G.E., Lawrence Edwards, R.L., Cheng, H., Spötl, C. 2016. Northeast Greenland Caves Project: Constructing a speleothem-derived record of climate change for the Arctic. Quaternary Newsletter 139, 35-38
- Moseley, G.E., Spӧtl, C., Svensson, A., Cheng, H., Brandstätter, S. and Edwards, R.L. 2014. Multi-speleothem record reveals tightly coupled climate between central Europe and Greenland during Marine Isotope Stage 3. Geology, 42, 1043-1046. DOI: 10.1130/G36063.1
- Luetscher, M., Borreguero, M., Moseley, G.E., Spötl, C., and Edwards, R.L. 2013. Alpine permafrost thawing during the Medieval Warm Period identified from cryogenic cave carbonates. The Cryosphere, 7, 1073-1081. DOI: 10.5194/tc-7-1073-2013
Projects
- Northeast Greenland Caves Project – www.northeastgreenlandcavesproject.com
Improving understanding of Northeast Greenland’s past climate using speleothem-derived palaoeclimate reconstructions