https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/04/260417224503.htm
- Date:
- April 18, 2026
- Source:
- University at Buffalo
- Summary:
- Scientists drilling deep beneath Greenland’s ice have uncovered a startling clue about its past—and future. Evidence shows that the Prudhoe Dome, a major high point of the ice sheet, completely melted around 7,000 years ago during a relatively mild natural warming period.
A new study from GreenDrill — a project co-led by the University at Buffalo to recover rock and sediment buried beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet — has revealed that the Prudhoe Dome ice cap completely vanished about 7,000 years ago. This is far more recent than scientists had previously believed.
The findings, published in Nature Geoscience, show that this elevated region in the northwest part of the ice sheet is highly sensitive to even modest warming. The melting occurred during the Holocene, the relatively stable climate period that began 11,000 years ago and continues today.
“This is a time known for climate stability, when humans first began developing farming practices and taking steps toward civilization. So for natural, mild climate change of that era to have melted Prudhoe Dome and kept it retreated for potentially thousands of years, it may only be a matter of time before it begins peeling back again from today’s human-induced climate change,” says Jason Briner, PhD, professor and associate chair of the Department of Earth Sciences in the UB College of Arts and Sciences, who co-led GreenDrill with Joerg Schaefer PhD, research professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
Drilling Beneath Greenland’s Ice for Clues
GreenDrill is a unique effort funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation that aims to drill through Greenland’s ice and collect ancient material from below. Scientists actually have fewer samples of rock and soil from beneath Greenland than from the moon, yet these materials hold critical information. Their chemical signatures reveal when the surface was last exposed to sunlight, helping pinpoint past periods when the ice sheet disappeared.
For this study, researchers examined core samples taken from 1,669 feet below the surface during a weeks-long expedition at the summit of Prudhoe Dome in 2023.
To determine when the sediment was last exposed, the team used luminescence dating. This method measures energy stored in mineral grains. When buried, these grains trap electrons from natural radiation. Once exposed to light, they release that energy as a faint glow that scientists can measure.
The strength of this signal showed that the sediment last saw daylight between 6,000 and 8,200 years ago.
