The Polar Regions are sensitive to climate change and the large ice masses located there can impact the global earth system via linkages such as sea level. Presented here is a study of a small, isolated ice mass that may be more sensitive than the Greenland Ice Sheet. Thus, here a study of the Istorvet Ice Cap is presented including a geomorphic map, radiocarbon dates from lake sediment cores as well as in-situ plant remains, and a mass balance model.
Radiocarbon dates from lake sediments located in lowest elevation basin suggest this region had become deglaciated by at least 6671 yr BC (7840±80 14C yr BP: OS-86718). Additional radiocarbon dates from the same lakes shows at least a low elevation portion of the ice cap was highly restrictive relative to present for most of the Holocene. The youngest age from four similarly aged samples suggest the onset of the LIA began sometime after 737 AD (1270±80 14C yr BP: OS-86725).
A mass balance model based on the PDD method suggests the average ELA over a 21-year period is 854 m a.s.l. Estimates of cumulative ice mass suggest up to 70 m of ice mass loss over the same time period. Therefore we would conclude that the Ice Cap is in a dire state.
Lastly, radiocarbon dates from terrestrial in-situ plant remains from an spatial and altitudinal range suggest the Istorvet Ice Cap does not respond to the same temperature forcing as the Greenland Ice Sheet. Also, evidence is presented that suggests the Istorvet Ice Cap was expanding during the Medieval Warm Period and does not fit the traditional classification of the Little Ice Age.