Abstract. Mid-latitude mountain glaciers are sensitive to local summer temperature
changes. Chronologies of past glacier fluctuations based on the investigation
of glacial landforms therefore allow for a better understanding of natural
climate variability at local scale, which is relevant for the assessment of
the ongoing anthropogenic climate warming. In this study, we focus on the
Holocene, the current interglacial of the last 11 700 years, which remains
a matter of dispute regarding its temperature evolution and underlying driving
mechanisms. In particular, the nature and significance of the transition from
the early to mid-Holocene and of the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) are still
debated. Here, we apply an emerging approach by combining in situ cosmogenic
10Be moraine and 10Be–14C bedrock dating from
the same site, the forefield of Steingletscher (European Alps), and
reconstruct the glacier's millennial recession and advance periods. The
results suggest that, subsequent to the final deglaciation at ∼10 ka, the glacier was similar to or smaller than its 2000 CE extent
for ∼7 kyr. At ∼3 ka, Steingletscher advanced to
an extent slightly outside the maximum Little Ice Age (LIA) position and until the 19th century
experienced sizes that were mainly confined between the
LIA and 2000 CE extents. These findings agree with existing Holocene glacier
chronologies and proxy records of summer temperatures in the Alps, suggesting
that glaciers throughout the region were similar to or even smaller than their
2000 CE extent for most of the early and mid-Holocene. Although glaciers in
the Alps are currently far from equilibrium with the accelerating
anthropogenic warming, thus hindering a simple comparison of summer
temperatures associated with modern and paleo-glacier sizes, our findings
imply that the summer temperatures during most of the Holocene, including the
HTM, were similar to those at the end of the 20th century. Further
investigations are necessary to refine the magnitude of warming and the
potential HTM seasonality.