Postglacial sea-level history of Edgeøya and Barentsøya, eastern Svalbard

Four relative sea-level curves from Edgeøya and Barentsøya are constructed based on 81 radiocarbon age determinations on carefully selected and levelled samples in raised beaches, mostly driftwood embedded in beach gravel. All the dates, covering the period from the deglaciation to the present, are calibrated to calendar years, and the sea-level curves are defined by fitting the data with a least square regression curve. The dates are internally very consistent, and the results are some of the most precise sea-level curves from the Arctic.
The four curves are quite similar, and from the marine limit at 85-90 m a.s.l. they show a rapid emergence (ca 40 mm/year), formed about 11,000 cal yrs BP (∼10,000¹⁴C yrs BP). A minimum rate of emergence close to 8000 cal years ago is explained by a decreased rate in isostatic uplift parallel with a sustained rate of eustatic sea-level rise. During the last 7000 cal years, the emergence rate has decreased linearly. The uplift rates have been slightly higher on southern Edgeøya than further north during the last 7000 years. By comparing the sea-level curves from Storøya (ca 270 km to the north) and Hopen (ca 150 km to the south), we suggest that a memory of an earlier and larger glacio-isostatic downwarping in the southern Barents Sea is detected in the sea-level curves from Hopen and southern Edgeøya.     

Recent foraminiferal distribution in Freemansundet and Early Holocene stratigraphy on Edgeøya, Svalbard

The Present foraminiferal distribution (live + dead) in Freemansundet between Barentsøya and Edgeøya, Svalbard, has been compared with assemblages in raised marine Holocene deposits in Guldalen on Edgeeya. Four distinct foraminiferal assemblages were identified in Freemansundet, the Elphidium excavatum-Cassidulina reniforme assemblage, the Elphidium hallandense assemblage, the Cibicides lobatulus assemblage and the Elphidium incertum-Haynesina orbiculare assemblage. Four assemblage zones (Zones A-D) have been established in the glaciomarine to marine sediment sequence in Guldalen. Only two of the recent fauna! types were represented here. The Elphidium excavatum-Cassidulina reniforme assemblage, which reflects a proximal glacier environment, was found in the lowermost Zone A (the Elphidium excavatum Zone) and in Zone C (the Elphidium excavatum-Cassidulina reniforme Zone) in the Guldalen stratigraphy; the Elphidium incertum-Haynesina orbiculare assemblage, which reflects ameliorated shallow water conditions, was found in the uppermost Zone D in Guldalen. The marine sequence in Guldalen represents a relatively short period of time during the Early Holocene (ca 9700 to 8300 BP). The succession of the foraminiferal assemblages suggests that the deglaciation was interrupted by a cold period with glacial stagnation just after 9600 bp (Zone B. the Astrononion gallowayi-Nonionellina labradorica Zone).     

Holocene glacial advances and moraine formation at Albrechtbreen, Edgeøya, Svalbard

Terrace remnants close to the marine limit as well as two separate moraine ridges are observed in front of the glacier Albrechtbreen. The stacking of marine sediments from an original elevation of ca. 60–80 m a.s.l. into the Little Ice Age Moraine gives evidence for a considerably smaller glacier following the early Holocene deglaciation compared to that of the present. The outer moraine is composed of glacial diamicton. Radiocarbon datings of whale ribs, shell fragments and a log taken from sediment in front of Albrechtbreen indicate that the initial deglaciation occurred before 9, 400 B.P. and that the outer moraine was formed during a younger Holocene glacial advance. Lithological differences between the two moraine ridges suggest that the first ice advance occurred during a period with limited permafrost, whereas permafrost was more extensive during the Little Ice Age.     

Reindeer population size and trend on Edgeøya Svalbard

Two censuses made of the population of Svalbard reindeer on Edgeøya in 1983 and 1996 resulted in 1586 and 2434 individuals respectively. Together with data from earlier population surveys (1969-77), this indicates, numerically, a population growth during the period 1969-96. Because of the weaknesses in the different census methods used, we cannot conclude that in reality a population growth has taken place even though the numerical data is correct. Therefore an average population size of 1730 (± 451 SD) individuals for the period 1969-96 is suggested. Earlier estimates of vegetated area indicate that the present data corresponds to reindeer densities averaging 1.05 and ranging from 0.79 to 1.47 individuals/km².     

Late Weichselian to early Holocene sedimentation in a steep fjord/valley setting, Visdalen, Edgeøya, eastern Svalbard: glacial deposits, alluvial/colluvial-fan deltas and spit-platforms

The Visdalen valley, situated at the northwestern corner of Edgeøya, was investigated with respect to lithostratigraphy and depositional environments of the Quaternary sediments. Eight major lithostratigraphic units are recognised of which seven were deposited during the Late Weichselian to early Holocene glaciation, deglaciation and the subsequent emergence of the area, and one unit deposited prior the last glaciation. Till deposition from a west-flowing glacier was followed by glaciomarine and later marine deposition of fine-grained sediments. Coarse-grained colluvial and alluvial-fan deltas were deposited along the mountainsides in the Visdalen palaeo-bay, and distal sediment gravity-flow deposits from these deltas were interbedded with the glaciomarine-marine sediments. A spit-platform (riegel) was built up across the Visdalen bay contemporaneously with the alluvial fan-deltas. Its formation was time-transgressive, with its highest part in the south close to the marine limit at 85 m a.s.l. and its lowest part in the north at ca 65 m a.s.l. The sediment source was alluvial and colluvial debris, which was entrained by longshore currents along the more exposed coast south of Visdalen and transported northwards to the final place of deposition. The bulk part of the riegel ridge is composed of progradational successions of steep foresets dipping towards NW, N and NE, and clearly rejects an earlier ice-contact model. Datings suggest that the fan-delta deposition and the riegel formation ended before 9,000 BP. A meltwater-fed lagoon with a highest level at >50m a.s.l. was formed behind the riegel ridge in which, according to varve counting, glaciolacustrine sedimentation lasted more than 250 years and occurred within the time span 9,000-8,500 BP. Gradual uplift of the area resulted in drainage of the glaciolacustrine lagoon. Beachface processes and fluvial down-cutting took place during the emergence of the area.     

Early Holocene environment on Bjørnøya (Svalbard) inferred from multidisciplinary lake sediment studies

Bjørnøya, a small (178 km²) island situated between the mainland of Norway and southern Spitsbergen, provides the opportunity for the reconstruction of early Holocene terrestrial and limnic palaeoenvironments in the southwestern Barents Sea. The AMS ¹⁴C dating technique, geochemical, mineral magnetic, micro and macrofossil analyses were applied to sediments recovered from lake Stevatnet and the results are interpreted in terms of palaeoenvironmental conditions between 9800 and 8300 ¹⁴C bp. After the disappearance of local glaciers before ca 9800¹⁴C BP, the lake productivity increased rapidly at the same time as pioneer plant communities developed on soils which gradually became more stable. Insect data indicates that strong seasonal contrasts with mean July temperatures around 9°C and mean January temperatures around −12°C prevailed between 9500 and 8300 ¹⁴C BP. These high summer temperatures, possibly as much as 4-5°C higher than the present, favoured the development of a flora including Dryas and Angelica cf. archangelica . The enhanced freeze/thaw processes led to an increased erosion of minerogenic and organic material. After 8000 ¹⁴C BP the temperatures may have gradually declined. The environmental reconstruction derived from our data set supports the conceptual insolation model which proposes maximum Holocene seasonality for the Northern Hemisphere at ca 9000 ¹⁴C BP.     

Holocene shoreline displacement at Agardhbukta, eastern Spitsbergen, Svalbard

An emergence curve based on nine radiocarbon dated samples of mosses, shells, whale bones and driftwood has been constructed for Agardhbukta. Beach sediments and delta deposits were found up to c. 50 m above sea level, and the oldest date goes back to about 10, 000 yrs BP. However, the possibility of a higher marine limit cannot be excluded. The Agardhbukta curve shows a nearly linear uplift during the entire Holocene. It differs from the western Spitsbergen curves, where a transgression occurs, and is more similar to curves from areas further east in the Svalbard archipelago.     

Past glaciation and sea levels on Bjørnøya, Svalbard

Bjørnøya has a very thin cover of unconsolidated Quaternary sediments. Glacial erratics of local origin are spread throughout the lowland areas, and glacial striae indicate glacial movement which was centred middle of the island. No traces of the Barents Sea ice sheet have been observed on Bjørnøya, nor has there been any postglacial emergence of the island. Lake cores date the deglaciation of the lowlands to ca 10,000 BP, and peat deposits on high mountains show that these were deglaciated before 8700 bp.     

Late Quaternary glacial and environmental history of Kongsøya, Svalbard

On western Kongsøya, Svalbard, three coarsening-upwards sequences of marine to littoral sediments, separated by tills, are recognised in sections at ca 50-92 m above present sea level. These sequences show major glaciations in the northern Barents Sea, resulting in substantial glacioisostatic downpressing of Kongsøya. Till fabrics indicate ice movements controlled by the local topography, while glaciotectonic deformations suggest that ice moved from an ice divide northeast of Kongsøya. independent of the local topography. The stratigraphical evidences show two pre-Holocene ice-free periods, when the climate was similar to or slightly warmer than at present. The age of these periods is not clear. It is suggested that the elder ice free interval is older than isotope stage 5e. The younger ice free interval could be of Eemian or Early Weichselian age. The uppermost succession of sublittoral-littoral sediments is of early Holocene age. It relates to the high (≥100 m) postglacial marine limit, dated to approximately 10,000 bp.     

Evidence from testate amoebae for changes in some local hydrological conditions between c. 5000 BP and c. 3800 BP on Edgeøya (Svalbard)

The study of a subfossil peat from the northwestern part of Edgeøya (Svalbard) enabled a reconstruction of the changes in the testate amoebae communities from c. 5000 BP to c. 3800 BP to be made. Two stratigraphical zones are recognized. The ecological interpretation of these sequences revealed rather humid and unstable hydrological conditions at the bog surface in the oldest zone, which presumably lasted until about 4500-4300 BP. The communities in the upper zone indicated a more stable and drier environment.     

Radiocarbon dated common mussels Mytilus edulis from eastern Svalbard and the Holocene marine climatic optimum

The common mussel Mytilus edulis is an indicator of milder marine conditions in the Arctic, with stronger Atlantic Water influx, during the Holocene and earlier interglacials. Twelve Holocene radiocarbon dates of mytilus from eastern Svalbard fall between ca 8800 and 5000 BP and roughly delimit the marine climatic optimum period there. The beginning of this period in the east coincides with the immigration of boreal extralimital molluscs to western Svalbard, indicating the culmination of Holocene Atlantic influence.     

Late Holocene palaeoceanography in Van Mijenfjorden, Svalbard

Based on detailed stratigraphical analysis of sediment cores spanning the last ca. 4000 calendar years, we reconstruct the palaeoceanograhic changes in the fiord Van Mijenfjorden, western Svalbard. Benthic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O indicate a gradual reduction in bottom water salinities between 2200 BC and 500 BC. This reduction was probably mainly a function of reduced inflow of oceanic water to the fiord, due to isostatic shallowing of the outer fiord sill. Stable salinity conditions prevailed between 500 BC and. 1300 AD. After the onset of a major glacial surge of the tidewater Paulabreen (Paula Glacier) system (PGS) around 1300 AD, there was a foraminiferal faunal change towards glacier proximal conditions, associated with a slight bottom water salinity depletion. During a series of glacial surges occuring from 1300 AD up the present salinity in the fiord has further decreased, corresponding to a δ¹⁸O depletion of 0.5 %o. This salinity decrease corresponds to the period when the PGS lost an equivalent of 30 – 40 % of its present ice volume, mainly through calving in the fiord.     

Holocene sedimentary rocks in Mathiesondalen, central Spitsbergen, Svalbard

Holocene lithified sediments of glacial and glaciofluvial origin have been found in environments where carbonate cementation is a present-day process. The rocks occur as well cemented tillites, conglomerates, coarse sandstones and breccias, indicating a complex depositional pattern within a limited area. Both clasts and carbonate cement are mainly derived from underlying Carboniferous and Permian sequences which form the bedrock of this area.     

The marine transgression in the Middle Carboniferous of Brøggerhalvøya (Svalbard)

The change from continental to marine conditions in the Middle Carboniferous on Brøggerhalvøya started at the end of the Bashkirian with short-term transgressive events at the top of the Brøggertinden Formation. Local basin subsidence was responsible for the pulsatory nature of the transgression. The establishment of a shallow marine carbonate-dominated environment is represented by the Moscovian Scheteligfjellet Member which overlies the post-Caledonian red beds of the Brøggertinden Formation. The Scheteligfjellet Member is the lowermost member of the Nordenskioldbreen Formation and shows distinct lateral facies variations. Three facies associations can be distinguished: lagoonal facies, shoal facies and open marine facies. The succeeding two members were deposited in subtidal areas of the carbonate platform. A basin subsidence event at the Carboniferous/Permian boundary was responsible for a short shift into deeper depositional environments during a time of worldwide regression. After this a continuous regression led to supratidal conditions at the top of the Nordenskioldbreen Formation.     

Early Holocene deglaciation of the eastern coast of Hudson Bay

The final stage of deglaciation of Hudson Bay was a major Holocene catastrophic event marked by the drainage of Lake Agassiz/Ojibway at ~ 8.47 ka cal BP and the rapid collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Previous work undertaken in the Nastapoka River area (eastern Hudson Bay) demonstrated that during the relative sea level highstand that shortly followed the drainage of the lake, the western margin of the Québec–Labrador ice sector rapidly retreated eastward to reach a stillstand position in a coastal hill range. In this study, an analysis of Landsat 7TM images has allowed a mapping of large-scale glacial landforms (outwash deposits, eskers, flutings, and De Geer and Rogen moraines) between Kuujjuaraapik (SE Hudson Bay) and Puvirnituq (NE Hudson Bay). The key results from this mapping are: i) ice-contact outwash deposits mapped along the entire arc-shaped coastline of the eastern Hudson Bay outline a major ice stillstand phase in the coastal hills that extended at least from Kuujjuaraapik to Inukjuak. The presence of these hills allowed a stabilisation of the ice margin that led to the accumulation of thick and extensive ice-contact submarine fans. ii) The position of these deposits on the down ice side (west) of large sets of flutings indicates an important phase of sediment delivery by a rapid ice flow phase toward a marine-based ice margin. iii) A second system of outwash deposits observed farther inland indicates a subsequent phase of stabilisation of the ice margin during its retreat toward central Québec–Labrador.     

One-year records of current and bottom pressure in the strait between Nordaustlandet and Kvitøya, Svalbard, 1980-81

we have obtained one year of measurements from a subsurface instrumented mooring carrying two current meters and one bottom pressure recorder in the strait between Nordaustlandet and Kvitøya in the northeastern Svalbard archipelago. The observations show a mixed tide with typical amplitudes 0.4 db and 10cm sec⁻¹. The semidiurnal tide is characterized by a progressive wave propagating toward the south. together with a cross-channel baroclinic mode. The annual average (non-tidal) current is less than 2cm sec⁻¹ toward the north-east, suggesting that the transport into the Arctic Ocean is approximately 0.2 × 10⁶m³s⁻¹.     

Tidal amplification and along‐strike process variability in a mixed‐energy paralic system prograding onto a low accommodation shelf,Edgeøya,Svalbard

The study describes the depositional development and sediment partitioning in a prograding paralic Triassic succession. The deposits are associated with the advance of large prism‐scale clinoforms across a shallower platform area. Approaching the platform, the limited accommodation and associated relative higher rates of deposition generated straighter clinoforms with lower foreset angles. The vertical restriction across the platform is interpreted to have amplified the tidal signature. Sediment was redistributed from the coast into increasingly sandy delta‐front deposits, compared to offshore equivalents. The deposits comprise extensive compound dune fields of amalgamated and increasingly clean sandbodies up‐section. Rapid deposition of significant amounts of sand led to differential subsidence and growth‐faulting in the delta front, with downthrown fault blocks further amplifying the tidal energy through funnelling. A mixed‐energy environment created along‐strike variability along the delta front with sedimentation governing process‐regime. Areas of lower sedimentation were reworked by wave and storm‐action, whereas high sedimentation rates preserved fluvially dominated mouth bars. A major transgression, however, favoured tidally dominated deposits also in these areas, attributed to increasing rugosity of the coastline. Formation of an extensive subaqueous platform between the coast and delta front dampened incoming wave energy, and tidally dominated deposits dominate the near‐shore successions. Meanwhile formation of wave‐built sand‐bars atop the platform attest to continued wave influence. The strong tidal regime led to the development of a heterolithic near‐shore tidally dominated channel system, and sandier fluvial channels up‐river. The highly meandering tidal channels incising the subaqueous platform form kilometre wide successions of inclined heterolithic stratification. The fluvially dominated channels which govern deposition on the delta plain are narrower and slightly less deep, straighter, generally symmetric and filled with cleaner sands. This study provides important insight into tidal amplification and sand redistribution during shallowing on a wide shelf, along with along‐strike process‐regime variability resulting from variations in sediment influx.     

Thermophilous molluscs on Svalbard during the Holocene and their paleoclimatic implications

Five species of guide fossils from the Holocene warm period in Svalbard are considered: Mytilus edulis, Modiolus modiolus, Arctica islandica, Littorina littorea and Zirphaea crispata . These are now extinct in Svalbard; Zirphaea crispata , especially, requires considerable higher water temperatures than occur there today. Known radiocarbon dates on Mytilus, Modiolus and Zirphala are given. Thirty-four dates on Mytilus edulis show that it lived in Svalbard from before 9500 BP to about 3500 BP, and probably again around 1000 BP. Five dates on Modiolus and Zirphaea indicate a climatic optimum in Svalbard from about 8700 BP to 7700 BP. The most favourable places then had conditions similar to the northeastern coast of Finnmark, northernmost Norway, today. Mytilus edulis is considered a good climate indicator, and a future warming of the marine climate in Svalbard could be indicated by its eventual re-immigration into the area.