Rapid isostatic rebound in southwestern Iceland at the end of the last glaciation

In connection with a new deglaciation concept for Iceland, implying an extensive glaciation during the Younger Dryas and the decay of the Icelandic inland ice sheet during the Preboreal, the history of relative sea-level changes on Iceland has been re-evaluated. New field data from the Reykjavik area, in Faxaflói Bay southwestern Iceland, were obtained in order to construct the first stratigraphically controlled curve of relative sea-level displacements for Iceland. The curve is constructed on the basis of radiocarbon-dated shells in raised marine deposits and on tephrostratigraphically controlled and radiocarbon-dated, submerged peat deposits. The curve suggests that a post-glacial relative sea-level change of about 45 m, from + 43 m a.s.1. to — 2 m a.s.l, occurred over a period of 900 ¹⁴C-years in the Reykjavik area between 10 300 BP and 9400 BP. The sea-level curve shows a shoreline displacement of c . 5 cm ¹⁴Cyr^-1 for that period. The mean absolute uplift rate is calculated to be 6.9 cm ¹⁴C yr^-1, which is about double the fastest rate reported from any other coastal North Atlantic site. Although this rapid uplift can probably be partly explained by a ¹⁴C plateau around the termination of the Pleistocene, it is more than likely controlled by rapid Preboreal deglaciation, together with low asthenosphere viscosities below Iceland and the release of hydroisostatic stresses in connection with the deglaciation.     

The first Holocene relative sea-level curve from the middle part of Hardangerfjorden, western Norway

Romundset, A., Lohne, Ø. S., Mangerud, J. & Svendsen, J. I. 2009: The first Holocene relative sea-level curve from the middle part of Hardangerfjorden, western Norway. Boreas , 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00108.x. ISSN 0300-9483.
The first relative sea-level (RSL) curve from the mid-Hardangerfjorden area covering the entire Holocene is presented. The curve is based on a series of AMS ¹⁴C dates on terrestrial plant macrofossils across the isolation level in each of five lakes located between 3.5 and 74.5 m a.s.l. During the first 1200 years, the RSL fell very rapidly from the marine limit at 98 m a.s.l. to 33 m a.s.l., i.e. at a rate of 5.4 cm yr⁻¹. The emergence rate then slowed considerably and was close to standstill 8000–6500 cal. yr BP. However, an emergence of 16.5 m has taken place during the past 6000 years. Radiocarbon dates of terrestrial plant macrofossils from the basal strata in a lake above the marine limit and mollusc shells from glaciomarine silt in the isolation basins yielded a mean age for the local ice-margin retreat of 11 300 cal. yr BP. This verifies that Hardangerfjorden was glaciated during the Younger Dryas – an interpretation that has recently been disputed. The ice margin retreated at a rate of about 300 m yr⁻¹ from the position of the Younger Dryas moraine to this site some 60 km further into the fjord.     

Chronology and paleoenvironments during the late Weichselian deglaciation of the southwest Iceland shelf

Foraminifera, sedimentology, and tephra geochemistry in core 93030-006 LCF from the southwestern Iceland shelf were used to reconstruct paleoenvironments between 12.7 and 9.4 ¹⁴C ka BP. Seismic-reflection profiles place the core in glacial-marine and marine sediments within one meter of the underlying glacial till. Foraminifers in the earliest glacial-marine sediments provide a record of ice-distal conditions and immigration of slope species onto the shelf in association with warm Atlantic water. Meltwater increased during the Allerød under a weakened Atlantic water influence. Arctic conditions began by 11.14 ₁₄C ka BP with an abrupt increase in meltwater and near exclusion of boreal fauna from the shelf. Meltwater diminished in the early Younger Dryas, coinciding with sea-surface cooling between 11.14 and 10.5 ¹⁴C ka BP. A slight warming recorded in the uppermost glacial-marine sediments was interrupted by an inferred jökulhlaup event emanating from glacier ice on the Western Volcanic Zone. Retreat of the ice margin from the sea sometime between c. 10.3 and 9.94 ¹⁴C ka BP coincided with this event. The onset of postglacial marine sedimentation occurred along with increasing evidence of Atlantic water c. 9.94 ¹⁴C ka BP and was interrupted by a short-lived Pre-boreal cooling of the Irminger Current c. 9.91 ¹⁴C ka BP. Conditions similar to those today were established by 9.7 ¹⁴C ka BP.     

First discovery of cryptotephra in Holocene peat deposits of Estonia, eastern Baltic

This article reports the first discovery of middle Holocene cryptotephra from a peat sequence in Estonia, eastern Baltic. Two sequences, Mustjärve and Parika (located 110 km apart), were chosen for a pilot study aimed at finding traces of tephra fallout during the middle Holocene. Peat accumulation at both sites started in the early Holocene (c. 9500–9000 ¹⁴C yr BP; c . 11 000–10000 cal. yr BP) and continued throughout the whole Holocene. The radiocarbon-dated intervals between c. 2000 and 5000 ¹⁴C yr BP (c. 2000–5500 cal. yr BP) were chosen from both sites for the study. Colourless tephra shards were identified at 312–316 cm below the peat surface in the Mustjärve peat sequence, while no tephra was found in peat of the same age at Parika. Electron microprobe analyses suggest a correlation with the initial phase of the Hekla-4 eruption (c. 4260 cal. yr BP), although the age-depth model indicated an age around 4900 cal. yr BP. Small concentrations of colourless to light brown tephra shards at 266–270 cm in the Mustjärve sequence indicate that the Kebister tephra (c. 3750 cal. yr BP) might also be present, but geochemical analyses were not possible. The low concentration and small size of the tephra particles indicate that Estonian bogs are probably on the verge of where tephrochronology is possible in northwestern Europe. Further studies of full Holocene sequences are required in order to discover traces of other ash plumes reaching as far east as the eastern Baltic area.     

Chronology and organic chemistry of the Black Creek Swamp Megafauna site (Late Pleistocene), Kangaroo Island, Australia

The timing of the extinction of the Australian Megafauna and whether it was simultaneous and widespread has been a much researched topic in Quaternary geoscience. The Black Creek Swamp Megafauna site on Kangaroo Island was thought to be a refugium for Megafauna; however, recent and multidiscipline age determinations have established that the fossils are considerably older than the well-quoted extinction age of 45 kyr. Further radiocarbon age determinations, δ¹³C isotope analysis and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy of the fossil containing organic matter demonstrates that it is highly soluble and accumulated as recently as 31–18 cal. kyr BP. These radiocarbon ages are much younger than the 100–50 kyr age bracket ascertained for the fossil material itself, implying separate episodes of death, deposition and burial. The soluble nature of the organic matter and increasing radiocarbon ages with depth suggests lateral accumulation, probably transported by subsurface waters from elevated areas proximal to the low-lying swamp. Such depositional conditions and ¹⁴C age range implies that the site may have experienced an unusually wet Last Glacial Maximum, due maybe to its proximity to the continental shelf and thus to maritime conditions. C3 vegetation dominates the Black Creek Swamp and its organic matter (δ¹³C; −30‰ and −23‰); however, variations in δ¹³C may indicate climatic shifts. ¹³C-enrichment and an abundance of salt-tolerant gastropods within the site's final phase of sediment accumulation (<6 cal. kyr BP) suggest that conditions during this most recent period were not as wet as those of the Last Glacial Maximum.     

The Fossvogur marine sediments in SW Iceland - confined to the Allerød/Younger Dryas transition by AMS 14 C dating

An exhaustive ¹⁴C dating programme of molluscs from the Fossvogur sediments in Reykjavik. Iceland is presented. For the first time all the fossiliferous units of the sediments are dated. The results confirm earlier conclusions of a widespread occurrence of marine sediments of Allerød age in Reykjavik. The set of dates from the Fossvogur sediments shows a narrow ¹⁴C age distribution (standard deviation of ±235 years) of molluscs from all localities and from successive marine units in vertical sections. The weighted mean conventional ¹⁴C age is 11,400 BP. Assuming a reservoir effect of 400 years. this corresponds to a reservoir-corrected age of I1,000 BP. i.e. the Allerød- Younger Dryas transition for the sampled units, These new ¹⁴C dates from Fossvogur confirm the need for a revision of the Upper Pleistocene chronology of the Reykjavik region. They also have a bearing on the Late Weichselian record of glacier readvances and sea-level changes in the area. The dates suggest that the marine units in Fossvogur accumulated within a restricted time-span of a few hundred years. The sediments in Fossvogur are of volcaniclastic origin and are extremely lithified, indicating local geothermal activity soon after their deposition. This may explain anomalously high D/L amino acid ratios measured in molluscs from the Fossvogur sediments. δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O results suggest that temperatures may have ranged up to 60°C.     

Rates of Holocene isostatic uplift and relative sea-level lowering of the Baltic in SW Finland based on studies of isolation contacts

Southwestern Finland was covered by the Weichselian ice sheet and experienced rapid glacio-isostatic rebound after early Holocene deglaciation. The present mean overall apparent uplift rate is of the order of 4-5 mm/yr, but immediately after deglaciation the rate of crustal rebound was several times higher. Concurrently with land uplift, relative sea level in the Baltic basin during the past more than 8000 years was also strongly affected by the eustatic changes in sea level. There is ample evidence from earlier studies that during the early Litorina Sea stage on the southeastern coast of Finland around 7000 yr BP (7800 cal. yr BP), the rise in sea level exceeded the rate of land uplift, resulting in a short-lived transgression. Because of a higher rate of uplift, the transgression was even more short-lived or of negligible magnitude in the southwestern part of coastal Finland, but even in this latter case a slowing down in the rate of regression can still be detected. We used evidence from isolation basins to obtain a set of 71 ¹⁴C dates, and over 30 new sea-level index points. The age-elevation data, obtained from lakes in two different areas and located between c. 64 m and 1.5 m above present sea level, display a high degree of internal consistency. This suggests that the dates are reliable, even though most of them were based on bulk sediment samples. The two relative sea-level curves confirm the established model of relatively gradually decreasing rates of relative sea-level lowering since c. 6100 yr BP (7000 cal. yr BP) and clearly indicate that the more northerly of the two study areas experienced the higher rate of glacio-isostatic recovery. In the southerly study area, changes in diatom assemblages and lithostratigraphy suggest that during the early Litorina Sea stage (8300-7600 cal. yr BP) eustatic sea-level rise exceeded land uplift for hundreds of years. Evidence for this transgression was discovered in a lake with a basin threshold at an elevation of 41 m above sea level, which is markedly higher than any previously known site with evidence for the Litorina transgression in Finland. We also discuss evidence for subsequent short-term fluctuations superimposed on the main trends of relative sea-level changes.     

Reconstruction of late Quaternary sea-level change in southwestern British Columbia from sediments in isolation basins

Bracketing ages on marine—freshwater transitions in isolation basins extending from sea level to 100 m elevation on Lasqueti Island, and data from shallow marine cores and outcrops on eastern Vancouver Island, constrain late Pleistocene and Holocene sea-level change in the central Strait of Georgia. Relative sea level fell from 150 m elevation to about —15 m from 14000 cal. yr BP to 11 500 cal. yr BP. Basins at higher elevations exhibit abrupt changes in diatom assemblages at the marine-freshwater transition. At lower elevations an intervening brackish phase suggests slower rates of uplift. Relative sea level rose to about +1 m about 9000 cal. yr BP to 8500 cal. yr BP, and then slowly fell to the modern datum. The mean rate of glacio-isostatic rebound in the first millennium after deglaciation was about 0.11 in a ^-1, similar to the peak rate at the centres of the former Laurentide and Fennoscandian ice complexes. The latter feature smooth, exponential-style declines in sea level up to the present day, whereas in the study area the uplift rate dropped to less than one-tenth of its initial value in only about 2500 years. Slower, more deeply seated isostatic recovery generated residual uplift rates of <0.01 m a^-1 in the early Holocene after the late-Pleistocene wasting of the Cordilleran ice sheet.     

Field geometry, petrography and geochemistry of a dolomitization front (Late Jurassic, central Lebanon)

This contribution describes the field geometry, petrography and geochemistry of a well-exposed dolomitization front in Upper Jurassic carbonates, and attempts to highlight the sedimentological, structural and relative sea-level controls on multiphase dolomitization and related diagenetic events. The data presented reflect the superposition of various diagenetic phases which have resulted in a single dolostone body, whose dimensions are well defined in the field. Local microbial intraclastic dolomites of Late Tithonian age accumulated in a hypersaline lagoon during relative sea-level fall. These pre-date beige hydrothermal dolostones (51 to 55 mol% CaCO₃; δ ¹⁸O: −9·3 to −4·0‰ V-PDB; δ ¹³C: −1·5 to +2·1‰ V-PDB; ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr: 0·70742; matrix porosity: ≈6%; Klinkenberg permeability: ≈0·5 mD), whose dolomitizing fluid circulated along faults and invaded the nearby facies. First, the burrows were dolomitized, then the bulk rocks, resulting in the investigated 'tongue'-shaped dolomite body. Upon Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous uplift, near-surface water percolated through – and altered – the underlying beige dolostones. This event was followed by a ferroan dolomite cement phase, which occurred during further burial. This contribution, featuring a well-defined geometric pattern of a dolomitization front with a large petrographic and geochemical data set, may also serve as a case study illustrating the complexity of superimposed diagenetic processes which have to be taken into account in modelling exercises of multiphase hydrothermal dolomitization.     

Holocene lateral expansion, peat growth and carbon accumulation on Haukkasuo, a raised bog in southeastern Finland

Paludification intensity and peat deposition on Haukkasuo bog in southeastern Finland were studied with peat stratigraphic investigations by taking 79 samples for ¹⁴C carbon dating and 164 volumetric samples. Peat formation of Haukkasuo, a concentric raised bog, began about 10 400 cal. BP. Lateral expansion has been largely controlled by the flat clayey floor, which has favoured rapid growth of the bog. During the first 400 years of its existence the bog covered one-fifth, and in the following 2000 years one-half, of its present extent. The long-term carbon accumulation rate averages 22.3 g C/m²/yr in the central part of Haukkasuo and 16.7 g C/m²/yr in its margins. The highest rates of carbon accumulation over 500-year periods were recorded in the central part of the bog in 6500–5500, 3500–2500 and 1500–0 cal. BP. The rate of vertical peat increment was higher than average in these periods, and the peat was mainly slightly humified and, when close to the surface, un compacted. The rate of carbon accumulation was lowest in 5500–3500 and 2500–2000 cal. BP, when the rate of vertical growth was lower than average and the peat was more humified than average. The formation of peat, the rate of vertical peat increment and the succession of peat types in Haukkasuo have mainly been controlled by hydrological changes caused by local factors, although climatic factors might also be important. In particular, the formation of slightly humified peat in 3300–2700 cal. BP and during the last 1300 years can be related to humid climate.     

Deglaciation and palaeoclimate of the Andfjord-Vågsfjord area, North Norway

This paper reviews the deglaciation history and palaeoclimate from 22 to 9.5 ¹⁴Cka BP in the Andfjord-Vagsfjord area. Eight main glacial events are recorded: The Egga-I (>22 ¹⁴Cka BP), the Bjerka, the Egga-II (>14.6 ¹⁴Cka BP), the Flesen (14.5 ¹⁴Cka BP), the D (13.8–13.2 ¹⁴Cka BP), the Skarpnes (12.2 ¹⁴Cka BP), the Tromsø–Lyngen (10.7–10.3 ¹⁴C ka BP) and the Stordal (10.0–9.5 ¹⁴Cka BP). Onset of the final deglaciation occurred about 14.6 ¹⁴Cka BP. Most of the western part of the Fennoscandian and Barents Sea Ice Sheets receded from the outer continental shelf 15–14 ¹⁴Cka BP. The delivery and melting of icebergs at this time to the Norwegian-Greenland Sea resulted in a low oxygen isotope event recorded in a number of cores in the region. Atlantic water intruded the area 13.2 ¹⁴Cka BP, and an atmospheric warming commenced 12.9/12.8 ¹⁴Cka BP. A marked glacial recession occurred before the Skarpnes event. During Allerød time, the glaciers retreated to the fjord heads or even farther inland. The Fennoscandian outlet glaciers readvanced (locally more than 40 km), reached their Younger Dryas outer limit after 10.7 ¹⁴Cka BP and retreated from this position before about 10.3 ¹⁴Cka BP.     

Carbon-isotope stratigraphy in shallow-water carbonates: implications for Cretaceous black-shale deposition

A Barremian to Albian succession on Mount Kanala, part of a Tethyan isolated carbonate platform, was investigated for its δ¹³C variations. The limestone sequence is composed of a series of peritidal shallowing-upward cycles with clear petrographic evidence for strong early diagenetic overprinting related to repeated subaerial exposure. Despite significant impact of diagenesis, the observed changes in δ¹³C can be very well correlated with deep-water sections from different ocean basins and shallow water carbonate platforms in the Middle East. This lends further support to the applicability of δ¹³C variations for stratigraphic purposes in shallow-water limestones. Using the δ¹³C signal, time resolution in Lower Cretaceous platform carbonates can be significantly increased, independent of bio-zonations often hampered by ecological variability.
Cyclostratigraphic analysis of the Aptian part of the section shows that strong positive excursions of the cumulative departure from mean cycle thickness of the peritidal shallowing-upward cycles coincide with global positive δ¹³C excursions. This, and the fact that positive shifts in the δ¹³C record are preserved within shallow water limestones, provide evidence that black-shale accumulation in the ocean basins occurred during sea-level rise and flooding of platform tops. Integration of carbon-isotope-, cyclo- and sequence-stratigraphic results from different carbonate platforms indicate that strong positive global δ¹³C shifts and concurrent organic-carbon burial during black-shale deposition are ultimately caused by rapid rises of eustatic sea level. Hence, the rate of change of eustatic sea level is considered to play a crucial role in black-shale accumulation in the global ocean basins during the Cretaceous.     

A consistent map of the postglacial uplift of Fennoscandia

A consistent map of the recent postglacial rebound of Fennoscandia is constructed on the basis of sea-level records, lake-level records and repeated high-precision levellings.
The uplift rates calculated from the sea-level series form a consistent framework of the map. The sea-level stations used are 56 reliable stations in the Baltic Sea and adjacent waters with series spanning 60 years or more, many of them about 100 years. Using a reference station in the Baltic Sea and another one outside the Baltic, all results are reduced to a common time span, the 100-year-period 1892–1991, in order to eliminate oceanographic changes. Inland, uplift differences are obtained from the repeated national levellings and, in four of the large lakes, from long water level series in pairs. The levellings, however, yield less accurate land uplift values than the sea-level and lake-level data.
The resultant map shows a fairly smooth phenomenon, with a maximum apparent uplift in the Gulf of Bothnia of 9.0 mm yr^-1. The standard error is typically 0.2 mm yr^-I close to the sea level stations, larger inland.
Finally the pattern of the present uplift as determined here is observed to be very similar to that of the past uplift as determined from ancient shore-lines of the Litorina Sea. However, the ratio between the past uplift and the present uplift rate tends to increase somewhat towards the uplift centre. This might reflect a non-uniform mantle viscosity. Also, the uplift maximum seems to have migrated towards NNE.     

Vegetation, climate and ice-front oscillations in the Tromsø area, northern Norway during the Allerød and Younger Dryas

Sediments from two small lakes distal to the Tromsø–Lyngen moraine at Tromsø, northern Norway, indicate that the area was deglaciated prior to c. 11.7 ¹⁴C ka BP. The earliest vegetation was dominated by calciphilous and heliophilous pioneer plants on unstable soils; this changed to a vegetation reflecting a dry continental climate until c. 10.7 ¹⁴Cka BP. A phase (10.7–10.5 ¹⁴Cka BP) with snow-bed communities was followed by one with a mosaic of plant communities. This was succeeded by Empetrum heaths c. 10.3 ¹⁴Cka BP, then by an open forest with Betula pubescens after 10.0 ¹⁴Cka BP. Ice-front oscillations in the Tromsø area are evaluated. The main part of the Younger Dryas glacial readvance, the Tromsø–Lyngen event, probably occurred between 10.7 and 10.3 ¹⁴Cka BP.     

Lateglacial and Holocene terrestrial and marine proxies reflecting climate changes in the Malangen fjord area, Norway, northeast North Atlantic

A high-resolution Younger Dryas–late Holocene record of climate and environment from the Malangen fjord has been established on the basis of two marine sediment cores. Five pollen-spore assemblage zones have been defined covering the period c . 11 500 cal. yr BP (10 200 ¹⁴C yr BP) to c . 1600 cal. yr BP (1600 ¹⁴C yr BP) with a hiatus of c . 2000 cal. years between c . 10 200 and 8100 cal. yr BP (9000 and 7300 ¹⁴C yr BP). The Holocene vegetation development from pioneer vegetation to forest development, identified in the marine pollen record, correlates well with pollen records from terrestrial sections of northern Norway. The marine pollen record was also correlated directly with marine proxy records of the bottom water temperature investigated in the same sediment cores. Correlation between the marine and terrestrial proxies suggests that changes in the influx of warm Atlantic Water to the fjord led to an instant change in the vegetation of the surrounding land area. The results thus support a strong link between marine and atmospheric mean climatic states in the North Atlantic region throughout the Holocene.     

Deglaciation history of the southwestern Fennoscandian Ice Sheet between 15 and 13 14C ka BP

Analysis of 2D and 3D seismic records from the continental shelf off western Norway, in combination with chronological constraints from ¹⁴C dates, has led to a model for the glacial development in these shelf areas between c. 15 and 13 ¹⁴C ka BP. On the shallow Måløy Plateau adjacent to the Norwegian Channel, iceberg scours are preserved below a prominent moraine ridge, which by correlation to the Norwegian Channel indicate ice retreat at c. 15 ¹⁴C ka BP. Subsequently, the ice advanced across the scoured surface and deposited a till sheet before stabilizing to deposit a prominent moraine, termed the Bremanger Moraine. Based on location on the shelf, seismic stratigraphy, morphology and C dates the Bremanger Moraine is correlated with a significant moraine on the continental shelf off Trøndelag. We suggest that these features are products of a regional glacial event, the Bremanger Event, dated to <15–13.3 ¹⁴C ka BP. The Bremanger Event is probably a result of the deteriorating climatic conditions in the NE Atlantic during Heinrich event 1.     

Broughton Island–a reference area for Wisconsin and Holocene chronology and sea level changes on eastern Baffin Island

Broughton Island is 50 km from the eastern margin of the 6,000 km² Penny Ice Cap. During the early Wisconsin (> 54,000 BP) A younger glacial readvance is delimited by lateral moraines and glacio-marine deposits ¹⁴C dated at 24,100±850 BP; sea level was±18 m. During th last Wisconsin the glaciers terminated some distance inland from Broughton Island and sea alevel at 9,850±250BP was +5 m on Broughton Island. The head of Maktak Fiord, which presently contains a majour outlet glacier from the Penny Ice Cap, was deglaciated about 6,000 BP.     

Quantitative study of the distributary braidplain of the Preboreal ice-contact Gardermoen delta complex, southeastern Norway

This raised delta structure is an ice-contact deltaic complex with a volume of c. 4.4.10⁹ m³, deposited c . 9500 yr BP in a shallow wide 'fjord' during the retreat of the Scandinavian ice cap. The delta plain lies at an altitude of 200–223 m. It aggraded c . 20 m above the contemporaneous sea level during a regional marine regression. The braidplain palaeochannel characteristics indicate a peak meltwater discharge of 7–9 10³ m³/s. Calculations based on a glacial ablation model indicate a mid-summer discharge of c . 5.5 10³ m³/s. However, the fluvial topset of the delta has an erosive base whose altitude decreases upstream and indicates stream incision by more the 6 m below the contemporaneous sea level. The deep scour is ascribed to episodic floods over the relatively short delta plain, which exceeded direct ablation-associated discharges. The depositional time-span of the delta is assessed to have been 70 years, calculated from coastal gradient and shoreline displacement curves. The average sedimentation rate of the delta is thereby inferred to have been extremely high, c . 6. 10⁷ m³/yr. The sedimentation is thought to reflect 'extreme' ice-margin conditions, where the sediment and water discharge was maximized by full-scale ablation, with simultaneous subglacial, englacial and supraglacial sediment and water supply. These conditions might further coincide with an abundant rainfall in the catchment area or the drainage of dammed waters, initiating episodic floods which eroded deep beneath sea level. As a whole, the study illustrates the hydrological conditions of proglacial sedimentation at the front of the rapidly retreating last Scandinavian ice cap.     

Relative sea-level change and carbon isotopes: data from the Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) of central and Southern Europe

Studies on Cretaceous pelagic limestones have shown a close correspondence between putative sea-level curves and the carbon-isotope profile, suggesting a possible relationship between the two phenomena. Such a relationship could relate to shelf-sea area governing the global burial rate of organic carbon which, in turn, controls the ¹³C/¹²C ratio of dissolved inorganic carbon in the oceanic reservoir. In order to see whether or not this relationship might be of more general applicability, the major mid-Oxfordian (Jurassic) transgression is documented to zonal level and appropriate carbon-isotope data are presented. Although the applicability of ammonite zonation to the mid Oxfordian is problematic on a regional scale, a clear δ¹³C excursion is present in the trunsversariurn Zone, which is coincident with regional overstep and/or evidence of shoreline retreat and/or evidence of bathymetric deepening in Europe and elsewhere. The use of the carbon-isotope curve as a proxy for shelf-sea area or relative sea level is worthy of further exploration.     

The isotopic composition of oxygen and carbon in the subfossil mollusc shells of the Baltic Sea as an indicator of palaeosalinity

The carbon (δ¹³ C) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotopic composistion in mollusc shells in mainly determined by the isotopic composition of water and dissolved bicarbonate. The δ¹⁸O values of water show a good correlation with the salinity of the Baltic. This correlation served as a basis for reconstructing palaeosalinity and for stratifying the marine sediments according to the δ¹⁸O values of the carbonate skeletons of subfossil shells. The δ¹³C values in shells are mainly determined by the isotopic composition of land-originating bicarbonate, especially in the carbonate skeleton of Lymnaea balthica , which inhabits the immediate coastal zone. According to the δ¹⁸O data, salinity in the investigated area (the coastal area of W and NW Estonia) was highest (about 9–11%) during the Littorina stage. The Limnae a stage had, in general, a salinity similar to the contemporary one, but during some phases possibly exceeding it by 2–3%.