Distinction between the Storegga tsunami and the holocene marine transgression in coastal basin deposits of western Norway

Many coastal lakes were inundated by both the Storegga tsunami (7000 ¹⁴C yr BP) and the mid-Holocene sea-level rise (the Tapes transgression) in western Norway. The tsunami eroded lake bottoms and deposited graded and/or massive beds of sand, rip-up clasts, and coarse plant material. By contrast, when the rising sea entered the lakes, it deposited only gyttja, silt and fine sand, without causing much erosion of the underlying lake sediments. Storegga tsunami deposits in some coastal lakes were interpreted previously as ordinary marine sediments from the Tapes transgression. Our reinterpretation of these deposits shows that the transgression maximum phase was reached after 6500 yr BP, more than 1000 yr later than previously inferred for the coast of Sunnmøre. The new data cannot be combined in a shoreline diagram without showing the 6000 yr BP and 7000 yr BP shorelines as slightly warped. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Storegga tsunami deposits in a coastal lake on Suouroy, the Faroe Islands

Presumed deposits of the Storegga tsunami have been recognized in a coastal lake situated 4 m a.s.l. on the island of Suðuroy, the Faroe Islands. The stratigraphy in the lake reveals a major erosion and redepositional event. The deposited material ranges from sand and sandy gyttja, with marine shell fragments and foraminifera, to gyttja with rip-up clasts, wood fragments and thin sand layers. Diatom analysis indicates that the deposit contains 5-8% polyhalobous (full marine) species, decreasing to 1-2% in the undisturbed lacustrine gyttja above. The tsunami event was dated to some time between 7300 and 6400 14 C yr BP. Lithostratigraphic profiles in the lake suggest that at least two large waves inundated the basin. The first and largest wave eroded most or all of the sediments previously deposited in the basin. The next wave caused minor erosion of the redeposited material. The waves deposited two generations of sand overlain by organic conglomerates, after which followed a unit of suspension material and normal lacustrine gyttja.     

The Storegga tsunami along the Norwegian coast, its age and run up

The statigraphy in 25 coastal lakes shows that most of the Norwegian coastline was impacted by a large tsunami about 7200 ¹⁴C BP. The methodology has been to core a staircase of lake basins above the contemporary sea level in several areas and to map the tsunami deposit to its maximum elevation. The tsunami was identified in the sedimentary record as an erosional unconformity overlain by graded or massive sand with shell fragments, followed by redeposited organic detritus. The greatest recorded runup along the coast (10–11 m above high tide) is found in areas most proximal to the Storegga slide scar on the Norwegian continental slope (Sunnmøre). To the north and south, runup is less, about 6–7 m at Bjugn (250 km north of Sunnmøre) and about 3–5 m in Austrheim (200 km to the south of Sunnmerre). This runup pattern supports the suggestion that the tsunami was generated by the Second Storegga Slide. The recorded runup heights are consistent within and between the investigated areas, and imply that the tsunami wave was not significantly influenced by the local topography, suggesting a very long wave length. The mapped runup estimates are in good agreement with a numerical model of the tsunami generated by the Second Storegga slide, and indicate that the slide was a single major event rather than a set of smaller slides.     

Tsunami sedimentary facies deposited by the Storegga tsunami in shallow marine basins and coastal lakes, western Norway

Sedimentary successions in small coastal lakes situated from 0 to 11 m above the 7000 year BP shoreline along the western coast of Norway, contain a distinctive deposit, very different from the sediments above and below. The deposit is interpreted to be the result of a tsunami inundating the coastal lakes. An erosional unconformity underlies the tsunami facies and is traced throughout the basins, with most erosion found at the seaward portion of the lakes. The lowermost tsunami facies is a graded or massive sand that locally contains marine fossils. The sand thins and decreases in grain size in a landward direction. Above follows coarse organic detritus with rip-up clasts, here termed ‘organic conglomerate’, and finer organic detritus. The tsunami unit generally fines and thins upwards. The higher basins (6–11 m above the 7000 year shoreline) show one sand bed, whereas basins closer to the sea level 7000 years ago, may show several sand beds separated by organic detritus. These alternations in the lower basins may reflect repeated waves of sea water entering the lakes. In basins that were some few metres below sea level at 7000 years BP, the tsunami deposit is more minerogenic and commonly present as graded sand beds, but also in some of these shallow marine basins organic-rich facies occur between the sand beds. The total thickness of the tsunami deposit is 20–100 cm in most studied sites. An erosional and depositional model of the tsunami facies is developed.     

Detailing the impact of the Storegga Tsunami at Montrose,Scotland

The Storegga tsunami, dated in Norway to 8150±30 cal. years BP, hit many countries bordering the North Sea. Run-ups of >30 m occurred and 1000s of kilometres of coast were impacted. Whilst recent modelling successfully generated a tsunami wave train, the wave heights and velocities, it under-estimated wave run-ups. Work presented here used luminescence to directly date the Storegga tsunami deposits at the type site of Maryton, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It also undertook sedimentological characterization to establish provenance, and number and relative power of the tsunami waves. Tsunami model refinement used this to better understand coastal inundation. Luminescence ages successfully date Scottish Storegga tsunami deposits to 8100±250 years. Sedimentology showed that at Montrose, three tsunami waves came from the northeast or east, over-ran pre-existing marine sands and weathered igneous bedrock on the coastal plain. Incorporation of an inundation model predicts well a tsunami impacting on the Montrose Basin in terms of replicate direction and sediment size. However, under-estimation of run-up persisted requiring further consideration of palaeotopography and palaeo-near-shore bathymetry for it to agree with sedimentary evidence. Future model evolution incorporating this will be better able to inform on the hazard risk and potential impacts for future high-magnitude submarine generated tsunami events.     

Flow dynamics,sedimentation and erosion of glacial lake outburst floods along the Middle Pleistocene Scandinavian Ice Sheet (northern central Europe)

During the Middle Pleistocene late Saalian glaciation of northern central Europe numerous pro‐glacial lakes formed along the southwestern margin of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet. Little is known about the drainage history of these lakes, the pathways of glacial lake outburst floods and their impacts on erosion, sedimentation and landscape evolution. This study investigated the impact of the late Saalian Weser and Münsterland Lake (Germany) outburst floods. In particular, we reconstructed the routing and flow dynamics of the lake outburst flood and analysed the flood related sediments. We employed one‐dimensional hydraulic modelling to calculate glacial lake outburst flood hydrographs. We modelled the flow pathway and local flow conditions along the pathway based on the boundary conditions of two different hydrographs and two different ice‐margin positions. The modelling results were compared with geomorphological and sedimentological field data in order to estimate the magnitude and impact of the flood on erosion and sedimentation. Two major lake drainage events are reconstructed for the study area, during which approximately 90–50 km³ of water was released. Modelling results indicate that the lake outburst floods created a high‐energy flood wave with a height of 35–50 m in confined valley areas that rapidly spread out into the Lower Rhine Embayment eventually flowing into the North Sea basin. The sedimentary record of the outburst floods comprises poorly sorted coarse‐grained gravel bars, long‐wavelength bedforms and sandy bedforms deposited by supercritical and subcritical flows. Some parts of the sandy flood deposits are rich in reworked mammoth bones or mammoth and horse teeth, pointing to reworking of older fluvial sediments, hydraulic concentration and subsequent re‐sedimentation of vertebrate remains. These deposits are preserved in sheltered areas or at high elevations, well above the influence of postglacial fluvial erosion. The flood‐related erosional features include up to 80‐m‐deep scour pools, alluvial channels and streamlined hills.     

Diamictic sediments within high Arctic lake sediment cores: evidence for lake ice rafting along the lateral glacial margin

Sediment cores from six small lake basins in the Canadian high Arctic reveal a gravel‐rich (≤30% by weight) to gravel‐poor (≥2%) diamict facies underlying massive, post‐glacial, clayey silt. Ten other lakes contain a second diamict facies within what are interpreted to be glaciolacustrine sedimentary assemblages. The sedimentology, clast fabrics and fossil remains (diatoms, ostracodes and chironomid head capsules) within both diamict facies suggest that these deposits are not tills. Clast fabrics yielded low S₁ (0·41–0·57) and high S₃ (0·09–0·22) eigenvalues, placing them within the range of ice‐rafted diamictons and glacigenic sediment flows. The high percentage of clast dip angles >45° (15–61%), random clast azimuth and lower diamict contacts conformable to underlying current‐bedded sediment favours an origin as a rain‐out or settling deposit. Samples of the matrix and scrapings of clasts from the diamicts revealed a diatom assemblage dominated by littoral and planktonic forms, such as are found in the littoral regions of the lakes today. This contrasts sharply with the assemblages within the overlying clayey silt, in which benthic forms predominate. Clasts are thus interpreted to have been rafted from the littoral areas of the lake. The process proposed to explain this is rafting by the lake ice cover in a glacial‐marginal environment. Early season meltwater, impounded along the lateral margin of retreating cold‐based glaciers, would buoyantly lift the lake ice cover and any adfrozen lake sediment. Higher lake levels and increased areal extent of seasonal freeze‐on between the lake ice cover and the lake bed would allow the redeposition of littoral sediments to the benthic regions through greater lateral shifting of the ice cover as it broke up. Incision by meltwater streams into the lateral glacial margins would later isolate the lake, allowing seasonal warming of lake water, enough to support the growth and maturation of the ostracode and chironomid species found as fossils within the diamicts.     

First indication of Storegga tsunami deposits from East Greenland

A 2.73 m long sediment sequence from Loon Lake, located at 18 m a.s.l. on outer Geographical Society Ø, East Greenland, was investigated for its chronology and changes in physical and biogeochemical properties, macrofossils, and grain‐size distribution. The predominance of marine fossils throughout the sequence, dated by ¹⁴C AMS to between 8630 and 7535 cal. yr BP, shows that the Loon Lake at that time was a marine basin, which according to existing sea‐level curves was about 15–35 m deep. The sequence mainly consists of fine grained homogeneous sediments, which are interrupted by a 0.72 m thick sandy horizon with erosive basis and distinct fluctuations in the grain‐size distribution and in the physical and biogeochemical properties. According to the radiocarbon dates, this sandy horizon was deposited after 8500–8300 cal. yr BP and is interpreted as originating from the Storegga tsunami. The record from Loon Lake provides the first indication of Storegga tsunami deposits from East Greenland. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lateglacial and Holocene relative sea‐level changes and first evidence for the Storegga tsunami in Sutherland,Scotland

We reconstruct one of the longest relative sea‐level (RSL) records in north‐west Europe from the north coast of mainland Scotland, using data collected from three sites in Loch Eriboll (Sutherland) that we combine with other studies from the region. Following deglaciation, RSL fell from a Lateglacial highstand of +6?8 m OD (Ordnance Datum = ca. mean sea level) at ca. 15 k cal a BP to below present, then rose to an early Holocene highstand and remained at ca. +1 m OD between ca. 7 and 3 k cal a BP, before falling to present. We find no evidence for significant differential Holocene glacio‐isostatic adjustment between sites on the north‐west (Lochinver, Loch Laxford), north (Loch Eriboll) and north‐east (Wick) coast of mainland Scotland. This suggests that the region was rapidly deglaciated and there was little difference in ice loads across the region. From one site at the head of Loch Eriboll we report the most westerly sedimentary evidence for the early Holocene Storegga tsunami on the Scottish mainland. The presence of the Storegga tsunami in Loch Eriboll is predicted by a tsunami wave model, which suggests that the tsunami impacted the entire north coast of Scotland and probably also the Atlantic coastline of north‐west Scotland.

     

Postglacial uplift and relative sea level changes in Finnmark,northern Norway

The outer coast of Finnmark in northern Norway is where the former Fennoscandian and Barents Sea ice sheets coalesced. This key area for isostatic modelling and deglaciation history of the ice sheets has abundant raised shorelines, but only a few existing radiocarbon dates constrain their chronology. Here we present three Holocene sea level curves based on radiocarbon dated deposits from isolation basins at the outermost coast of Finnmark; located at the islands Sørøya and Rolvsøya and at the Nordkinn peninsula. We analysed animal and plant remains in the basin deposits to identify the transitions between marine and lacustrine sediments. Terrestrial plant fragments from these transitions were then radiocarbon dated. Radiocarbon dated mollusk shells and marine macroalgae from the lowermost deposits in several basins suggest that the first land at the outer coast became ice free around 14,600 cal yr BP. We find that the gradients of the shorelines are much lower than elsewhere along the Norwegian coast because of substantial uplift of the Barents Sea. Also, the anomalously high elevation of the marine limit in the region can be attributed to uplift of the adjacent seafloor. After the Younger Dryas the coast emerged 1.6–1.0 cm per year until about 9500–9000 cal yr BP. Between 9000 and 7000 cal yr BP relative sea level rose 2–4 m and several of the studied lakes became submerged. At the outermost locality Rolvsøya, relative sea level was stable at the transgression highstand for more than 3000 years, between ca 8000 and 5000 cal yr BP. Deposits in five of the studied lakes were disturbed by the Storegga tsunami ca 8200–8100 cal yr BP.     

In a PICL: The sedimentary deposits and facies of perennially ice‐covered lakes

Perennially ice‐covered lakes can have significantly different facies than open‐water lakes because sediment is transported onto the ice, where it accumulates, and sand grains preferentially melt through to be deposited on the lake floor. To characterize the facies in these lakes, sedimentary deposits from five Antarctic perennially ice‐covered lakes were described using lake‐bottom observations, underwater video and images, and sediment cores. One lake was dominated by laminated microbial mats and mud (derived from an abutting glacier), with disseminated sand and rare gravel. The other four lakes were dominated by laminated microbial mats and moderately well to moderately sorted medium to very coarse sand with sparse granules and pebbles; they contained minor interstitial or laminated mud (derived from streams and abutting glaciers). The sand was disseminated or localized in mounds and 1 m to more than 10 m long elongate ridges. Mounds were centimetres to metres in diameter; conical, elongate or round in shape; and isolated or deposited near or on top of one another. Sand layers in the mounds had normal, inverse, or no grading. Nine mixed mud and sand facies were defined for perennially ice‐covered lakes based on the relative proportion of mud to sand and the style of sand deposition. While perennially ice‐covered lake facies overlap with other ice‐influenced lakes and glaciomarine facies, they are characterized by a paucity of grains coarser than granules, a narrow range in sand grain sizes, and inverse grading in the sand mounds. These facies can be used to infer changes in ice cover through time and to identify perennially ice‐covered lakes in the rock record. Ancient perennially ice‐covered lakes are expected on Earth and Mars, and their characterization will provide new insights into past climatic conditions and habitability.     

Lake stratigraphy implies an 80 000 yr delayed melting of buried dead ice in northern Russia

Sediment cores from lakes Kormovoye and Oshkoty in the glaciated region of the Pechora Lowland, northern Russia, reveal sediment gravity flow deposits overlain by lacustrine mud and gyttja. The sediments were deposited mainly during melting of buried glacier ice beneath the lakes. In Lake Kormovoye, differential melting of dead ice caused the lake bottom to subside at different places at different times, resulting in sedimentation and erosion occurring only some few metres apart and at shifting locations, as further melting caused inversion of the lake bottom. Basal radiocarbon dates from the two lakes, ranging between 13 and 9 ka, match with basal dates from other lakes in the Pechora Lowland as well as melting of ice‐wedges. This indicates that buried glacier ice has survived for ca. 80 000 years from the last glaciation of this area at 90 ka until about 13 ka when a warmer climate caused melting of permafrost and buried glacier ice, forming numerous lakes and a fresh‐looking glacial landscape. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring former subglacial Hodgson Lake,Antarctica. Paper II: palaeolimnology

Direct exploration of subglacial lakes buried deep under the Antarctic Ice Sheet has yet to be achieved. However, at retreating margins of the ice sheet, there are a number of locations where former subglacial lakes are emerging from under the ice but remain perennially ice covered. One of these lakes, Hodgson Lake (72°00.549′S, 068°27.708′W) has emerged from under more than 297–465 m of glacial ice during the last few thousand years. This paper presents data from a multidisciplinary investigation of the palaeolimnology of this lake through a study of a 3.8 m sediment core extracted at a depth of 93.4 m below the ice surface. The core was dated using a combination of radiocarbon, optically stimulated luminescence, and relative palaeomagnetic intensity dating incorporated into a chronological model. Stratigraphic analyses included magnetic susceptibility, clast provenance, organic content, carbonate composition, siliceous microfossils, isotope and biogeochemical markers. Based on the chronological model we provisionally assign a well-defined magnetic polarity reversal event at ca 165 cm in the lake sediments to the Mono Lake excursion (ca 30–34 ka), whilst OSL measurements suggest that material incorporated into the basal sediments might date to 93 ± 9 ka. Four stratigraphic zones (A–D) were identified in the sedimentological data. The chronological model suggests that zones A–C were deposited between Marine Isotope Stages 5–2 and zone A during Stage 1, the Holocene. The palaeolimnological record tracks changes in the subglacial depositional environment linked principally to changing glacier dynamics and mass transport and indirectly to climate change. The sediment composition in zones A–C consists of fine-grained sediments together with sands, gravels and small clasts. There is no evidence of overriding glaciers being in contact with the bed reworking the stratigraphy or removing this sediment. This suggests that the lake existed in a subglacial cavity beneath overriding LGM ice. In zone D there is a transition to finer grained sediments characteristic of lower energy delivery coupled with a minor increase in the organic content attributed either to increases in allochthonous organic material being delivered from the deglaciating catchment, a minor increase in within-lake production or to an analytical artefact associated with an increase in the clay fraction. Evidence of biological activity is sparse. Total organic carbon varies from 0.2 to 0.6%, and cannot be unequivocally linked to in situ biological activity as comparisons of δ¹³C and C/N values with local reference data suggest that much of it is derived from the incorporation of carbon in catchment soils and gravels and possibly old CO₂ in meteoric ice. We use the data from this study to provide guidelines for the study of deep continental subglacial lakes including establishing sediment geochronologies, determining the extent to which subglacial sediments might provide a record of glaciological and environmental change and a brief review of methods to use in the search for life.     

Refining the pattern and style of Cordilleran Ice Sheet retreat: palaeogeography,evolution and implications of lateglacial ice‐dammed lake systems on the southern Fraser Plateau,British Columbia,Canada

Decay of the last Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) near its geographical centre has been conceptualized as being dominated by passive downwasting (stagnation), in part because of the lack of large recessional moraines. Yet, multiple lines of evidence, including reconstructions of glacio‐isostatic rebound from palaeoglacial lake shoreline deformation suggest a sloping ice surface and a more systematic pattern of ice‐margin retreat. Here we reconstructed ice‐marginal lake evolution across the subdued topography of the southern Fraser Plateau in order to elucidate the pattern and style of lateglacial CIS decay. Lake stage extent was reconstructed using primary and secondary palaeo‐water‐plane indicators: deltas, spillways, ice‐marginal channels, subaqueous fans and lake‐bottom sediments identified from aerial photograph and digital elevation model interpretation combined with field observations of geomorphology and sedimentology, and ground‐penetrating radar surveys. Ice‐contact indicators, such as ice‐marginal channels, and grounding‐line moraines were used to refine and constrain ice‐margin positions. The results show that ice‐dammed lakes were extensive (average 27 km²; max. 116 km²) and relatively shallow (average 18 m). Within basins successive lake stages appear to have evolved by expansion, decanting or drainage (glacial lake outburst flood, outburst flood or lake maintenance) from southeast to northwest, implicating a systematic northwestward retreating ice margin (rather than chaotic stagnation) back toward the Coast Mountains, similar in style and pattern to that proposed for the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. This pattern is confirmed by cross‐cutting drainage networks between lake basins and is in agreement with numerical models of North American ice‐sheet retreat and recent hypotheses on lateglacial CIS reorganization during decay. Reconstructed lake systems are dynamic and transitory and probably had significant effects on the dynamics of ice‐marginal retreat, the importance of which is currently being recognized in the modern context of the Greenland Ice Sheet, where >35% of meltwater streams from land‐terminating portions of the ice sheet end in ice‐contact lakes.     

Ice action in the lacustrine environment. A review with particular reference to subarctic Quebec,Canada

Erosional and depositional features produced by lake ice occur in many lakes of temperate and cold regions. Ice-push ridges, grooves with a boulder at their head, ice-rafted sediments, boulder ridges, stone pavements, beach micro-relief, and destruction of shore vegetation, are features common to many lakes in the James Bay area, subarctic Quebec. However, the ice cover offers good protection against shore erosion by waves, during six months per year, permitting varve sedimentation. Ice-push ridges and grooves with a boulder at their head are the two most common ice-made features: 95 ice-push ridges, up to 7 m high, have been observed in 35 lakes, and grooves, up to 300 m long have been found in 81 sites from 69 lakes. These features resulted from ice movements caused either by ice expansion and wind action, at breakup. A review of the literature indicates that several factors must be considered in any investigation of ice action in the lacustrine environment.     

The Middle Pleistocene glaciolacustrine environment of an ice‐dammed mountain valley,Sudeten Mountains,Poland

This article reports on an Early Saalian proglacial lake formed between the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and the front of the Sudeten Mountains, Poland. Sediments investigated at Mys?ów point to a transition from glacifluvial to glaciolacustrine environments. The bulk of the sediments was deposited in deep‐water Gilbert‐type deltas (A–E complexes). A delta plain (topset) gradually passes into a subaerial plateau and then a clastic shoreline and the subaquatic slope of a prograding delta (foreset). The glaciolacustrine lithofacies represent a number of lake‐basin environments, from marginal subaqueous slopes to distal parts of a subaqueous fan. Glaciolacustrine and glaciodeltaic deposits locally reach ?50–70 m in thickness. Analyses of A–E complexes indicate that the lake existed for more than 130 years and that its origin and evolution were closely connected with the ice front. This case study records lake sedimentation at an ice‐sheet margin with cohesionless gravity flows, turbidity currents, debris‐avalanching and, to a much lesser degree, parapelagic suspension fall‐out and ice‐raft dumping. In the initial stage, the lake extended more than 10 km to the south, and the deposition was relatively slow. In the second stage, recession of the ice sheet caused rapid growth of a delta. The third and ultimate stage coincided with the final glacial recession, with rapid deposition occurring only on the lake bottom. The model of the glaciolacustrine environment presented here may also be applicable to many other proglacial lakes in mountain areas.     

Ice‐distal landscape and sediment signatures evidencing damming and drainage of large pro‐glacial lakes,northwest Russia

Lyså, A., Jensen, M. A., Larsen, E., Fredin, O. & Demidov, I. N.^* 2010: Ice‐distal landscape and sediment signatures evidencing damming and drainage of large pro‐glacial lakes, northwest Russia. Boreas, Vol. 40, pp. 481–497. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00197.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Sediments from river sections and the morphology of the upper reaches of Severnaya Dvina and Vychegda in northwest Russia show evidence of the existence of large ice‐dammed lakes in the area twice during the Weichselian. During the Late Weichselian, three separate ice‐dammed lakes (LGM lake(s)) existed, the largest one at about 135 m a.s.l. having a volume of about 1510 km³. Stepwise and rapid lake drainage is suggested to have taken place within less than 1000 years. The locations of various passpoints controlled the drainage, and when the lake was at its maximum level water spilled southeastwards into the Volga basin. Later, but before the lake water finally drained into the White Sea, water was routed northeastwards into the southeastern part of the Barents Sea. The oldest lake, the White Sea lake, existed around 67–57 ka ago, slightly in conflict with earlier palaeogeographic reconstructions regarding the chronology. The extent of the lake was constrained by, in addition to the Barents Sea ice‐sheet margin in the north, thresholds in the drainage basin. Later, one threshold was eroded and lowered during the LGM lake drainage. Given a lake level of about 115 m a.s.l., a lake area of about 2.5 × 10⁴ km³ and a water volume of about 4800 km³, the lake drainage northwards and into the ocean probably impacted the ocean circulation.     

GIS‐based reconstruction of Late Weichselian proglacial lakes in northwestern Russia and Belarus

Reconstructing ice‐lake histories is of considerable importance for understanding deglacial meltwater budgets and the role of meltwater reservoirs for sea‐level rise in response to climate warming. We used the latest data on chronology and ice‐sheet extents combined with an isostatically adjusted digital elevation model to reconstruct the development of proglacial lakes in the area of the Karelian ice stream complex of the Late Weichselian Scandinavian Ice Sheet on the East European Plain. We derived the deglacial ice lake development in seven time‐slices from 19 to 13.8 ka, assuming the individual ice‐marginal positions to be isochronous throughout the studied domain. Modelling is based on mapping of critical drainage thresholds and filling the depressions that are potentially able to hold meltwater. Such an approach underestimates the real dimensions of the ice lakes, because the role of erosion at the thresholds is not considered. Our modelling approach is sensitive to the (local) ice‐margin location. Our results prove the southward drainage of meltwater during the glacier extent maxima and at the beginning of deglaciation whereas rerouting to the west had taken place already around 17.5 ka, which is some 1.5 ka earlier than hitherto supposed. The total ice‐lake volume in the study area was lowest (~300 km³) during the maximum glacier extent and highest (~2000 km³) during the highstand of the Privalday Lake at c. 14.6 ka. At 14.6–14.4 ka, the Privalday Lake drained to the early Baltic Ice Lake. The released ~1500 km³ of water approximately corresponds to 20% of the early Baltic Ice Lake water volume and therefore it is unlikely that it was accommodated there. Thus, we argue that the additional meltwater drained through the Öresund threshold area between the early Baltic Ice Lake and the sea, becoming a part of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet's contribution to the Meltwater Pulse 1A event.     

Glacial advance,occupation and retreat sediments associated with multi‐stage ice‐dammed lakes: north‐central Alberta,Canada

Ice sheets that advance upvalley, against the regional gradient, commonly block drainage and result in ice‐dammed proglacial lakes along their margins during advance and retreat phases. Ice‐dammed glacial lakes described in regional depositional models, in which ice blocks a major lake outlet, are often confined to basins in which the glacial lake palaeogeographical position generally remains semi‐stable (e.g. Great Lakes basins). However, in places where ice retreats downvalley, blocking regional drainage, the palaeogeographical position and lake level of glacial lakes evolve temporally in response to the position of the ice margin (referred to here as ‘multi‐stage’ lakes). In order to understand the sedimentary record of multi‐stage lakes, sediments were examined in 14 cored boreholes in the Peace and Wabasca valleys in north‐central Alberta, Canada. Three facies associations (FAI–III) were identified from core, and record Middle Wisconsinan ice‐distal to ice‐proximal glaciolacustrine (FAI) sediments deposited during ice advance, Late Wisconsinan subglacial and ice‐marginal sediments (FAII) deposited during ice‐occupation, and glaciolacustrine sediments (FAIII) that record ice retreat from the study area. Modelling of the lateral extent of FAs using water wells and gamma‐ray logs, combined with interpreted outlets and mapped moraines based on LiDAR imagery, facilitated palaeogeographical reconstruction of lakes and the identification of four major retreat‐phase lake stages. These lake reconstructions, together with the vertical succession of FAs, are used to develop a depositional model for ice‐dammed lakes during a cycle of glacial advance and retreat. This depositional model may be applied in other areas where meltwater was impounded by glacial ice advancing up the regional gradient, in order to understand the complex interaction between depositional processes, ice‐marginal position, and supply of meltwater and sediment in the lake basin. In particular, this model could be applied to decipher the genetic origin of diamicts previously interpreted to record strictly subglacial deposition or multiple re‐advances.