Dynamics of the Late Weichselian ice sheet on Svalbard inferred from high-resolution sea-floor morphology

High-resolution bathymetric mapping of the fjords and continental shelf around the Svalbard archipelago shows an extensive pattern of large- and medium-scale submarine landforms formed by differences in ice-flow regimes. Mega-scale glacial lineations, lateral moraines, transverse ridges and glaciotectonic features are superimposed on the large-scale fjord, shelf and cross-shelf trough morphology of the margin. From these landforms we have inferred the flow and dynamics of the last ice sheet on Svalbard. Major fjords and their adjacent cross-shelf troughs have been identified as the main routes for ice streams draining the ice sheet. On the west coast of Svalbard major pathways existed along Bellsund, Isfjorden and Kongsfjorden. Along the northern Svalbard margin most of the ice drained through the Woodfjorden cross-shelf trough and Wijdefjorden-Hinlopen strait. Extensive areas with trough-parallel glacial lineations in the cross-shelf troughs suggest fast ice flow by palaeo-ice streams. Lateral ice-stream moraines, several tens of kilometres in length, have been mapped along the margins of some of the cross-shelf troughs, identifying the border zone between fast ice flow and stagnant or slow-flowing ice on intervening banks. Several general implications can be drawn from the interpretation of the glacier-derived submarine landforms around Svalbard. Firstly, the Late Weichselian ice sheet was partitioned into fast-flowing ice streams separated by slower moving ice. Secondly, our submarine morphological evidence supports earlier sedimentological, stratigraphical and chronological studies in implying that a large ice sheet reached the shelf edge around almost all of western and northern Svalbard in the Late Weichselian. The idea of a relatively restricted ice sheet over Svalbard, with ice-free conditions in some areas of the west coast at the Last Glacial Maximum, is therefore unlikely to be correct. Thirdly, the ice sheet appears to have retreated more rapidly from the cross-shelf troughs and outer fjords, although sometimes this occurred in a punctuated pattern indicated by grounding-zone wedges, and more slowly from the intervening shallower banks. In addition, a grounding zone for the ice sheet has been mapped at the shelf edge 10-20 km off the northwest coast of Svalbard, suggesting that ice did not reach the adjacent Yermak Plateau during the Late Weichselian.     

Ice-margin retreat and grounding-zone dynamics during initial deglaciation of the Storfjordrenna Ice Stream,western Barents Sea

Processes occurring at the grounding zone of marine terminating ice streams are crucial to marginal stability, influencing ice discharge over the grounding-line, and thereby regulating ice-sheet mass balance. We present new marine geophysical data sets over a ~30×40 km area from a former ice-stream grounding zone in Storfjordrenna, a large cross-shelf trough in the western Barents Sea, south of Svalbard. Mapped ice-marginal landforms on the outer shelf include a large accumulation of grounding-zone deposits and a diverse population of iceberg ploughmarks. Published minimum ages of deglaciation in this region indicate that the deposits relate to the deglaciation of the Late Weichselian Storfjordrenna Ice Stream, a major outlet of the Barents Sea–Svalbard Ice Sheet. Sea-floor geomorphology records initial ice-stream retreat from the continental shelf break, and subsequent stabilization of the ice margin in outer-Storfjordrenna. Clustering of distinct iceberg ploughmark sets suggests locally diverse controls on iceberg calving, producing multi-keeled, tabular icebergs at the southern sector of the former ice margin, and deep-drafted, single-keeled icebergs in the northern sector. Retreat of the palaeo-ice stream from the continental shelf break was characterized by ice-margin break-up via large calving events, evidenced by intensive iceberg scouring on the outer shelf. The retreating ice margin stabilized in outer-Storfjordrenna, where the southern tip of Spitsbergen and underlying bedrock ridges provide lateral and basal pinning points. Ice-proximal fans on the western flank of the grounding-zone deposits document subglacial meltwater conduit and meltwater plume activity at the ice margin during deglaciation. Along the length of the former ice margin, key environmental parameters probably impacted ice-margin stability and grounding-zone deposition, and should be taken into consideration when reconstructing recent changes or predicting future changes to the margins of modern ice streams.     

Marine geophysical evidence for former expansion and flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet across the north‐east Greenland continental shelf

High‐resolution swath bathymetry and TOPAS sub‐bottom profiler acoustic data from the inner and middle continental shelf of north‐east Greenland record the presence of streamlined mega‐scale glacial lineations and other subglacial landforms that are formed in the surface of a continuous soft sediment layer. The best‐developed lineations are found in Westwind Trough, a bathymetric trough connecting Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden Gletscher and Zachariae Isstrøm to the continental shelf edge. The geomorphological and stratigraphical data indicate that the Greenland Ice Sheet covered the inner‐middle shelf in north‐east Greenland during the most recent ice advance of the Late Weichselian glaciation. Earlier sedimentological and chronological studies indicated that the last major delivery of glacigenic sediment to the shelf and Fram Strait was prior to the Holocene during Marine Isotope Stage 2, supporting our assertion that the subglacial landforms and ice sheet expansion in north‐east Greenland occurred during the Late Weichselian. Glacimarine sediment gravity flow deposits found on the north‐east Greenland continental slope imply that the ice sheet extended beyond the middle continental shelf, and supplied subglacial sediment direct to the shelf edge with subsequent remobilisation downslope. These marine geophysical data indicate that the flow of the Late Weichselian Greenland Ice Sheet through Westwind Trough was in the form of a fast‐flowing palaeo‐ice stream, and that it provides the first direct geomorphological evidence for the former presence of ice streams on the Greenland continental shelf. The presence of streamlined subglacially derived landforms and till layers on the shallow AWI Bank and Northwind Shoal indicates that ice sheet flow was not only channelled through the cross‐shelf bathymetric troughs but also occurred across the shallow intra‐trough regions of north‐east Greenland. Collectively these data record for the first time that ice streams were an important glacio‐dynamic feature that drained interior basins of the Late Weichselian Greenland Ice Sheet across the adjacent continental margin, and that the ice sheet was far more extensive in north‐east Greenland during the Last Glacial Maximum than the previous terrestrial–glacial reconstructions showed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Weichselian glacial stage in Murchisonfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard

Compared to the other islands in the Svalbard archipelago, Nordaustlandet offers only limited stratigraphical or sedimentological information on its Quaternary deposits. This article aims to fill the gap by presenting new results from glacial geological, sedimentological and chronological studies in the southern Murchisonfjorden area. Field data include reconnaissance mapping and detailed logging of vertical sections along cliff-face outcrops a few metres high adjacent to the present-day shoreline. Combined with OSL and AMS age determinations, these data provide evidence of three successive Weichselian sequences, each represented by the deposition of till followed by the accumulation of shallow marine deposits. Contrary to earlier conclusions, this study demonstrates that the area was occupied by a Late Weichselian glacier (LWG), although the LWG till is thin and discontinuous. Interstadial sublittoral sand related to the Mid-Weichselian interstadial was dated to 38–40 kyr, and an Early Weichselian interstadial to 76–80 kyr. The preservation of older sediments, multiple striae generations and abundant observations of weathered local bedrock material indicate weak glacial erosion within the study area. We suggest that the Late Weichselian glacier was relatively inactive and remained mainly cold-based until the deglaciation. The Isvika sections can be considered a new key site that offers further potential to improve our understanding of the Weichselian stage within the northwestern sector of the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet.     

Late Pleistocene glacial and lake history of northwestern Russia

Five regionally significant Weichselian glacial events, each separated by terrestrial and marine interstadial conditions, are described from northwestern Russia. The first glacial event took place in the Early Weichselian. An ice sheet centred in the Kara Sea area dammed up a large lake in the Pechora lowland. Water was discharged across a threshold on the Timan Ridge and via an ice-free corridor between the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and the Kara Sea Ice Sheet to the west and north into the Barents Sea. The next glaciation occurred around 75-70 kyr BP after an interstadial episode that lasted c. 15 kyr. A local ice cap developed over the Timan Ridge at the transition to the Middle Weichselian. Shortly after deglaciation of the Timan ice cap, an ice sheet centred in the Barents Sea reached the area. The configuration of this ice sheet suggests that it was confluent with the Scandinavian Ice Sheet. Consequently, around 70-65 kyr BP a huge ice-dammed lake formed in the White Sea basin (the 'White Sea Lake'), only now the outlet across the Timan Ridge discharged water eastward into the Pechora area. The Barents Sea Ice Sheet likely suffered marine down-draw that led to its rapid collapse. The White Sea Lake drained into the Barents Sea, and marine inundation and interstadial conditions followed between 65 and 55 kyr BP. The glaciation that followed was centred in the Kara Sea area around 55-45 kyr BP. Northward directed fluvial runoff in the Arkhangelsk region indicates that the Kara Sea Ice Sheet was independent of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and that the Barents Sea remained ice free. This glaciation was succeeded by a c. 20-kyr-long ice-free and periglacial period before the Scandinavian Ice Sheet invaded from the west, and joined with the Barents Sea Ice Sheet in the northernmost areas of northwestern Russia. The study area seems to be the only region that was invaded by all three ice sheets during the Weichselian. A general increase in ice-sheet size and the westwards migrating ice-sheet dominance with time was reversed in Middle Weichselian time to an easterly dominated ice-sheet configuration. This sequence of events resulted in a complex lake history with spillways being re-used and ice-dammed lakes appearing at different places along the ice margins at different times.     

The retreat of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet on the western Svalbard margin

The deglaciation of the continental shelf to the west of Spitsbergen and the main fjord, Isfjorden. is discussed based on sub-bottom seismic records and scdirncnt cores. The sea lloor on the shelf to the west of Isfjorden is underlain by less than 2 m of glaciomarine sediments over a firm diamicton interpreted as till. In central Isfjordcn up to 10 m of deglaciation sediments were recorded, whereas in cores from the innermost tributary, Billefjorden, less than a meter of ice proximal sediments was recognized between the till and the 'normal' Holocene marine sediments. We conclude that the Barents Sea Ice Sheet terminated along the shelf break during the Late Weichselian glacial maximum. Radiocarbon dates from thc glaciomarine sediments above the till indicate a stepwise deglaciation. Apparently the ice front rctrcatcd from the outermost shelf around 14. 8 ka A dramatic increase in the flux of line-grained glaciomarine sediments around 13 ka is assumed to reflect increased melting and/or current activity due to a climatic warming. This second stage of deglaciation was intcrruptcd by a glacial readvance culminating on the mid-shelf area shortly after 12.4 ka. The glacial readvance, which is correlated with a simultaneous readvance of the Fennoscundian ice sheet along the western coast of Norway, is attributed to the so-called 'Older Dryas' cooling event in the North Atlantic region. Following this glacial readvance the outer part of Isljorden became rapidly deglaciated around 12.3 ka. During the Younger Dryas the inner fjord branches were occupied by large outlet glaciers and possibly the ice liont terminated far out in the main fjord. The remnants of the Harcnts Sea Ice Shcet melted quickly away as a response to the Holocene warming around 10 ka.     

Late Quaternary glaciation in the south-western Barents Sea

Moraine ridges have been morphologically and seismically identified in the south-western Barents Sea. Some of these ridges were deposited in front of ice lobes from the northern part of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, others in front of glaciers located on the southern Barents Sea shelf. The moraine ridges were probably deposited during the Weichselian, possibly the Late Weichselian.     

Maximum extent of the Eurasian ice sheets in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Weichselian

Based on field investigations in northern Russia and interpretation of offshore seismic data, we have made a preliminary reconstruction of the maximum ice-sheet extent in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Early/Middle Weichselian and the Late Weichselian. Our investigations indicate that the Barents and Kara ice sheets attained their maximum Weichselian positions in northern Russia prior to 50 000 yr BP, whereas the northeastern flank of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet advanced to a maximum position shortly after 17 000 calendar years ago. During the Late Weichselian (25 000-10 000 yr BP), much of the Russian Arctic remained ice-free. According to our reconstruction, the extent of the ice sheets in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Late Weichselian glacial maximum was less than half that of the maximum model which, up to now, has been widely used as a boundary condition for testing and refining General Circulation Models (GCMs). Preliminary numerical-modelling experiments predict Late Weichselian ice sheets which are larger than the ice extent implied for the Kara Sea region from dated geological evidence, suggesting very low precipitation.     

10Be exposure age constraints on the Late Weichselian ice‐sheet geometry and dynamics in inter‐ice‐stream areas,western Svalbard

The Late Weichselian ice sheet of western Svalbard was characterized by ice streams and inter‐ice‐stream areas. To reconstruct its geometry and dynamics we investigated the glacial geology of two areas on the island of Prins Karls Forland and the Mitrahalvøya peninsula. Cosmogenic ¹⁰Be surface exposure dating of glacial erratics and bedrock was used to constrain past ice thickness, providing minimum estimates in both areas. Contrary to previous studies, we found that Prins Karls Forland experienced a westward ice flux from Spitsbergen. Ice thickness reached >470 m a.s.l., and warm‐based conditions occurred periodically. Local deglaciation took place between 16 and 13 ka. At Mitrahalvøya, glacier ice draining the Krossfjorden basin reached >300 m a.s.l., and local deglaciation occurred at c. 13 ka. We propose the following succession of events for the last deglaciation. After the maximum glacier extent, ice streams in the cross‐shelf troughs and fjords retreated, tributary ice streams formed in Forlandsundet and Krossfjorden, and, finally, local ice caps were isolated over both Prins Karls Forland and Mitrahalvøya and their adjacent shelves.     

The Barents Sea Ice Sheet — A model of its growth and decay during the last ice maximum

On the basis of geomorphological and sedimentological data, we believe that the entire Barents Sea was covered by grounded ice during the last glacial maximum. ¹⁴C dates on shells embedded in tills suggest marine conditions in the Barents Sea as late as 22 ka BP; and models of the deglaciation history based on uplift data from the northern Norwegian coast suggest that significant parts of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet calved off as early as 15 ka BP. The growth of the ice sheet is related to glacioeustatic fall and the exposure of shallow banks in the central Barents Sea, where ice caps may develop and expand to finally coalesce with the expanding ice masses from Svalbard and Fennoscandia.The outlined model for growth and decay of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet suggests a system which developed and existed under periods of maximum climatic deterioration, and where its growth and decay were strongly related to the fall and rise of sea level.     

Deglaciation chronology inferred from marine sediments in a proglacial lake basin, western Spitsbergen, Svalbard

Sub-bottom sediment profiles and sediment cores show that the lacustrine sediments in lake Linnevatnet are underlain by marine sediments and a basal till that mantles the bedrock. The till was probably deposited by the glacier that during the Late Weichselian glacial maximum removed all pre-existing sediments from the basin. The cores were collected in closed basins, where continuous deposition is expected. The marine sediment in the studied cores is up to 8 m thick and consists of bioturbated clay and silt. Radiocarbon dates on shells from the base of the marine sequence suggest that glacial retreat from the lake basin occurred around 12,500BP. This is more than a thousand years older than basal shell dates from raised marine sediments on the slopes above the lake. Typical ice proximal litbofacies were not identified in the cores. stratigraphic record indicates both a rapid glacial retreat and that no younger glacial re-advances occurred. During the Younger Dryas local glaciers on western Svalbard were smaller than during the Little Ice Age. This is in sharp contrast to western Europe, where Younger Dryas glaciers were much larger than those the Little Ice Age.     

Age and extent of the Barents and Kara ice sheets in Northern Russia

The youngest ice marginal zone between the White Sea and the Ural mountains is the W-E trending belt of moraines called the Varsh-Indiga-Markhida-Harbei-Halmer-Sopkay, here called the Markhida line. Glacial elements show that it was deposited by the Kara Ice Sheet, and in the west, by the Barents Ice Sheet. The Markhida moraine overlies Eemian marine sediments, and is therefore of Weichselian age. Distal to the moraine are Eemian marine sediments and three Palaeolithic sites with many C-14 dates in the range 16-37 ka not covered by till, proving that it represents the maximum ice sheet extension during the Weichselian. The Late Weichselian ice limit of M. G. Grosswald is about 400 km (near the Urals more than 700 km) too far south. Shorelines of ice dammed Lake Komi, probably dammed by the ice sheet ending at the Markhida line, predate 37 ka. We conclude that the Markhida line is of Middle/Early Weichselian age, implying that no ice sheet reached this part of Northern Russia during the Late Weichselian. This age is supported by a series of C-14 and OSL dates inside the Markhida line all of >45 ka. Two moraine loops protrude south of the Markhida line; the Laya-Adzva and Rogavaya moraines. These moraines are covered by Lake Komi sediments, and many C-14 dates on mammoth bones inside the moraines are 26-37 ka. The morphology indicates that the moraines are of Weichselian age, but a Saalian age cannot be excluded. No post-glacial emerged marine shorelines are found along the Barents Sea coast north of the Markhida line.     

Thickness evolution of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet during the Late Weichselian in Nordfjord, western Norway: evidence from ice-flow modeling

Winguth, C., Mickelson, D. M., Larsen, E., Darter, J. R., Moeller, C. A. & Stalsberg, K. 2005 (May): Thickness evolution of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet during the Late Weichselian in Nordfjord, western Norway: evidence from ice-flow modeling. Boreas , Vol. 34, pp. 176–185. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
Results from experiments with a two-dimensional ice-flow model, applied along a west-east transect in western Norway, provide new constraints on the thickness evolution of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet throughout the Late Weichselian glaciation and deglaciation. Investigations took place along an E-W flowline of the former ice sheet at c. 62N, from the modern glacier Jostedalsbreen, through the Nordfjord, and across the continental shelf. A paleoclimate record from Kråkenes, which is located directly at the flowline, provides temperature and precipitation information for the time between 13 800 and 9200 cal. yr BP. LGM climate conditions for the study area are estimated from various GCM studies. The GISP2 δ¹⁸O record has been tuned to the local data in order to provide a continuous temperature record as input for time-transgressive model runs. The results of all experiments suggest that the ice did not cover the highest mountain peaks in this area, and that nunataks persisted throughout the Late Weichselian glaciation. These findings are in contrast to results from many previous model studies and other ice-sheet reconstructions, but agree well with minimum thickness estimates from cosmogenic dating and with vertical ice limits inferred from lower block field boundaries and trimlines.     

Switching of a paleo-ice stream in northwest Svalbard

Ice streams are the fast-flowing zones of ice sheets that can discharge a large flux of ice. The glaciated western Svalbard margin consists of several cross-shelf troughs which are the former ice stream drainage pathways during the Pliocene–Pleistocene glaciations. From an integrated analysis of high-resolution multibeam swath-bathymetric data and several high-resolution two-dimensional reflection seismic profiles across the western and northwestern Svalbard margin we infer the ice stream flow directions and the deposition centres of glacial debris that the ice streams deposited on the outer margin. Our results show that the northwestern margin of Svalbard experienced a switching of a major ice stream. Based on correlation with the regional seismic stratigraphy as well as the results from ODP 911 on Yermak Plateau and ODP 986 farther south on the western margin of Spitsbergen, off Van Mijenfjord, we find that first a northwestward flowing ice stream developed during initial northern hemispheric cooling (starting ～2.8–2.6 Ma). A switch in ice stream flow direction to the present-day Kongsfjorden cross-shelf trough took place during a glaciation at ～1.5 Ma or probably later during an intensive major glaciation phase known as the ‘Mid-Pleistocene Revolution’ starting at ～1.0 Ma. The seismic and bathymetric data suggest that the switch was abrupt rather than gradual and we attribute it to the reaching of a tipping point when growth of the Svalbard ice sheet had reached a critical thickness and the ice sheet could overcome a topographic barrier.     

On the origin of large shelf embayments on glaciated margins—effects of lateral ice flux variations and glacio-dynamics west of Svalbard

Glaciated continental shelves are characterised by large amphitheatre-like embayments between prominent cross-shelf troughs. The integration of swath bathymetry and high-resolution seismic data (3D, 2D) collected across the western Svalbard continental margin indicates how such embayments form. Although their bathymetric expression resembles headwall scarps of submarine slope failures, the shelf embayments are the result of the interplay between sediment dynamics and transport underneath fast-moving ice streams in the cross-shelf troughs and the slower-moving parts of the ice sheets on the adjacent shallower shelf banks during full glacial conditions. This is supported by (1) the absence of major landslide deposits at their toe, (2) continuous prograding shelf deposition and (3) absence of landslide-related faulting. Instead, the seismic data suggest a depositional origin of the shelf embayments that is characterised by continuous sediment input at lower rates off a slow-moving ice mass in the centre of the embayment which is fringed by the lateral ice-stream ridges. These findings put into perspective the importance of submarine slope failure on glaciated margins.     

Weichselian stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments at Bellsund, western Svalbard

A coastal cliff facing the ocean at the west coast of Spitsbergen has been studied, and seven formations of Weichselian and Holocene age have been identified. A reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment and glacial history shows that most of the sediments cover isotope stage 5. From the base of the section, the formation 1 and 2 tills show a regional glaciation that reached the continental shelf shortly after the Eemian. Formation 3 consists of glacimarine to marine sediments dated to 105,000–90,000 BP. Amino acid diagenesis indicates that they were deposited during a c . 10,000-year period of continuous isostatic depression, which indicates contemporaneous glacial loading in the Barents Sea. Foraminifera and molluscs show influx of Atlantic water masses along the west coast of Svalbard at the same time. Local glaciers advanced during the latter part of this period, probably due to the penetration of moist air masses, and deposited formation 4. A widespread weathering horizon shows that the glacial retreat was succeeded by subaerial conditions during the Middle Weichselian. Formation 5 is a till deposited during the Late Weichselian glacial maximum in this area. The glaciation was dominated by ice streams from a dome over southern Spitsbergen, and the last deglaciation of the outer coast is dated to 13,000 BP. A correlation of the events with other areas on Svalbard is discussed, and at least two periods of glaciation in the Barents Sea during the Weichselian are suggested.     

Surface form of the south-western sector of the last Kara Sea Ice Sheet

Recent results concerning the extent of the last Weichselian (Valdaian) Kara Sea Ice Sheet in the area around the Polar Urals and the north-eastern Russian Plain allow reconstruction of the surface form of this part of the ice sheet by using a combination of moraine-ridge elevation data and ice-flow indicators. The resulting reconstruction suggests a thin ice sheet with a pronounced lowering of surface gradient at the transition from bedrock substrate around the Urals to a substrate consisting of unconsolidated sediments in the Pechora Basin. Comparison with similar reconstructions from along the southern and north-western parts of the Laurentide Ice Sheet margin, for which a deformable-bed model of glacier dynamics has been proposed, shows strong similarities in surface gradients and ice thicknesses as well in overall sedimentological and morphological characteristics of the associated basal till-deposits. This suggests comparable styles of glacier dynamics for the two ice sheets. If this first approximation of the Kara Sea Ice Sheet surface form is correct, it can be postulated that at least the south-western part of the ice sheet was much more mobile and dynamic than previously expected.     

Interactions between the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Liverpool Land coastal ice cap during the last two glaciation cycles

The sedimentary record from the Ugleelv Valley on central Jameson Land, East Greenland, adds new information about terrestrial palaeoenvironments and glaciations to the glacial history of the Scoresby Sund fjord area. A western extension of a coastal ice cap on Liverpool Land reached eastern Jameson Land during the early Scoresby Sund glaciation (≈the Saalian). During the following glacial maximum the Greenland Ice Sheet inundated the Jameson Land plateau from the west. The Weichselian also starts with an early phase of glacial advance from the Liverpool Land ice cap, while polar desert and ice‐free conditions characterised the subsequent part of the Weichselian on the Jameson Land plateau. The two glaciation cycles show a repeated pattern of interaction between the Greenland Ice Sheet in the west and an ice cap on Liverpool Land in the east. Each cycle starts with extensive glacier growth in the coastal mountains followed by a decline of the coastal glaciation, a change to cold and arid climate and a late stage of maximum extent of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Quaternary environmental history of central Prins Karls Forland, western Svalbard

This paper presents the results from stratigraphic and geomorphologic investigations in the Poolepynten area, Prins Karls Forland, western Svalbard. Field mapping, soil profile development and ¹⁴C dating reveal the existence of at least two generations of raised beach deposits. Well-developed raised beaches rise to the Late Weichselian marine limit at 36 m a.s.l. Discontinuous pre-Late Weichselian beach deposits rise from the Late Weichselian marine limit to approximately 65 m a.s.l. Expansion of local glaciers in the area during the Late Weichselian is indicated by a till that locally overlies pre-Late Weichselian raised beach deposits. Stratigraphic data from coastal sections reveal two shallow marine units deposited during part of oxygen isotope stage 5. The two shallow marine units are separated by a subglacially deposited till that indicates an ice advance from Prins Karls Forland into the Forlandsundet basin some time during the latter part of stage 5. Discontinuous glaciofluvial deposits and a cobble-boulder lag could relate to a Late Weichselian local glacial advance across the coastal site. Late Weichselian/early Holocene beach deposits cap the sedimentary succession. Palaeotemperature estimates derived from amino acid ratios in subfossil marine molluscs indicate that the area has not been submerged or covered by warm based glacier ice for significant periods of time during the time interval ca. 70 ka to 10 ka.     

The last glaciation of Germania Land and adjacent areas,northeast Greenland

A profile across the unglaciated coast of northeast Greenland at 77°N was studied with regard to the Quaternary stratigraphy and glacial history. The Germania Land peninsula is characterised by till-covered lower ground which contrasts sharply with the blockfields and extensive gelifluction deposits of its higher altitudes. Two glaciations are distinguished. The older one extended over the entire area and had its margin on the continental shelf. The younger one, of Late Weichselian age, reached the present coastline and several mountains and high plateaus on western Germania Land formed nunataks. The Late Weichselian glaciation was more extensive and occurred later on the Germania Land peninsula than on the coast further south. Radiocarbon dates suggest that the glacier margin rested to the east of the present coastline until ca. 10 000 yr BP. This correlates with the Late Weichselian Milne Land Stage, which is found as a late glacial readvance along the coast of East Greenland. A series of recessional moraines formed during the deglaciation were probably caused by glacier dynamics, as opposed to being of climatic origin.