Mezen Bay—a key area for understanding Weichselian glaciations in northern Russia

Sediment successions in coastal cliffs around Mezen Bay, southeastern White Sea, record an unusually detailed history of former glaciations, interstadial marine and fluvial events from the Weichselian. A regional glaciation model for the Weichselian is based on new data from the Mezen Bay area and previously published data from adjacent areas. Following the Mikulinian (Eemian) interglacial a shelf‐centred glaciation in the Kara Sea is reflected in proglacial conditions at 100–90 ka. A local ice‐cap over the Timan ridge existed between 75 and 65 ka. Renewed glaciation in the Kara Sea spread southwestwards around 60 ka only, interrupted by a marine inundation, before it advanced to its maximum position at about 55–50 ka. After a prolonged ice‐free period, the Scandinavian ice‐sheet invaded the area from the west and terminated east of Mezen Bay about 17 ka. The previously published evidence of a large ice‐dammed lake in the central Arkhangelsk region, Lake Komi, finds no support in this study. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Younger Dryas glaciolacustrine rhythmites and cirque glacier variations at Kråkenes, western Norway: depositional processes and climate

Kråkenes faces the open sea on the west coast of Norway. During the Younger Dryas a cirque glacier deposited a large outer and a smaller inner moraine in a cirque at the site and melt-water entered a small lake depositing glaciolacustrine sediments. The glaciolacustrine succession can be divided into three sub-units corresponding to the advance, the still-stand and the retreat phases of the glacier. The sediment succession contains both varves and other types of rhythmites, the latter being mainly deposited as turbidity underflows caused by localized slumping events. Lee-side accumulation of snow by wind and avalanching into the cirque was crucial to form and maintain the cirque glacier once summer temperatures were low enough. At maximum, the glacier likely was in equilibrium with climate. The initial retreat from the maximum position might have been triggered by fall-out of volcanic ash from Iceland, but the continued retreat was due to increased ablation season temperatures. The most rapid change in climate at the Younger Dryas/Preboreal transition occurred after the cirque glacier had melted away completely.     

Influence of Temporal Variations in River Discharge, pH, Alkalinity and Ca on the Speciation and Concentration of Heavy Metals in Some Mining Polluted Rivers

Dissolved (dialysis in situ) and total concentrations ofCu, Zn, Cd and Al in eight mining polluted rivers in the Røros area, central Norway, were determinedby atomic absorption spectrometry (flame and graphite furnace) and compared to pH, Caconcentration and alkalinity through seasonal variations in river discharge. Totalconcentrations of the metals were highest during early spring flood and during summer andautumn rain episodes. Dissolved concentrations also increased as the spring floodproceeded, but small discharge peaks within this 2 month period as well as a considerableautumn flood episode appeared to lower rather than to raise the dissolved metal concentrations.Consequently the dissolved fractions of Zn, Cd and Al showed a significant negative correlationwith river discharge, and were low at the discharge peaks. Possibly high sediment concentrationsoccurring at high flood conditions more than counteracted desorption induced by pHdecrease, and led to decreased dissolved fractions through adsorption. Cu speciationon the other hand seemed to be more closely linked to pH. Alkalinity and Ca concentration,both assumed to protect aquatic life from metal pollution, were significantly lowerduring episodes with high Cu and Al total concentrations.     

The Plio-Pleistocene glaciation of the Barents Sea–Svalbard region: a new model based on revised chronostratigraphy

Based on a revised chronostratigraphy, and compilation of borehole data from the Barents Sea continental margin, a coherent glaciation model is proposed for the Barents Sea ice sheet over the past 3.5 million years (Ma). Three phases of ice growth are suggested: (1) The initial build-up phase, covering mountainous regions and reaching the coastline/shelf edge in the northern Barents Sea during short-term glacial intensification, is concomitant with the onset of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (3.6–2.4 Ma). (2) A transitional growth phase (2.4–1.0 Ma), during which the ice sheet expanded towards the southern Barents Sea and reached the northwestern Kara Sea. This is inferred from step-wise decrease of Siberian river-supplied smectite-rich sediments, likely caused by ice sheet blockade and possibly reduced sea ice formation in the Kara Sea as well as glacigenic wedge growth along the northwestern Barents Sea margin hampering entrainment and transport of sea ice sediments to the Arctic–Atlantic gateway. (3) Finally, large-scale glaciation in the Barents Sea occurred after 1 Ma with repeated advances to the shelf edge. The timing is inferred from ice grounding on the Yermak Plateau at about 0.95 Ma, and higher frequencies of gravity-driven mass movements along the western Barents Sea margin associated with expansive glacial growth.     

Towards a 4D topographic view of the Norwegian sea margin

The present-day topography/bathymetry of the Norwegian mainland and passive margin is a product of complex interactions between large-scale tectonomagmatic and climatic processes that can be traced back in time to the Late Silurian Caledonian Orogeny. The isostatic balance of the crust and lithosphere was clearly influenced by orogenic thickening during the Caledonian Orogeny, but was soon affected by post-orogenic collapse including overprinting of the mountain root, and was subsequently affected by a number of discrete extensional events eventually leading to continental break-up in Early Eocene time. In the mid-Jurassic the land areas experienced deep erosion in the warm and humid climate, forming a regional paleic surface. Rift episodes in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, with differential uplift along major fault zones, led to more pronounced topographic contrasts during the Cretaceous, and thick sequences of clastic sediments accumulated in the subsiding basins on the shelf. Following renewed extension in the Late Cretaceous, a new paleic surface developed in the Paleocene. Following break-up the margin has largely subsided thermally, but several Cenozoic shortening events have generated positive contraction structures. On the western side of the on-shore drainage divide, deeper erosion took place along pre-existing weakness zones, creating the template of the present day valleys and fjords. In the Neogene the mainland and large portions of the Barents Sea were uplifted. It appears that this uplift permitted ice caps to nucleate and accumulate during the Late Pliocene northern hemisphere climatic deterioration. The Late Pliocene to Pleistocene glacial erosion caused huge sediment aprons to be shed on to the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea margins. Upon removal of the ice load the landmass adjusted isostatically, and this still continues today.     

The last Scandinavian Ice Sheet in northwestern Russia: ice flow patterns and decay dynamics

Advance of the Late Weichselian (Valdaian) Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) in northwestern Russia took place after a period of periglacial conditions. Till of the last SIS, Bobrovo till, overlies glacial deposits from the previous Barents and Kara Sea ice sheets and marine deposits of the Last Interglacial. The till is identified by its contents of Scandinavian erratics and it has directional properties of westerly provenance. Above the deglaciation sediments, and extra marginally, it is replaced by glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine deposits. At its maximum extent, the last SIS was more restricted in Russia than previously outlined and the time of termination at 18-16 cal. kyr BP was almost 10 kyr delayed compared to the southwestern part of the ice sheet. We argue that the lithology of the ice sheets' substrate, and especially the location of former proglacial lake basins, influenced the dynamics of the ice sheet and guided the direction of flow. We advocate that, while reaching the maximum extent, lobe-shaped glaciers protruded eastward from SIS and moved along the path of water-filled lowland basins. Ice-sheet collapse and deglaciation in the region commenced when ice lobes were detached from the main ice sheet. During the Lateglacial warming, disintegration and melting took place in a 200-600 km wide zone along the northeastern rim of SIS associated with thick Quaternary accumulations. Deglaciation occurred through aerial downwasting within large fields of dead ice developed during successively detached ice lobes. Deglaciation led to the development of hummocky moraine landscapes with scattered periglacial and ice-dammed lakes, while a sub-arctic flora invaded the region.     

Formation of De Geer moraines and implications for deglaciation dynamics

De Geer moraines are very common in the Møre area, western Norway. These moraines occur below the marine limit and outside the Younger Dryas ice limit and occupy tributaries that connect the main fjords through the mountain passes. During deglaciation, ice in these tributaries flowed to the major ice streams. Sections across three De Geer moraines show that the ridges are composed of diamictons and fine-grained sediment, partly in stacked sequences. The diamicton units are interpreted as being composed of water-lain tills, lodgements tills and subaqueous flow deposits. The fine-grained sediment is though to have formed in a proglacial marine environment. Clast fabric of diamictons and deformation structures in underlying sands show that depositional directions for diamicton units and the direction of deformation for the sands is perpendicular to the ridge crests. Mainly based on this evidence, the ridges are thought to have formed by push at the glacier grounding line. The formation of transverse ridges (relative to ice flow) do occur in basal crevasses on modern glaciers, as do swarms of ridges along the front of retreating glaciers. The first mechanism of deposition does not seem to explain the ridges studied in the present paper and hence the importance of this process in the formation of De Geer moraines is questioned. The De Geer moraines were deposited by ice lobes advancing from one main fjord into another; therefore by studying the drainage pattern of the tributary lobes and their sequence of deglaciation, many features of the style of deglaciation of the ice sheet across the area can be determined. The northwestern part of the area was deglaciated earliest. After that, deglaciation proceeded to the southwest parallel to the coast. Subsequently the outer and the central part of Romsdalsfjorden were deglaciated causing ice to drain towards this fjord from both the north and south. The last fjord to be deglaciated was Storfjorden in the south.     

Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and sedimentary environments of the Severnaya Dvina‐Vychegda region in northwestern Russia

The Late Pleistocene stratigraphy from the Severnaya Dvina‐Vychegda region of northwestern Russia is revised based on investigations of new localities, revisiting earlier localities, introduction of about 110 new OSL dates and burial depth corrections of earlier published OSL dates, in addition to six new radiocarbon dates. Most of the OSL samples studied here are from fluvial and subaquaeous sediments, which we found to be well bleached. Six chronostratigraphical units and their sedimentary environment are described, with the oldest unit consisting of pre‐Eemian glacial beds. For the first time, Early Weichselian sediments are documented from the region and a fluvial environment with some vegetation and permafrost conditions is suggested to have persisted from the end of the Eemian until at least about 92 ka ago. The period in which a Middle Weichselian White Sea Lake could have existed is constrained to 67?62 ka, but as the lake level never reached the thresholds of the drainage basin, the lake probably existed only for a short interval within this time‐span. Blocking and reversal of fluvial drainage started again around 21?20 ka ago when the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet advanced into the area, reaching its maximum 17?15 ka ago. At that time, an ice‐dammed lake reached its maximum water level, which was around 135 m above present sea level. Drainage of the lake started shortly after 15 ka ago, and the lake was emptied within 700 years. Severe periglacial conditions, with permafrost and aeolian activity, prevailed in the area until about 10.7 ka.     

Using atmospheric fallout to date organic horizon layers and quantify metal dynamics during decomposition

High concentrations of metals in organic matter can inhibit decomposition and limit nutrient availability in ecosystems, but the long-term fate of metals bound to forest litter is poorly understood. Controlled experiments indicate that during the first few years of litter decay, Al, Fe, Pb, and other metals that form stable complexes with organic matter are naturally enriched by several hundred percent as carbon is oxidized. The transformation of fresh litter to humus takes decades, however, such that current datasets describing the accumulation and release of metals in decomposing organic matter are timescale limited. Here we use atmospheric ²¹⁰Pb to quantify the fate of metals in canopy-derived litter during burial and decay in coniferous forests in New England and Norway where decomposition rates are slow and physical soil mixing is minimal. We measure ²¹⁰Pb inventories in the O horizon and mineral soil and calculate a 60-630 year timescale for the production of mobile organo-metallic colloids from the decomposition of fresh forest detritus. This production rate is slowest at our highest elevation (∼1000 m) and highest latitude sites (>63°N) where decomposition rates are expected to be low.We calculate soil layer ages by assuming a constant supply of atmospheric ²¹⁰Pb and find that they are consistent with the distribution of geochemical tracers from weapons fallout, air pollution, and a direct ²⁰⁷Pb application at one site. By quantifying a gradient of organic matter ages with depth in the O horizon, we describe the accumulation and loss of metals in the soil profile as organic matter transforms from fresh litter to humus. While decomposition experiments predict that Al and Fe concentrations increase during the initial few years of decay, we show here that these metals continue to accumulate in humus for decades, and that enrichment occurs at a rate higher than can be explained by quantitative retention during decomposition alone. Acid extractable Al and Fe concentrations are higher in the humus layer of the O horizon than in the mineral soil immediately beneath this layer: it is therefore unlikely that physical soil mixing introduces significant Al and Fe to humus. This continuous enrichment of Al and Fe over time may best be explained by the recent suggestion that metals are mined from deeper horizons and brought into the O horizon via mycorrhizal plants. In sharp contrast to Al and Fe, we find that Mn concentrations in decomposing litter layers decrease exponentially with age, presumably because of leaching or rapid uptake, which may explain the low levels of acid extractable Mn in the mineral soil. This study quantifies how metals are enriched and lost in decomposing organic matter over a longer timescale than previous studies have been able to characterize. We also put new limits on the rate at which metals in litter become mobile organo-metallic complexes that can migrate to deeper soil horizons or surface waters.