Holocene moraine chronology, Spitsbergen, Svalbard: lichenometric evidence for multiple Neoglacial advances in the Arctic

• Published in: The Holocene
• Main Author: Werner, A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1993
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; Svalbard; glacier; Greenland Sea; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095968369300300204; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/095968369300300204

Late Holocene (Neoglacial) moraines occurring within 1 or 2 km of present glacier margins are prominent features in the forefields of Spitsbergen glaciers. 'Little Ice Age' moraines are typically the most extensive and best preserved; moraines of older Holocene advances are much less common. Where observed, older moraines occur as moraine remnants and provide irrefutable evidence of earlier Neoglacial advances. The fragmentary moraine record indicates two 'Little Ice Age' advances and two older Neoglacial advances. Lichenometry provides calibrated ages for periods of moraine stabilization. The oldest moraines stabilized by ca. 1500 years ago, and a second group of moraines stabilized by ca. 1000 years ago. 'Little Ice Age' moraines were deposited during two periods: an early group of moraines stabilized ca. 650 years ago and a later group during the last several centuries. The proposed moraine chronology compares well with other proxy climate records on Spitsbergen and with moraine records from areas bordering the Norwegian-Greenland Sea.