3D sedimentary architecture showing the inception of an Ice Age

Abstract Northeast Atlantic climate shifted into the Quaternary Ice Age around 2.6 M yr ago. Until now, however, the detailed changes associated with this inception of an Ice Age have remained obscure. New high-quality three-dimensional seismic data reveal a detailed geological record of buried surf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Løseth, H., Dowdeswell, J. A., Batchelor, C. L., Ottesen, D.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16776-7
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16776-7.pdf
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16776-7
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Summary:Abstract Northeast Atlantic climate shifted into the Quaternary Ice Age around 2.6 M yr ago. Until now, however, the detailed changes associated with this inception of an Ice Age have remained obscure. New high-quality three-dimensional seismic data reveal a detailed geological record of buried surfaces, landforms and sedimentary architecture over vast parts of the Norwegian North Sea. Here, we show the sequence of near-coast geological events spanning the Northeast Atlantic inception of an Ice Age. We identify the location of immediate pre-glacial fluvially derived sandy systems where rivers from the Norwegian mainland built marine deltas. The stratigraphic position of a large submarine channel, formed by enhanced meltwater from initial build-up of local glaciers, is also shown. Finally, we document the transition to full ice-sheet growth over Scandinavia from the ice sheet’s earliest position to the later pattern of debris-flow lobes reaching the present-day shelf edge.