Stratigraphical signatures of glacier activity, marine processes and a possible tsunami in the Leirfjorden fjord‐valley system, north Norway

• Published in: Boreas
• Main Authors: Hansen, Louise, Bøe, Reidulv, Sveian, Harald, Husum, Katrine
• Other Authors: Norwegian Water Resource and Energy Directorate
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2018
• Subjects: Bardal; Nordli; Norway; glacier; North Norway
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bor.12311; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fbor.12311; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/bor.12311

An integrated interpretation of on‐ and offshore stratigraphical records at Leirfjorden, north Norway, reveals new aspects of the area's palaeoenvironmental history. The study is based on marine sparker data and well‐exposed sections on land that were analysed for their sediment facies, mineralogy and fossil assemblages. Existing research and new radiocarbon dates provide a chronological framework for the interpretation. The late Younger Dryas Nordli substage type locality in the Leirfjorden catchment is revised and found to reflect local glacial activity, maybe a collapse of stagnant ice rather than glacier advance, while late Younger Dryas to Preboreal glacier re‐advances south of Leirfjorden and near Ranfjorden are here named the Bardal substage. The stratigraphical record includes pre‐Younger Dryas, valley‐crossing, glacial striae and old till with provenance of resistant bedrock typical of more elevated mountain areas. It differs from younger till units representing topographically controlled glacier movement. Part of the Leirfjorden fjord‐valley system is located between the main glacial and fluvial drainage paths affecting the sediment supply. As a result, highstand deposits are indistinct and fluvial sediments form only a minor part of the forced‐regressive systems tract. Instead, the valley fill overlying till and subtill sediments is dominated by the deglacial transgressive tract and a forced‐regressive systems tract with composite marine deposits and various marine erosion surfaces. A special event bed is interpreted as a possible tsunami deposit caused by seismicity and/or mass‐wasting in the fjord following glacier retreat. The study highlights the stratigraphical complexity of interconnected fjord and sound systems in a low accretion setting.