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...
| Published in: | Boreas |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1996
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.1996.tb00640.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1502-3885.1996.tb00640.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1502-3885.1996.tb00640.x |
| Summary: | 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. |
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