Persistence of Holocene ice cap in northeast Svalbard aided by glacio-isostatic rebound
The deglaciation of the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet was driven by relative sea-level rise, the incursion of North Atlantic waters around Spitsbergen, and increasing summer insolation. However, ice retreat was interrupted by asynchronous re-advances that occurred into high relative seas, during a...
Published in: | Quaternary Science Reviews |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2024
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/persistence-of-holocene-ice-cap-in-northeast-svalbard-aided-by-glacioisostatic-rebound(cc55b5ab-b913-4ab6-afda-dfa9a6e39f09).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108625 https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/389307722/1_s2.0_S0277379124001264_main.pdf |
Summary: | The deglaciation of the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet was driven by relative sea-level rise, the incursion of North Atlantic waters around Spitsbergen, and increasing summer insolation. However, ice retreat was interrupted by asynchronous re-advances that occurred into high relative seas, during a period associated with warm regional waters and elevated summer temperatures. Better understanding of this complex style of deglaciation and the dynamic response to a warming climate can serve as an important analogue for modern warming and today's ice sheets. We present evidence from northern Svalbard of glacier re-advances during the Late Glacial-Early Holocene in hand with relative sea-level history and the occurrence of thermophilous molluscs. We argue that glacio-isostatic adjustment during the transition into the Holocene influenced ice marginal dynamics and as a result, the southern region of the Åsgardfonna ice cap persisted through the Holocene Thermal Maximum. |
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