Holocene ice-free strait followed by dynamic Neoglacial fluctuations: Hornsund, Svalbard ...

• Main Authors: Osika, Aleksandra, Jania, Jacek, Szafraniec, Joanna Ewa
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: SAGE Journals 2022
• Subjects: Geography; History; Greenland; Hambergbreen; Hornbreen; Hornsund; Svalbard; Treskelen; glacier
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25384/sage.c.5965162.v1; https://sage.figshare.com/collections/Holocene_ice-free_strait_followed_by_dynamic_Neoglacial_fluctuations_Hornsund_Svalbard/5965162/1

The recession of the Hornbreen-Hambergbreen glaciers (Hornsund, Svalbard) will lead to the formation of a strait between the Greenland and Barents Seas within a few decades. We provide evidence for the earlier existence of this strait, in the Early–Middle Holocene and presumably since 1.3 ka cal. BP until glacier advance 0.7 ± 0.3 ka or earlier. Radiocarbon dating of mollusc shells from the ground moraines in the Hornbreen forefield indicate the existence of the marine environment at the contemporary glacierized head of Hornsund since 10.9 ka cal. BP or earlier due to glacier retreat. The gap in the radiocarbon dates between 3.9 and 1.3 ka cal. BP and the published results of 10 Be exposure dating on Treskelen suggest the strait’s closure after glacier advance in the Neoglacial. Subsequent re-opening occurred around 1.3 ka cal. BP, but according to 10 Be dates from Treskelen, the strait has again been closed since ca. 0.7 ± 0.3 ka or earlier. The oldest known surge of Hornbreen occurred around 1900. Analysis ...