Dynamics of the last glaciation in eastern Svalbard as inferred from glacier-movement indicators

• Published in: Polar Research
• Main Authors: Salvigsen, Otto, Adrielsson, Lena, Hjort, Christian, Kelly, Michael, Landvik, Jon Y., Ronnert, Lars
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 1995
• Subjects: Barents Sea; Edgeøya; glacier; Ice cap; Ice Sheet; Kong Karls Land; Nordaustlandet; Polar Research; Sea ice; Storfjorden; Svalbard; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/1944; https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v14i2.6660

Glacial striae and other ice movement indicators such as roche moutonées, glacial erratics, till fabric and glaciotectonic deformation have been used to reconstruct the Late Weichselian ice movements in the region of eastern Svalbard and the northern Barents Sea. The ice movement pattern may be divided into three main phases: (1) a maximum phase when ice flowed out of a centre east or southeast of Kong Karls Land. At this time the southern part of Spitsbergen was overrun by glacial ice from the Barents Sea; (2) the phase of deglaciation of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet, when an ice cap was centred between Kong Karls Land and Nordaustlandet. At the same time ice flowed southwards along Storfjorden; and (3) the last phase of the Late Weichselian glaciation in eastern Svalbard is represented by local ice caps on Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Barentsoya and Edgeøya. The reconstructed ice flow pattern during maximum glaciation is compatible with a centre of uplift in the northern Barents Sea as shown by isobase reconstructions and suggested by isostatic modelling.