Past glaciation and sea levels on Bjørnøya, Svalbard

• Published in: Polar Research
• Main Authors: Salvigsen, Otto, Slettemark, Øystein
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 1995
• Subjects: Barents Sea; Bjørnøya; Ice Sheet; Polar Research; Sea ice; Svalbard
• Online Access: https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/1950; https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v14i2.6666

Bjørnøya has a very thin cover of unconsolidated Quaternary sediments. Glacial erratics of local origin are spread throughout the lowland areas, and glacial striae indicate glacial movement which was centred middle of the island. No traces of the Barents Sea ice sheet have been observed on Bjørnøya, nor has there been any postglacial emergence of the island. Lake cores date the deglaciation of the lowlands to ca 10,000 BP, and peat deposits on high mountains show that these were deglaciated before 8700 bp.