Severnaya Zemlya, Arctic Russia: a nucleation area for Kara Sea ice sheets during the Middle to Late Quaternary

Quaternary glacial stratigraphy and relative sea-level changes reveal at least four expansions of the Kara Sea ice sheet over the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago at 79 degrees N in the Russian Arctic, as indicated from tills interbedded with marine sediments, exposed in stratigraphic superposition, and...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary Science Reviews
Main Authors: Möller, Per, Lubinski, D., Ingólfsson, Ó., Forman, S.L, Siedenkrantz, M-S., Bolshiyanov, D. Yu., Lokrantz, H., Antonov, O., Pavlov, ´M., Ljung, Karl, Zeeberg, J.J., Andreev, A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2006
Subjects:
Geology
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Kara Sea
Raised Beach
Severnaya Zemlya
Taymyr
Ice cap
Ice Sheet
Sea ice
Taymyr Peninsula
Online Access:https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/590638
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.02.016
Description
Summary:Quaternary glacial stratigraphy and relative sea-level changes reveal at least four expansions of the Kara Sea ice sheet over the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago at 79 degrees N in the Russian Arctic, as indicated from tills interbedded with marine sediments, exposed in stratigraphic superposition, and from raised-beach sequences that occur at altitudes up to 140 m a.s.l. Chronologic control is provided by AMS C-14, electron-spin resonance, green-stimulated luminescence, and aspartic-acid geochronology. Major glaciations followed by deglaciation and marine inundation occurred during MIS 10-9, MIS 8-7, MIS 6-5e and MIS 5d-3. The MIS 6-5e event, associated with the high marine limit, implies ice-sheet thickness of > 2000m only 200km from the deep Arctic Ocean, consistent with published evidence of ice grounding at similar to 1000m water depth in the central Arctic Ocean. Till fabrics and glacial tectonics record repeated expansions of local ice caps exclusively, suggesting wet-based ice cap advance followed by cold-based regional ice-sheet expansion. Local ice caps over highland sites along the perimeter of the shallow Kara Sea, including the Byrranga Mountains, appear to have repeatedly fostered initiation of a large Kara Sea ice sheet, with exception of the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS 2), when Kara Sea ice did not impact Severnaya Zemlya and barely graced northernmost Taymyr Peninsula.

Similar Items