Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape

The origins and Pleistocene evolution of plateau landscapes along passive continental margins of the North Atlantic have been debated for more than a century. A key question in this debate concerns whether glacial and periglacial surface processes have substantially eroded plateau areas during late...

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Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
Main Authors: Andersen, J. L., Egholm, D. L., Knudsen, M. F., Linge, H., Jansen, J. D., Goodfellow, B. W., Pedersen, V. K., Tikhomirov, D., Olsen, J., Fredin, O.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/892222ee-9415-4d73-8388-605c3bd2944e
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004670
https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/142243632/Andersen_et_al_2018_Journal_of_Geophysical_Research_Earth_Surface.pdf
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spelling ftuniaarhuspubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/892222ee-9415-4d73-8388-605c3bd2944e 2024-06-23T07:55:12+00:00 Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape Andersen, J. L. Egholm, D. L. Knudsen, M. F. Linge, H. Jansen, J. D. Goodfellow, B. W. Pedersen, V. K. Tikhomirov, D. Olsen, J. Fredin, O. 2018-12 application/pdf https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/892222ee-9415-4d73-8388-605c3bd2944e https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004670 https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/142243632/Andersen_et_al_2018_Journal_of_Geophysical_Research_Earth_Surface.pdf eng eng https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/892222ee-9415-4d73-8388-605c3bd2944e info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Andersen , J L , Egholm , D L , Knudsen , M F , Linge , H , Jansen , J D , Goodfellow , B W , Pedersen , V K , Tikhomirov , D , Olsen , J & Fredin , O 2018 , ' Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape ' , Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface , vol. 123 , no. 12 , pp. 3370-3387 . https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004670 Cosmogenic nuclides Glacial erosion in-situ 10Be/26Al Mountain plateaus Periglacial processes Regolith weathering article 2018 ftuniaarhuspubl https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004670 2024-06-11T14:19:17Z The origins and Pleistocene evolution of plateau landscapes along passive continental margins of the North Atlantic have been debated for more than a century. A key question in this debate concerns whether glacial and periglacial surface processes have substantially eroded plateau areas during late Cenozoic climatic cooling or whether the plateaus have mainly been protected from erosion by cold-based and largely nonerosive ice sheets. Here we investigate the Pleistocene evolution of a prominent plateau landscape in Reinheimen National Park, southern Norway. We estimate erosion rates across the plateau via inverse modeling of 141 new cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al measurements in regolith profiles and bedrock. We combine these results with sedimentological analyses of the regolith. In the vicinity of Reinheimen's regolith-covered summits, the combination of uniformly slow erosion (<10 m/Myr) and near-parabolic slope geometry suggests long-term equilibrium with the presently active periglacial mass-wasting processes. Outside summit areas, erosion is faster (up to >50 m/Myr), possibly due to episodic glacial erosion. Despite some indications of chemical alteration, such as grusic saprolite and small amounts of secondary minerals, the fine regolith comprises low clay/silt ratios and is dominated by primary minerals with no sign of dissolution. Together with our modeled erosion rates, this indicates that the regolith cover formed, and continues to develop, during the cold climate of the Late Pleistocene. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Aarhus University: Research Norway Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 123 12 3370 3387
institution Open Polar
collection Aarhus University: Research
op_collection_id ftuniaarhuspubl
language English
topic Cosmogenic nuclides
Glacial erosion
in-situ 10Be/26Al
Mountain plateaus
Periglacial processes
Regolith weathering
spellingShingle Cosmogenic nuclides
Glacial erosion
in-situ 10Be/26Al
Mountain plateaus
Periglacial processes
Regolith weathering
Andersen, J. L.
Egholm, D. L.
Knudsen, M. F.
Linge, H.
Jansen, J. D.
Goodfellow, B. W.
Pedersen, V. K.
Tikhomirov, D.
Olsen, J.
Fredin, O.
Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape
topic_facet Cosmogenic nuclides
Glacial erosion
in-situ 10Be/26Al
Mountain plateaus
Periglacial processes
Regolith weathering
description The origins and Pleistocene evolution of plateau landscapes along passive continental margins of the North Atlantic have been debated for more than a century. A key question in this debate concerns whether glacial and periglacial surface processes have substantially eroded plateau areas during late Cenozoic climatic cooling or whether the plateaus have mainly been protected from erosion by cold-based and largely nonerosive ice sheets. Here we investigate the Pleistocene evolution of a prominent plateau landscape in Reinheimen National Park, southern Norway. We estimate erosion rates across the plateau via inverse modeling of 141 new cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al measurements in regolith profiles and bedrock. We combine these results with sedimentological analyses of the regolith. In the vicinity of Reinheimen's regolith-covered summits, the combination of uniformly slow erosion (<10 m/Myr) and near-parabolic slope geometry suggests long-term equilibrium with the presently active periglacial mass-wasting processes. Outside summit areas, erosion is faster (up to >50 m/Myr), possibly due to episodic glacial erosion. Despite some indications of chemical alteration, such as grusic saprolite and small amounts of secondary minerals, the fine regolith comprises low clay/silt ratios and is dominated by primary minerals with no sign of dissolution. Together with our modeled erosion rates, this indicates that the regolith cover formed, and continues to develop, during the cold climate of the Late Pleistocene.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Andersen, J. L.
Egholm, D. L.
Knudsen, M. F.
Linge, H.
Jansen, J. D.
Goodfellow, B. W.
Pedersen, V. K.
Tikhomirov, D.
Olsen, J.
Fredin, O.
author_facet Andersen, J. L.
Egholm, D. L.
Knudsen, M. F.
Linge, H.
Jansen, J. D.
Goodfellow, B. W.
Pedersen, V. K.
Tikhomirov, D.
Olsen, J.
Fredin, O.
author_sort Andersen, J. L.
title Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape
title_short Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape
title_full Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape
title_fullStr Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape
title_full_unstemmed Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape
title_sort pleistocene evolution of a scandinavian plateau landscape
publishDate 2018
url https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/892222ee-9415-4d73-8388-605c3bd2944e
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004670
https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/142243632/Andersen_et_al_2018_Journal_of_Geophysical_Research_Earth_Surface.pdf
geographic Norway
geographic_facet Norway
genre North Atlantic
genre_facet North Atlantic
op_source Andersen , J L , Egholm , D L , Knudsen , M F , Linge , H , Jansen , J D , Goodfellow , B W , Pedersen , V K , Tikhomirov , D , Olsen , J & Fredin , O 2018 , ' Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape ' , Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface , vol. 123 , no. 12 , pp. 3370-3387 . https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004670
op_relation https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/892222ee-9415-4d73-8388-605c3bd2944e
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004670
container_title Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
container_volume 123
container_issue 12
container_start_page 3370
op_container_end_page 3387
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