Lake sediments with Azorean tephra reveal ice-free conditions on coastal northwest Spitsbergen during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Lake sediments retrieved from the beds of former nonerosive ice sheets offer unique possibilities to constrain changes in the extent and style of past glaciation, and place them in an absolutely dated context. We present the first pre-Holocene lake sediments from Arctic Svalbard. Radiocarbon dating...
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/298282 2023-07-30T04:01:46+02:00 Lake sediments with Azorean tephra reveal ice-free conditions on coastal northwest Spitsbergen during the Last Glacial Maximum. van der Bilt, Willem GM Lane, Christine S 2019-10 Electronic-eCollection application/pdf https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.45337 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/298282 eng eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Sci Adv doi:10.17863/CAM.45337 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/298282 Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 13 Climate Action Article 2019 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.45337 2023-07-10T22:05:58Z Lake sediments retrieved from the beds of former nonerosive ice sheets offer unique possibilities to constrain changes in the extent and style of past glaciation, and place them in an absolutely dated context. We present the first pre-Holocene lake sediments from Arctic Svalbard. Radiocarbon dating of terrestrial plant fossils reveals that the investigated catchment was unglaciated and vegetated between 30 and 20 ka B.P. during the global Last Glacial Maximum. The presence of volcanic ash from a contemporaneous Azorean eruption also provides evidence for ice-free conditions. Indicators of sediment compaction and a depositional hiatus suggest subsequent coverage by nonerosive ice until 11 ka B.P. Comparison with regional paleoclimate data indicates that sea ice variability controlled this pattern of ice sheet evolution by modulating moisture supply. Facing rapid regional sea ice losses, our findings have implications for the future response of the Arctic's cryosphere, a major driver of global sea-level rise. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice Sheet Sea ice Svalbard Spitsbergen Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository Arctic Svalbard |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
13 Climate Action |
spellingShingle |
13 Climate Action van der Bilt, Willem GM Lane, Christine S Lake sediments with Azorean tephra reveal ice-free conditions on coastal northwest Spitsbergen during the Last Glacial Maximum. |
topic_facet |
13 Climate Action |
description |
Lake sediments retrieved from the beds of former nonerosive ice sheets offer unique possibilities to constrain changes in the extent and style of past glaciation, and place them in an absolutely dated context. We present the first pre-Holocene lake sediments from Arctic Svalbard. Radiocarbon dating of terrestrial plant fossils reveals that the investigated catchment was unglaciated and vegetated between 30 and 20 ka B.P. during the global Last Glacial Maximum. The presence of volcanic ash from a contemporaneous Azorean eruption also provides evidence for ice-free conditions. Indicators of sediment compaction and a depositional hiatus suggest subsequent coverage by nonerosive ice until 11 ka B.P. Comparison with regional paleoclimate data indicates that sea ice variability controlled this pattern of ice sheet evolution by modulating moisture supply. Facing rapid regional sea ice losses, our findings have implications for the future response of the Arctic's cryosphere, a major driver of global sea-level rise. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van der Bilt, Willem GM Lane, Christine S |
author_facet |
van der Bilt, Willem GM Lane, Christine S |
author_sort |
van der Bilt, Willem GM |
title |
Lake sediments with Azorean tephra reveal ice-free conditions on coastal northwest Spitsbergen during the Last Glacial Maximum. |
title_short |
Lake sediments with Azorean tephra reveal ice-free conditions on coastal northwest Spitsbergen during the Last Glacial Maximum. |
title_full |
Lake sediments with Azorean tephra reveal ice-free conditions on coastal northwest Spitsbergen during the Last Glacial Maximum. |
title_fullStr |
Lake sediments with Azorean tephra reveal ice-free conditions on coastal northwest Spitsbergen during the Last Glacial Maximum. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lake sediments with Azorean tephra reveal ice-free conditions on coastal northwest Spitsbergen during the Last Glacial Maximum. |
title_sort |
lake sediments with azorean tephra reveal ice-free conditions on coastal northwest spitsbergen during the last glacial maximum. |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.45337 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/298282 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Ice Sheet Sea ice Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice Sheet Sea ice Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_relation |
doi:10.17863/CAM.45337 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/298282 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.45337 |
_version_ |
1772812520628682752 |