| 1. |
- Alexanderson, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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An Arctic perspective on dating Mid-Late Pleistocene environmental history
- 2014
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 92, s. 9-31
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- To better understand Pleistocene climatic changes in the Arctic, integrated palaeoenvironmental andpalaeoclimatic signals from a variety of marine and terrestrial geological records as well as geochronologicage control are required, not least for correlation to extra-Arctic records. In this paper we discuss,from an Arctic perspective, methods and correlation tools that are commonly used to date ArcticPleistocene marine and terrestrial events. We review the state of the art of Arctic geochronology, withfocus on factors that affect the possibility and quality of dating, and support this overview by examples ofapplication of modern dating methods to Arctic terrestrial and marine sequences.Event stratigraphy and numerical ages are important tools used in the Arctic to correlate fragmentedterrestrial records and to establish regional stratigraphic schemes. Age control is commonly provided byradiocarbon, luminescence or cosmogenic exposure ages. Arctic Ocean deep-sea sediment successionscan be correlated over large distances based on geochemical and physical property proxies for sedimentcomposition, patterns in palaeomagnetic records and, increasingly, biostratigraphic data. Many of theseproxies reveal cyclical patterns that provide a basis for astronomical tuning.Recent advances in dating technology, calibration and age modelling allow for measuring smallerquantities of material and to more precisely date previously undatable material (i.e. foraminifera for 14C,and single-grain luminescence). However, for much of the Pleistocene there are still limits to the resolutionof most dating methods. Consequently improving the accuracy and precision (analytical andgeological uncertainty) of dating methods through technological advances and better understanding ofprocesses are important tasks for the future. Another challenge is to better integrate marine andterrestrial records, which could be aided by targeting continental shelf and lake records, exploringproxies that occur in both settings, and by creating joint research networks that promote collaborationbetween marine and terrestrial geologists and modellers.
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| 2. |
- Alexanderson, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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An interglacial polar bear and an early Weichselian glaciation at Poolepynten, western Svalbard
- 2013
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Ingår i: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 1502-3885 .- 0300-9483. ; 42:3, s. 532-543
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The recent discovery of a subfossil polar bear (Ursus maritimus) jawbone in the Poolepynten coastal cliff sequence, western Svalbard, and its implications for the natural history of the polar bear motivated an effort to better constrain the environmental history and age envelope of the Poolepynten sediment sequence. The focus of the present study is on the lithostratigraphy of the coastal cliffs and on re-dating the sequence using the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating technique. We report a revised lithostratigraphy and nine new OSL ages. It is concluded that the Poolepynten sequence contains evidence of four regional glaciation events, recorded in the strata as erosional unconformities or glacial deposits followed by shallow-marine deposition signifying transgressions and subsequent glacio-isostatic rebound and regression. Our OSL ages refine previous age determinations (14C and IRSL) and support the interpretation that the subfossil polar bear jawbone is probably of last interglacial (Eemian) age.
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| 3. |
- Alexanderson, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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The Seven Islands, Svalbard: glaciation at the margin
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- On the Seven Islands, north of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard, decreasing snow cover has made previously inaccessible stratigraphic sections in coastal cliffs possible to investigate. Sections on two of the islands, Phippsøya and Parryøya, reveal mainly raised marine deposits, representing one or more coarsening upward sequences (emergence cycles) at each site, which in turn imply preceding regional glaciations (cf. Alexanderson et al. in press). Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages are pending but radiocarbon (14C) ages and correlation to a previously studied site on Phippsøya (Forman and Ingólfsson 2000) suggest at least two events that occurred during the late Weichselian-early Holocene and prior to 40 14C ka BP, respectively. These results, along with observations of postglacial land uplift and of transport of erratic boulders to the islands, provide information on the glacial history and dynamics of an area close to the margin of the Svalbard-Barents Sea ice sheet.ReferencesAlexanderson, H., Henriksen, M., Ryen. H.T., Landvik, J.Y. and Peterson, G. in press. 200 ka of glacial events in NW Svalbard: An emergence cycle facies model and regional correlations. arktos. Forman, S.L. and Ingólfsson, Ó, 2000. Late Weichselian glacial history and postglacial emergence of Phippsøya, Sjuøyane, northern Svalbard: a comparison of modelled and empirical estimates of a glacial-rebound hinge line. Boreas 29, 16-25.
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| 4. |
- Benediktsson, Ivar, et al.
(författare)
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Instantaneous end moraine and sediment wedge formation during the 1890 glacier surge of Brúarjökull, Iceland
- 2008
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 27:3-4, s. 209-234
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Contemporary understanding of the behaviour of surging glaciers and ice streams is hampered by the lack of data on landsystem evolution and sedimentary environments. This study concerns the ice-marginal environment of the surge-type Brúarjökull in Iceland. The sediment distribution in the glacier forefield as well as the morphology, sedimentology and tectonic architecture of the 1890 end moraine is investigated for highlighting the interaction between very dynamic ice and sediment/landform associations. As a result of substrate/bedrock decoupling during the 1890 surge, subglacial sediment was dislocated across the bedrock surface and deformed compressively, leading to gradual substrate thickening and the formation of a sediment wedge in the marginal zone. A drop in subglacial porewater pressure at the very end of the surge led to substrate/bedrock coupling and a stress transfer up into the sediment sequence causing brittle deformation of the substrate. Simultaneously, the glacier toe ploughed into the topmost part of the marginal sediment wedge initiating the moraine-ridge construction. Fine-grained and incompetent sediment deformed in ductile manner, resulting in a narrow moraine dominated by rooted folds, while coarse-grained and competent sediment deformed in brittle fashion, resulting in a wider moraine dominated by thrust blocks. A new sequential model of subglacial and ice-marginal processes operating during a glacier surge is proposed, illustrating the stepwise formation of a marginal sediment wedge and an end moraine—a twofold, inseparable marginal end-product that formed during the last days of the 1890 surge.
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| 5. |
- Benediktsson, Ivar Örn, et al.
(författare)
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Architecture and structural evolution of an early Little Ice Age terminal moraine at the surge-type glacier Mulajokull, Iceland
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface. - 2169-9011 .- 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 120:9, s. 1895-1910
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The internal architecture and structural evolution of the Arnarfellsmular terminal moraine at Mulajokull, a surge-type glacier in central Iceland, is described in order to demonstrate submarginal and proglacial glaciotectonic processes during glacier surging, as well as constraining the age of the maximum extent of the glacier. The moraine is 4-7m high, 50-100m wide, and composed of a highly deformed sequence of loess, peat, and tephra that is draped by till up to the crest. The internal architecture is dominated by steep, high-amplitude overturned folds and thrusts in the crest zone but open, low-amplitude folds on the distal slope. Section balancing suggests a basal detachment (decollement) depth of 1.4m and a total horizontal shortening of around 59%. This implies that the glacier coupled to the foreland about 70m up glacier from its terminal position to initiate the formation of the moraine. The structural evolution is polyphase in that the formation commenced with low-amplitude open folding of the foreland, followed by overfolding and piggyback thrusting. Radiocarbon dating and analysis of tephra layers, along with historical references, indicate that the most likely time of moraine formation was between A.D. 1717 and 1760, which suggests that Mulajokull had its Little Ice Age maximum and most extensive surge earlier than many other surge-type glaciers in Iceland.
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| 6. |
- Benediktsson, Ívar Örn, et al.
(författare)
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Progressive formation of modern drumlins at Múlajökull, Iceland: stratigraphical and morphological evidence
- 2016
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Ingår i: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 0300-9483 .- 1502-3885. ; 45, s. 567-583
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2016 Collegium Boreas. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd The drumlin field at Múlajökull, Iceland, is considered to be an active field in that partly and fully ice-covered drumlins are being shaped by the current glacier regime. We test the hypothesis that the drumlins form by a combination of erosion and deposition during successive surge cycles. We mapped and measured 143 drumlins and studied their stratigraphy in four exposures. All exposures reveal several till units where the youngest till commonly truncates older tills on the drumlin flanks and proximal slope. Drumlins inside a 1992 moraine are relatively long and narrow whereas drumlins outside the moraine are wider and shorter. A conceptual model suggests that radial crevasses create spatial heterogeneity in normal stress on the bed so that deposition is favoured beneath crevasses and erosion in adjacent areas. Consequently, the crevasse pattern of the glacier controls the location of proto-drumlins. A feedback mechanism leads to continued crevassing and increased sedimentation at the location of the proto-drumlins. The drumlin relief and elongation ratio increases as the glacier erodes the sides and drapes a new till over the landform through successive surges. Our observations of this only known active drumlin field may have implications for the formation and morphological evolution of Pleistocene drumlin fields with similar composition, and our model may be tested on modern drumlins that may become exposed upon future ice retreat.
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| 7. |
- Cornell, David H., 1948, et al.
(författare)
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Evidence from Dwyka tillite cobbles of Archean basement beneath the Kalahari sands of southern Africa
- 2011
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Ingår i: Lithos. - 0024-4937. ; 125, s. 482-502
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have found a new source of information about what lies beneath the Kalahari sands. The Kheis and Rehoboth Provinces of southern Africa were thought to be underlain by either an ~1800 Ma orogenic belt, or a northern branch of the ~1200 Ma Namaqua–Natal Province. Glacial diamictites of the Permocarboniferous Dwyka Group exposed at Rietfontein west of the Kalahari sands carry cobbles plucked from the bedrock by the ice sheet which covered the Gondwana supercontinent about 300 Ma ago. Despite altered mineralogy, the cobbles are not severely altered geochemically. Their normative mineral compositions give classifications as trondhjemites and granites, supported by rare earth element diagrams. Microbeam U–Pb zircon dating of the granitic cobbles shows that they contain no evidence of crustal growth or orogeny at either 1800 or 1200 Ma. Rather they testify to the presence of 2500 to 2900 Ma Archaean trondhjemitic and granitic crust beneath the Kalahari, with a lesser ~2050 Ma granite component. The pebble assemblages from the diamictites we sampled lack the diagnostic banded iron formation (BIF), stromatolitic limestone and other supracrustal pebbles which characterise diamictites derived from the Kaapvaal Craton, thus we envisage shorter transport distances and derivation from the region now beneath the Kalahari sands. Three of the Archaean granite cobbles have unusual less-than-mantle zircon oxygen isotope values around +3 (δ18O VSMOW), which may reflect interaction of their source with high-temperature, originally meteoric water before melting to produce the granites. The mafic cobbles described in a companion paper are much younger and are related to intrusions of the 1.1 Ga Umkondo Large Igneous Province, probably located on the Kalahari Line or Rehoboth Province. Five trondhjemitic granites from the westernmost outcrops of the Kaapvaal Craton were dated, the oldest being 3061±9 Ma and four others between 2882±7 Ma and 2854±7 Ma, reflecting the cratonisation of the Kimberley Terrane. Four of the Archaean Dwyka cobbles we dated are younger than the 2.7 Ga Kaapvaal cover sequence and are thus too young to be derived from the craton. All the Dwyka cobbles described here are most likely derived from either the Rehoboth Province or the Kalahari Line with origins from the Kheis Province, Kaapvaal Craton, or further afield considered unlikely. We envisage the Rehoboth Province to consist of an Archaean core supplemented by Palaeoproterozoic granitoids, which was joined to the Kaapvaal Craton at an early stage of crustal development and played an important role during later tectonic events. This has important implications not only for the tectonic framework and assembly of Southern Africa, but also for exploration for diamonds and other ore deposits.
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| 8. |
- Farnsworth, Wesley R., et al.
(författare)
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Dynamic Holocene glacial history of St. Jonsfjorden, Svalbard
- 2017
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Ingår i: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 0300-9483. ; 46:3, s. 585-603
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evidence of a dynamic Holocene glacial history is preserved in the terrestrial and marine archives of St. Jonsfjorden, a small fjord-system on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard. High-resolution, remotely sensed imagery from marine and terrestrial environments was used to construct geomorphological maps that highlight an intricate glacial history of the entire fjord-system. The geomorphology and stratigraphy indicate an early Holocene local glacier advance constrained to the Lateglacial–early Holocene transition. Identification and 14C dating of the thermophilous bivalve mollusc Modiolus modiolus to 10.0±0.12 cal. ka BP suggest a rapid northward migration of the species shortly after deglaciation. Further evidence enhances the understanding of the onset and subsequent climax of the Neoglacial-Little Ice Age in inner St. Jonsfjorden. The present-day terminus of Osbornebreen, the dominating glacier system in St. Jonsfjorden, is located over 8.5 km up-fjord from its Neoglacial maximum extent. Cross-cutting relationships suggest subsequent advances of all the smaller glaciers in the area following the break-up of Osbornebreen. Glacial deposits, landforms and their cross-cutting relationships observed in both terrestrial and marine settings imply a complex and highly dynamic environment through the later part of the Holocene.
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| 9. |
- Farnsworth, Wesley R., et al.
(författare)
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Holocene glacial history of Svalbard : Status, perspectives and challenges
- 2020
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Ingår i: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-8252. ; 208
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We synthesize the current understanding of glacier activity on Svalbard from the end of the Late Pleistocene (12,000 yrs. before present) to the end of the Little Ice Age (c. 1920 AD). Our glacier history is derived from the SVALHOLA database, the first compilation of Holocene geochronology for Svalbard and the surrounding waters, including over 1,800 radiocarbon, terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide and optically stimulated luminescence ages. Data have been categorized by geological setting, uniformly (re-)calibrated, quality assessed and ultimately used to constrain glacier fluctuations (deglaciation, ice free conditions, glacier re-advances and ice marginal positions). We advance existing knowledge by mapping the extent and distribution of ice-cover during the Holocene glacial maximum and the glacial minimum, as well as present retreat rates (and percentages) within Early Holocene fjord-systems. Throughout the Holocene, Svalbard glaciers have responded to a varying combination of climatic, environmental and dynamic driving factors which influence both the extent and behavior of ice margins. We discuss the complexities of glacier systems and their dynamics in response to changes in climate. This review provides a holistic state of the art of Holocene glaciers on Svalbard, suitable for orienting future works which address gaps in our current knowledge.
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| 10. |
- Gudmundsdóttir, Esther Ruth, et al.
(författare)
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A new high-resolution Holocene tephra stratigraphy in eastern Iceland : Improving the Icelandic and North Atlantic tephrochronology
- 2016
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 150, s. 234-249
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new and improved Holocene tephra stratigraphy and tephrochronological framework for eastern and northern Iceland is presented. Investigations of a sediment sequence from Lake Lögurinn have revealed a comprehensive tephra record spanning the last 10.200 years. A total of 157 tephra layers have been identified, whereof 149 tephra layers have been correlated to its source volcanic system using geochemistry, stratigraphy and age. Fifteen layers have chemical composition of two affinities that possibly represent two very closely spaced eruptions. Thus, these 157 tephra layers are believed to represent 172 explosive eruptions. Nineteen tephra marker layers have been identified in the Lake Lögurinn record (G1922, A1875, V1477, V1410, H1636, K1625, Ö1362, G1354, K1262, V874, Hrafnkatla, Sn-1, Grákolla, HY, H3, H4, HÖ, LL1755 and Reitsvík-8 tephra markers). New potential tephra markers are the silicic Askja L (∼9400 cal BP), the low titanium basalt layers, LL 1774 (∼10.150 cal BP) and LL 1755 (∼9990 cal BP), assigned to Veidivötn-Bárdarbunga and the tephra layers, LL 1527.8 (∼7850 cal BP), LL 911.2 (∼2370 cal BP), LL 908.4 (∼2350 cal BP), LL 781.9 (∼1930 cal BP), LL 644.4 (∼1480 cal BP), not yet correlated to a source volcanic system. A silicic tephra marker layer, Reitsvík 8, correlated to the Fosen tephra in Norway has been identified in Lake Lögurinn. The Lake Lögurinn tephra record has been connected and integrated with the Icelandic terrestrial tephrochronology and stratigraphy through 102 tephra layers, the marine tephra stratigraphy through 39 layers and overseas through 9 tephra layers. This record is the first high-resolution tephra stratigraphical and chronological framework for the Holocene in eastern Iceland as well as the most detailed and continuous record, and has considerable potential to serve as a key section or a stratotype for the Holocene in eastern Iceland and the North Atlantic.
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