| 1. |
- Bernhardt, H., et al.
(author)
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Debris flow recurrence periods and multi-temporal observations of colluvial fan evolution in central Spitsbergen (Svalbard)
- 2017
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In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X. ; 296, s. 132-141
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fan-shaped accumulations of debris flow deposits are common landforms in polar regions such as Svalbard. Although depositional processes in these environments are of high interest to climate as well as Mars-analog research, several parameters, e.g., debris flow recurrence periods, remain poorly constrained. Here, we present an investigation based on remote sensing as well as in situ data of a similar to 0.4 km(2) large colluvial fan in Hanaskogdalen, central Spitsbergen. We analyzed high resolution satellite and aerial images covering five decades from 1961 to 2014 and correlated them with lichenometric dating as well as meteorological data. Image analyses and lichenometry deliver consistent results and show that the recurrence period of large debris flows (>= 400 m(3)) is about 5 to 10 years, with smaller flows averaging at two per year in the period from 2008 to 2013. While this is up to two orders of magnitude shorter than previous estimates for Svalbard (80 to 500 years), we found the average volume of -220 m(3) per individual flow to be similar to previous estimates for the region. Image data also reveal that an avulsion took place between 1961 and 1976, when the active part of the fan moved from its eastern to its western portion. A case study of the effects of a light rain event (similar to 5 mm/day) in the rainy summer of 2013, which triggered a large debris flow, further shows that even light precipitation can trigger major flows. This is made possible by multiple light rain events or gradual snow melt pre-saturating the permafrost ground and has to be taken into account when predicting the likelihood of potentially hazardous mass wasting in polar regions. Furthermore, our findings imply a current net deposition rate on the colluvial fan of similar to 480 m(3)/year, which is slightly less than the integrated net deposition rate of 576 to 720 m(3)/year resulting from the current fan volume divided by the 12,500 to 10,000 years since the onset of fan build-up after the area's deglaciation. However, the actual deposition rate, which should increase in a warmer climate including more rain, cannot be constrained due to effects like ongoing toe-cutting of the debris fan and some flows only causing internal redistributions.
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| 2. |
- Chaffin, Brian C., et al.
(author)
-
Social-ecological resilience and geomorphic systems
- 2018
-
In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X. ; 305, s. 221-230
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Governance of coupled social-ecological systems (SESs) and the underlying geomorphic processes that structure and alter Earth's surface is a key challenge for global sustainability amid the increasing uncertainty and change that defines the Anthropocene. Social-ecological resilience as a concept of scientific inquiry has contributed to new understandings of the dynamics of change in SESs, increasing our ability to contextualize and implement governance in these systems. Often, however, the importance of geomorphic change and geomorphological knowledge is somewhat missing from processes employed to inform SES governance. In this contribution, we argue that geomorphology and social-ecological resilience research should be integrated to improve governance toward sustainability. We first provide definitions of engineering, ecological, community, and social-ecological resilience and then explore the use of these concepts within and alongside geomorphology in the literature. While ecological studies often consider geomorphology as an important factor influencing the resilience of ecosystems and geomorphological studies often consider the engineering resilience of geomorphic systems of interest, very few studies define and employ a social-ecological resilience framing and explicitly link the concept to geomorphic systems. We present five key concepts—scale, feedbacks, state or regime, thresholds and regime shifts, and humans as part of the system—which we believe can help explicitly link important aspects of social-ecological resilience inquiry and geomorphological inquiry in order to strengthen the impact of both lines of research. Finally, we discuss how these five concepts might be used to integrate social-ecological resilience and geomorphology to better understand change in, and inform governance of, SESs.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Ebert, Karin, 1976-, et al.
(author)
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Unequal ice-sheet erosional impacts across low-relief shield terrain in northern Fennoscandia
- 2015
-
In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 233:SI, s. 64-74
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Much previous work on Late Cenozoic glacial erosion patterns in bedrock has focussed on mountain areas. Here we identify varying impacts of ice sheet erosion on the low-relief bedrock surface of the Fennoscandian shield, and examine the geological, topographical and glaciological controls on these patterns.We combine GIS-mapping of topographical, hydrological and weathering data with field observations. We identify and investigate areas with similar geology and general low relief that show different degrees of ice sheet erosional impact, despite similar ice cover histories. On two transects with a total area of ~ 84 000 km2 across the northern Fennoscandian shield, we first establish patterns of glacial erosion and then examine why glacially streamlined areas exist adjacent to areas of negligible glacial erosion. The northern transect includes two areas of exceptional glacial preservation, the Parkajoki area in Sweden and the so-called ice divide zone in Finland, each of which preserve tors and deep saprolite covers. The southern transect, overlapping in the northern part with the first transect, includes areas of well developed glacial streamlining, with bedrock areas stripped of loose material and barely any weathering remnants.For both areas, we firstly present contrasting indicators for ice sheet erosional impact: streamlined and non-streamlined inselbergs; parallel and dendritic/rectangular drainage patterns; and the absence and presence of Neogene weathering remnants. This is followed by an investigation of factors that possibly influence ice sheet erosional impact: ice cover history, ice cover duration and thickness, bedrock type and structure, and topography.We find that the erosional impact of the Fennoscandian ice sheet has varied across the study area. Distinct zones of ice sheet erosion are identified in which indicators of either low or high erosion coexist in the same parts of the transects. No direct impact of rock type on glacial erosion patterns was found, but an indirect control appears clear. Bedrock geology and long-term differential weathering and tectonic evolution determined the topography of the pre-glacial landscape, and these topographic differences subsequently influenced ice sheet dynamics and thereby partly controlled patterns of ice sheet erosion. Ice cover duration and former ice thickness were not significant controls on glacial erosion patterns. Extensive preservation of pre-glacial relief through low glacial erosion is attributed to the maintenance throughout the Pleistocene of divergent flow and frozen-bed conditions in the Fennoscandian ice sheet. In contrast, glacial streamlining and strong glacial erosion were caused mainly by acceleration of flow around major obstacles and flow towards major depressions on the ice sheet bed. The relatively strong ice sheet erosion towards the Gulf of Bothnia is the result of a combination of favourable factors: bedrock structure and river valleys aligned sub-parallel to ice sheet flow and convergent ice flow towards the Baltic.
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| 5. |
- Ely, Jeremy C., et al.
(author)
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Do subglacial bedforms comprise a size and shape continuum?
- 2016
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In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 257, s. 108-119
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the evolution of the ice-bed interface is fundamentally important for gaining insight into the dynamics of ice masses and how subglacial landforms are created. However, the formation of the suite of landforms generated at this boundary - subglacial bedforms - is a contentious issue that is yet to be fully resolved. Bedforms formed in aeolian, fluvial, and marine environments either belong to separate morphological populations or are thought to represent a continuum of forms generated by the same governing processes. For subglacial bedforms, a size and shape continuum has been hypothesised, yet it has not been fully tested. Here we analyse the largest data set of subglacial bedform size and shape measurements ever collated (96,900 bedforms). Our results show that flutes form a distinct population of narrow bedforms. However, no clear distinction was found between drumlins and megascale glacial lineations (MSGLs), which form a continuum of subglacial lineations. A continuum of subglacial ribs also exists, with no clear size or shape distinctions indicating separate populations. Furthermore, an underreported class of bedform with no clear orientation to ice flow (quasi-circular bedforms) overlaps with the ribbed and lineation continua and typically occurs in spatial transition zones between the two, potentially merging these three bedform types into a larger continuum.
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| 6. |
- Freire, Francis, et al.
(author)
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High resolution mapping of offshore and onshore glaciogenic features in metamorphic bedrock terrain, Melville Bay, northwestern Greenland
- 2015
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In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 250, s. 29-40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Geomorphological studies of previously glaciated landscapes are important to understand how ice sheets and glaciers respond to rapidly changing climate. Melville Bay, in northwestern Greenland, contains some of the most sensitive but least studied ice sheet sectors in the northern hemisphere, where the bathymetric knowledge previously was restricted to a few sparsely distributed single beam echo soundings. We present here the results of high-resolution, geomorphological mapping of the offshore and onshore landscapes in Melville Bay using multibeam sonar and satellite data, at 5- and 10-m resolutions respectively. The results show a similar areally-scoured bedrock-dominated landscape with a glacially modified cnoc-and-lochan morphology on the inner shelf (150-500 m depth) and on the nearby exposed coast. This is manifested by the presence of U-shaped troughs, moutonee-type elongated landforms, stoss-and-lee forms, and streamlined features. The submarine landscape shows features that are characteristic of bedrock in folded, faulted, and weathered metamorphic terrain, and, to a lesser extent, glacially molded bedforms; while coastal landforms exhibit higher relief, irregular-shaped basins, and more subdued fracture valleys. Although generally similar, the onshore and offshore landscapes contain examples of distinctly different landform patterns, which are interpreted to reflect a longer exposure to long-term deep weathering as well as to more recent periglacial weathering processes on land. The spatial variability in the distribution of landforms across the landscape in both study areas is mostly attributed to differences in lithological properties of the bedrock. The lack of sediment cover on the inner shelf is likely a result of a capacity for sediment erosion and removal by the West Greenland Current flowing northward over the area in combination with limited sediment supply from long sea ice-cover seasons. The distribution and orientation of the landforms in the offshore part indicate ice movement toward the NW, and suggests that this area acted as a tributary or onset region for the major paleo ice stream that formed the present day Melville Bay Trough.
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| 7. |
- Hall, Adrian M., 1955-, et al.
(author)
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Late Cenozoic deep weathering patterns on the Fennoscandian shield in northern Finland : A window on ice sheet bed conditions at the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation
- 2015
-
In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 246, s. 472-488
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The nature of the regolith that existed on the shields of the Northern Hemisphere at the onset of ice sheet glaciation is poorly constrained. In this paper, we provide the first detailed account of an exceptionally preserved, deeply weathered late Neogene landscape in the ice sheet divide zone in northern Finland. We mine data sets of drilling and pitting records gathered by the Geological Survey of Finland to reconstruct regional preglacial deep weathering patterns within a GIS framework. Using a large geochemical data set, we give standardised descriptions of saprolite geochemistry using a variant of the Weathering Index of Parker (WIP) as a proxy to assess the intensity of weathering. We also focus on mineral prospects and mines with dense pit and borehole data coverage in order to identify links between geology, topography, and weathering.Geology is closely linked to topography on the preglacial shield landscape of northern Finland and both factors influence weathering patterns. Upstanding, resistant granulite, granite, gabbro, metabasalt, and quartzite rocks were associated with fresh rock outcrops, including tors, or with thin (< 5 m) grusses. Plains developed across less resistant biotite gneisses, greenstones, and belts of alternating rock types were mainly weathered to thick (10–20 m) grusses with WIPfines values above 3000 and 4000. Beneath valley floors developed along mineralised shear and fracture zones, weathering penetrated locally to depths of > 50 m and included intensely weathered kaolinitic clays with WIPfines values below 1000.Late Neogene weathering profiles were varied in character. Tripartite clay–gruss–saprock profiles occur only in limited areas. Bipartite gruss–saprock profiles were widespread, with saprock thicknesses of > 10 m. Weathering profiles included two discontinuities in texture, materials and resistance to erosion, between saprolite and saprock and between saprock and rock. Limited core recovery when drilling below the soil base in mixed rocks of the Tana Belt indicates that weathering locally penetrated deep below upper fresh rock layers. Such deep-seated weathered bands in rock represent a third set of discontinuities. Incipient weathering and supergene mineralisation also extended to depths of > 100 m in mineralised fracture zones. The thin weathering crusts found extensively beneath till may represent types of early or middle Pleistocene palaeosols.We confirm that glacial erosion has been very limited (< 20 m) in northern Finland and has been widely restricted to the partial stripping of saprolith. The Fennoscandian Ice Sheet in this ice-divide zone remained cold-based and unerosive throughout the Pleistocene. The large-scale shield geomorphology developed before glaciation and is a product of differential weathering and erosion acting on diverse rock types and structures through the Neogene. The first ice sheets did not advance across planar, uniformly soft, deeply kaolinised beds as proposed in recent models of the Laurentide ice sheet. Instead, in northern Finland, the shield topography comprised broad plains and valleys with isolated hills and hill masses, with a relative relief of several hundred metres. Weathered rock was restricted in its distribution and thickness and provided diverse bed materials for ice sheets, including rock, broken saprock, permeable gruss, and linear zones of impermeable clay, with multiple discontinuities. Glacial erosion and local glacial transport led to widespread incorporation of this saprolith material into tills.
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| 8. |
- Korsgaard, Niels J., et al.
(author)
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Spatial distribution of erosion and deposition during a glacier surge: Bruarjokull, Iceland
- 2015
-
In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X. ; 250, s. 258-270
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Time-series of digital elevation models (DEMs) of the forefield of the Bruarjokull surge-type glacier in Iceland were used to quantify the volume of material that was mobilized by the 1963-1964 surge. The DEMs were produced by stereophotogrammetry on aerial photographs from before the surge (1961) and after (1988 and 2003). The analysis was performed on two DEMs of Difference (DoDs), i.e., a 1961-2003 DoD documenting the impact of the surge and a 1988-2003 DoD documenting the post-surge modification of the juvenile surging glacier landsystem. Combined with a digital geomorphological map, the DoDs allow us to quantify the impact of the surge on a landsystem scale down to individual landforms. A total of 34.2 +/- 11.3 x 10(6) m(3) of material was mobilized in the 30.7-km(2) study area as a result of the most recent surge event Of these, 17.4 +/- 6.6 x 10(6) m(3) of the material were eroded and 16.8 +/- 4.7 x 10(6) m(3) were deposited. More than half of the deposited volume was ice-cored landforms. This study demonstrates that although the total mobilized mass volume is high, the net volume gain of ice and sediment deposited as landforms in the forefield caused by the surge is low. Furthermore, deposition of new dead-ice from the 1963-1964 surge constitutes as much as 64% of the volume gain in the forefield. The 1988-2003 DoD is used to quantify the melt-out of this dead-ice and other paraglacial modification of the recently deglaciated forefield of Bruarjokull. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Levy, J. S., et al.
(author)
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Decadal topographic change in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica : Thermokarst subsidence, glacier thinning, and transfer of water storage from the cryosphere to the hydrosphere
- 2018
-
In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 323, s. 80-97
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent local-scale observations of glaciers, streams, and soil surfaces in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica (MDV) have documented evidence for rapid ice loss, glacial thinning, and ground surface subsidence associated with melting of ground ice. To evaluate the extent, magnitude, and location of decadal-scale landscape change in the MDV, we collected airborne lidar elevation data in 2014-2015 and compared these data to a 2001-2002 airborne lidar campaign. This regional assessment of elevation change spans the recent acceleration of warming and melting observed by long-term meteorological and ecosystem response experiments, allowing us to assess the response of MDV surfaces to warming and potential thawing feedbacks. We find that locations of thermokarst subsidence are strongly associated with the presence of excess ground ice and with proximity to surface or shallow subsurface (active layer) water. Subsidence occurs across soil types and landforms, in low-lying, low-slope areas with impeded drainage and also high on steep valley walls. Glacier thinning is widespread and is associated with the growth of fine-scale roughness. Pond levels are rising in most closed-basin lakes in the MDV, across all microclimate zones. These observations highlight the continued importance of insolation-driven melting in the MDV. The regional melt pattern is consistent with an overall transition of water storage from the local cryosphere (glaciers, permafrost) to the hydrosphere (dosed basin lakes and ponds as well as the Ross Sea). We interpret this regional melting pattern to reflect a transition to Arctic and alpine-style, hydrologically mediated permafrost and glacial melt.
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| 10. |
- Li, Y, et al.
(author)
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Alluvial fan aggradation/incision history of the eastern Tibetan plateau margin and implications for debris flow/debris-charged flood hazard
- 2018
-
In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 318, s. 203-216
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reconstructs the Quaternary aggradation and incision history of a debris flow/debris-charged flood-affected valley in order to detect the impact of climate on alluvial fan dynamics. We used optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz to determine the ages of alluvial fan terraces. Comparison between the aggradation and incision history and regional climatic records suggests that aggradation occurred in cold and/or dry climates, whereas incision is a feature of warm and wet climates. Cold climates lead to enhanced frost shattering, and dry climates cause deteriorated vegetation. Both effects caused surplus sediment which was transported by infrequent flood discharges to form alluvial fan/terrace deposits. Incision during wet and warm climates is due to increased vegetation cover and an increase in the frequency of flood discharges. This relationship between climate and valley evolution is applied to assess future changes in the present active channel by considering recent climatic records. The results show that the valley channel is expected to experience net incision if the average temperature continues increasing while precipitation maintains at a constant level.
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| 11. |
- Lindbäck, Katrin, et al.
(author)
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Spectral roughness and glacial erosion of a land-terminating section of the Greenland Ice Sheet
- 2015
-
In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 238, s. 149-159
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Spectral roughness offers a significant potential for understanding the evolution of glaciated landscapes. Here, we present the first roughness study combining a high-resolution (250 to 500 m) DEM of a large land-terminating section (12,000 km2) of the Greenland Ice Sheet with the topography of the proglacial area. Subglacial roughness shows a directional dependence with consistently lower values in the ice flow direction compared to the across–flow direction. We find a correlation between low basal roughness, fast ice flow, and subglacial troughs. The northern part of the subglacial study area has an undulating topography with variable roughness, resembling the landscape in the proglacial area. In this area, there is a glacially eroded, overdeepened trough with bed elevations 510 m below sea level, consistent with warm ice and a well-lubricated bed. The southern part of the subglacial study area has higher bed elevations and higher roughness than the northern part, possibly because the bedrock consists of hard granitic gneiss as in the adjacent proglacial area. The subglacial troughs, which have been eroded to various extents, are aligned with geological weakness zones suggesting a preglacial origin. In general, there is a major geological control on the distribution of bed variability.
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| 12. |
- Massuanganhe, Elídio A., et al.
(author)
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Morphodynamics of deltaic wetlands and implications for coastal ecosystems – A case study of Save River Delta, Mozambique
- 2018
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In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 322, s. 107-116
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Deltaic wetlands experience changes over time, with substantial impacts on the coastal ecosystems. These changes, whether they are natural or human-induced, are caused by multiple factors through complex links and interdependences, and constitute challenges for coastal management aiming to set up practical adaptation measures. In this study, we investigate a case study of Save River Delta to interpret the typical morphodynamic pattern on the deltaic plain over an interdecadal timescale and the implications of geomorphological changes for the coastal ecosystems, with emphasis on mangroves. Our results reveal the pattern of the geomorphological changes on the deltaic wetland in river and back-barrier sectors. In both sectors, erosion and accretion are mutually adjusting processes, and they result in geomorphological settings characterized by a distinctive interaction with the ecosystem; on the one hand, mangrove trees colonize new favorable settings; on the other hand, the existing mangrove trees undergo degradation related to the morphodynamic processes. Notwithstanding current episodic events that affect the deltaic wetlands (e.g. cyclones and floods), the changes observed in the study area are part of interdecadal timescale morphodynamics. These changes were consistent for the 50-year time period analyzed. If, on the one hand, some of the episodic and high magnitude weather events such as floods undermine the status of the deltaic ecosystem, on the other hand these events contribute to develop the same ecosystem over a longer timescale. Within interdecadal timescales, biogeomorphological changes in deltaic wetlands are a critical reference frame for understanding future scenarios of environmental changes caused by climate change.
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| 13. |
- Muru, Merle, et al.
(author)
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Reconstructing Holocene shore displacement and Stone Age palaeogeography from a foredune sequence on Ruhnu Island, Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea
- 2018
-
In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 303, s. 434-445
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Holocene shore displacement and the palaeogeography of Late Mesolithic and Late Neolithic settlements on Ruhnu Island, Gulf of Riga, were reconstructed using foredune sequence luminescence dating, sedimentological data supported by ground-penetrating radar analysis, and GIS-based landscape modelling. The foredune ridges consist of very well to well sorted fine-to medium-grained aeolian sand and are underlain by seaward dipping foreshore sediments. The studied sequence of 38 ridges was formed between 6.91 +/- 0.58 ka and 2.54 +/- 0.19 ka ago, and represents a period of falling relative sea level. Foredune plain progradation, with average rates of 0.3-0.6 m per year, was controlled by isostatic land uplift, which caused a continuous withdrawal of shorelines to lower elevations. The dated foredune succession was used to reconstruct the coastal palaeogeography of the island. Palaeogeographical reconstructions show that during two phases of Late Mesolithic habitation, at ca. 7.2 cal. ka BP and 6.2 cal. ka BP, seal hunters settled the coastal zone of Ruhnu Island. Based on tool material and pottery type they could have originated from Saaremaa Island, which according to palaeoreconstruction of the Gulf of Riga, was located approximately 70 km northwest of Ruhnu Island during the Late Mesolithic. Later signs of human occupation, radiocarbon dated to ca. 4.7 cal. ka BP, were from the centre of the island, hundreds of metres away from the shore at about 8 m above its contemporary sea level. This Late Neolithic habitation shows a clearly different pattern than earlier coastal settlement, and suggests a shift in subsistence strategy towards agriculture and animal husbandry.
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| 14. |
- Tuuling, Igor, et al.
(author)
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The Baltic Klint beneath the central Baltic Sea and its comparison with the North Estonian Klint
- 2016
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In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X .- 1872-695X. ; 263, s. 1-18
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Along its contact with the Baltic Shield, the margin of the East European Platform reveals a well-developed, flooded terraced relief. The most striking and consistent set of escarpments at the contact of the Lower Palaeozoic calcareous and terrigenous rocks, known as the Baltic Klint (BK), extends from northwest of Russia to the Swedish island of Oland. Marine seismic reflection profiling in 1990-2004 revealed the central Baltic Sea Klint (BSK) section in detail and enabled comparison of its geology/geomorphology with a classical klint-section onshore, namely the North Estonian Klint (NEK). The conception of the BK onshore, which is based on the land sea separating terraced relief in northern Estonia, is not fully applicable beneath the sea. Therefore, we consider that the BSK includes the entire terraced Cambrian outcrop. We suggest the term Baltic Klint Complex to include the well-terraced margin of the Ordovician limestone outcrop, which is weakly developed in Estonia. Because of a steady lithological framework of the bedrock layers across the southern slope of the Fennoscandian Shield, the central BSK in the western and the NEK in the eastern part of the Baltic Homocline have largely identical morphologies. The North Estonian Ordovician limestone plateau with the calcareous crest of the BK extends across the central Baltic Sea, whereas morphological changes/variations along the Klint base occur due to the east-westerly lithostratigraphic/thickness changes in the siliciclastic Cambrian sequence. The verge of the NEK, located some 30-50 m above sea level, starts to drop in altitude as its east-westerly course turns to northeast southwest in western Estonia. Further westwards, the BK shifts gradually into southerly deepening (0.1-0.2 degrees) layers as its crest drops to c. 150 m below sea level (b.s.l.) near Gotska Sandon. This course change is accompanied by a considerable decrease in thickness of the platform sedimentary cover, as below the central Baltic Sea the stratal sequence is 150-250 m thinner than in northern Estonia. This has facilitated a deviation of the terraced relief-forming Cenozoic rivers traversing east-westerly across the southern slope of the Fennoscandian Shield and forming different morphostructures in its eastern and western parts. Thus, a low-lying central Baltic Sea depression with well-developed asymmetrical cuesta valleys and terraces occur in the western half of the Baltic Homocline. In its eastern part, however, the only explicitly shaped cuesta valley along the shield-platform boundary forms a narrow east-westerly branch/gulf of the Baltic Sea (Gulf of Finland). The well-terraced southern margin of this gulf runs along the contact of the outcropping terrigenous and calcareous rocks, rises above the sea and forms a complex landform known as the NEK.
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