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1.
This paper examines marine geophysical and geological data, and new multibeam bathymetry data to describe the Pleistocene sediment and landform record of a large ice‐stream system that drained ～3% of the entire British?Irish Ice Sheet at its maximum extent. Starting on the outer continental shelf NW of Scotland we describe: the ice‐stream terminus environment and depocentre on the outer shelf and continental slope; sediment architecture and subglacial landforms on the mid‐shelf and in a large marine embayment (the Minch); moraines and grounding line features on the inner shelf and in the fjordic zone. We identify new soft‐bed (sediment) and hard‐bed (bedrock) subglacial landform assemblages in the central and inner parts of the Minch that confirm the spatial distribution, coherence and trajectory of a grounded fast‐flowing ice‐sheet corridor. These include strongly streamlined bedrock forms and megagrooves indicating a high degree of ice‐bed coupling in a zone of flow convergence associated with ice‐stream onset; and a downstream bedform evolution (short drumlins to km‐scale glacial lineations) suggesting an ice‐flow velocity transition associated with a bed substrate and roughness change in the ice‐stream trunk. Chronology is still lacking for the timing of ice‐stream demise; however, the seismic stratigraphy, absence of moraines or grounding‐line features, and presence of well‐preserved subglacial bedforms and iceberg scours, combined with the landward deepening bathymetry, all suggest that frontal retreat in the Minch was probably rapid, via widespread calving, before stabilization in the nearshore zone. Large moraine complexes recording a coherent, apparently long‐lived, ice‐sheet margin position only 5–15 km offshore strongly support this model. Reconstructed ice‐discharge values for the Minch ice stream (12–20 Gt a?1) are comparable to high mass‐flux ice streams today, underlining it as an excellent palaeo‐analogue for recent rapid change at the margins of the Greenland and West Antarctic Ice Sheets.  相似文献   

2.
Based on high‐resolution TOPAS acoustic data, bathymetric data sets and sediment cores from the Norwegian Channel, the last retreat of the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream has been investigated. Mapping of ice‐marginal features such as grounding‐zone wedges and terminal moraines off western Norway suggest that the retreat of the grounding line in this part of the channel was interrupted by frequent stillstands, whereas the channel south of the threshold at Jæren does not have crossing ice‐marginal landforms. Three main seismic units have been identified, and, based on their seismic characteristics, in addition to study of sediment cores, these units are interpreted as till (U1), glacial marine sediment (U2) and Holocene hemipelagic sediment (U3). Based on new and published radiocarbon dates of the lower part of U2, combined with dates from the adjacent areas, it is concluded that the grounding line started to retreat from the shelf edge at about 19 ka and that the inner part of Skagerrak was ice free at 17.6 ka. This gives an average retreat rate of 450 m a−1, which is generally higher than mean retreat rates estimated for other palaeo‐ice streams (15–310 m a−1).  相似文献   

3.
Processes occurring at the grounding zone of marine terminating ice streams are crucial to marginal stability, influencing ice discharge over the grounding-line, and thereby regulating ice-sheet mass balance. We present new marine geophysical data sets over a ~30×40 km area from a former ice-stream grounding zone in Storfjordrenna, a large cross-shelf trough in the western Barents Sea, south of Svalbard. Mapped ice-marginal landforms on the outer shelf include a large accumulation of grounding-zone deposits and a diverse population of iceberg ploughmarks. Published minimum ages of deglaciation in this region indicate that the deposits relate to the deglaciation of the Late Weichselian Storfjordrenna Ice Stream, a major outlet of the Barents Sea–Svalbard Ice Sheet. Sea-floor geomorphology records initial ice-stream retreat from the continental shelf break, and subsequent stabilization of the ice margin in outer-Storfjordrenna. Clustering of distinct iceberg ploughmark sets suggests locally diverse controls on iceberg calving, producing multi-keeled, tabular icebergs at the southern sector of the former ice margin, and deep-drafted, single-keeled icebergs in the northern sector. Retreat of the palaeo-ice stream from the continental shelf break was characterized by ice-margin break-up via large calving events, evidenced by intensive iceberg scouring on the outer shelf. The retreating ice margin stabilized in outer-Storfjordrenna, where the southern tip of Spitsbergen and underlying bedrock ridges provide lateral and basal pinning points. Ice-proximal fans on the western flank of the grounding-zone deposits document subglacial meltwater conduit and meltwater plume activity at the ice margin during deglaciation. Along the length of the former ice margin, key environmental parameters probably impacted ice-margin stability and grounding-zone deposition, and should be taken into consideration when reconstructing recent changes or predicting future changes to the margins of modern ice streams.  相似文献   

4.
High‐resolution chirp sonar profiling in the northeastern Skagerrak shows acoustically stratified sediments draping a rough‐surfaced substratum. A 32 metre long sediment core retrieved from the survey area encompasses the entire Holocene and latest Pleistocene. The uppermost seismo‐acoustic units in the chirp profiles represent Holocene marine sediments. The lowermost unit is interpreted as ice‐proximal glacial‐marine sediments rapidly deposited during the last deglaciation. The end of ice‐proximal sedimentation is marked by a strong reflector, interpreted to have been formed during latest Pleistocene time as a consequence of rapid ice retreat and drastically lowered sedimentation rate. The subsequent distal glacial‐marine sediments were deposited with initially high sedimentation rates caused by an isostatic rebound‐associated sea‐level fall. Based on correlation between the core and the chirp sonar profiles using measured sediment physical properties and AMS 14C dating, we propose a revised position for the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in the seismo‐acoustic stratigraphy of the investigated area. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

5.
New relative sea-level (RSL) data from Disko Bugt, a large marine embayment in West Greenland, are used to examine the deglacial history of the Jakobshavns Isbrae ice stream. RSL data show rapid deglaciation after 10.3 ka cal. yr BP. Once deglaciation began, a bedrock high in the west of the bay exerted no discernible influence on the deglacial chronology. Following initial rapid retreat, ice stream recession slowed as it approached the eastern shores of the bay. Seabed elevations increase here and the ice stream terminus lingered for several thousand years before retreating into the narrow bedrock-confined Jakobshavns Isfjord. The seabed topography of Disko Bugt includes several deep channels which probably record the former course of the ice stream. Using a simple water depth/calving velocity relationship it is estimated that the maximum calving velocity on deglaciation was c. 4.8 km a-1. This is less than the present rate (6–7 km a-1), although ice discharge was two to four times that observed today. Initiation of rapid ice stream retreat was probably caused by ice stream thinning and increased surface melting. A critical point in time was the retreat of the ice stream from shallow continental shelf waters ( c. 400 m) into the deep bedrock trough (>800 m) which marks the entrance to Disko Bugt.  相似文献   

6.
The Gulf of Bothnia hosted a variety of palaeo‐glaciodynamic environments throughout the growth and decay of the last Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, from the main ice‐sheet divide to a major corridor of marine‐ and lacustrine‐based deglaciation. Ice streaming through the Bothnian and Baltic basins has been widely assumed, and the damming and drainage of the huge proglacial Baltic Ice Lake has been implicated in major regional and hemispheric climate changes. However, the dynamics of palaeo‐ice flow and retreat in this large marine sector have until now been inferred only indirectly, from terrestrial, peripheral evidence. Recent acquisition of high‐resolution multibeam bathymetry opens these basins up, for the first time, to direct investigation of their glacial footprint and palaeo‐ice sheet behaviour. Here we report on a rich glacial landform record: in particular, a palaeo‐ice stream pathway, abundant traces of high subglacial meltwater volumes, and widespread basal crevasse squeeze ridges. The Bothnian Sea ice stream is a narrow flow corridor that was directed southward through the basin to a terminal zone in the south‐central Bothnian Sea. It was activated after initial margin retreat across the Åland sill and into the Bothnian basin, and the exclusive association of the ice‐stream pathway with crevasse squeeze ridges leads us to interpret a short‐lived stream event, under high extension, followed by rapid crevasse‐triggered break‐up. We link this event with a c. 150‐year ice‐rafted debris signal in peripheral varved records, at c. 10.67 cal. ka BP. Furthermore, the extensive glacifluvial system throughout the Bothnian Sea calls for considerable input of surface meltwater. We interpret strongly atmospherically driven retreat of this marine‐based ice‐sheet sector.  相似文献   

7.
The origin of two acoustic sediment units has been studied based on lithological facies, chronology and benthic stable isotope values as well as on foraminifera and clay mineral assemblages in six marine sediment cores from Kveithola, a small trough west of Spitsbergenbanken on the western Barents Sea margin. We have identified four time slices with characteristic sedimentary environments. Before c. 14.2 cal. ka, rhythmically laminated muds indicate extensive sea ice cover in the area. From c. 13.9 to 14.2 cal. ka, muds rich in ice‐rafted debris were deposited during the disintegration of grounded ice on Spitsbergenbanken. From c. 10.3 to 13.1 cal. ka, sediments with heterogeneous lithologies suggest a shifting influence of suspension settling and iceberg rafting, probably derived from a decaying Barents Sea Ice Sheet in the inner‐fjord and land areas to the north of Kveithola. Holocene deposition was episodic and characterized by the deposition of calcareous sands and shell debris, indicative of strong bottom currents. We speculate that a marked erosional boundary at c. 8.2 cal. ka may have been caused by the Storegga tsunami. Whilst deposition was sparse during the Holocene, Kveithola acted as a sediment trap during the preceding deglaciation. Investigation of the deglacial sediments provides unprecedented details on the dynamics and timing of glacial retreat from Spitsbergenbanken.  相似文献   

8.
De Geer moraine ridges occur in abundance in the coastal zone of northern Sweden, preferentially in areas with proglacial water depths in excess of 150 m at deglaciation. From detailed sedimentological and structural investigations in machine‐dug trenches across De Geer ridges it is concluded that the moraines formed due to subglacial sediment advection to the ice margin during temporary halts in grounding‐line retreat, forming gradually thickening sediment wedges. The proximal part of the moraines were built up in submarginal position as stacked sequences of deforming bed diamictons, intercalated with glaciofluvial canal‐infill sediments, whereas the distal parts were built up from the grounding line by prograding sediment gravity‐flow deposits, distally interfingering with glaciolacustrine sediments. The rapid grounding‐line retreat (ca. 400 m yr?1) was driven by rapid calving, in turn enhanced by fast iceflow and marginal thinning of ice due to deforming bed conditions. The spatial distribution of the moraine ridges indicates stepwise retreat of the grounding line. It is suggested that this is due to slab and flake calving of the ice cliff above the waterline, forming a gradually widening subaqueous ice ledge which eventually breaks off to a new grounding line, followed by regained sediment delivery and ridge build‐up. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

9.
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10.
Lake Vättern represents a critical region geographically and dynamically in the deglaciation of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. The outlet glacier that occupied the basin and its behaviour during ice‐sheet retreat were key to the development and drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake, dammed just west of the basin, yet its geometry, extent, thickness, margin dynamics, timing and sensitivity to regional retreat forcing are rather poorly known. The submerged sediment archives of Lake Vättern represent a missing component of the regional Swedish deglaciation history. Newly collected geophysical data, including high‐resolution multibeam bathymetry of the lake floor and seismic reflection profiles of southern Lake Vättern, are used here together with a unique 74‐m sediment record recently acquired by drill coring, and with onshore LiDAR‐based geomorphological analysis, to investigate the deglacial environments and dynamics in the basin and its terrestrial environs. Five stratigraphical units comprise a thick subglacial package attributed to the last glacial period (and probably earlier), and an overlying >120‐m deglacial sequence. Three distinct retreat–re‐advance episodes occurred in southern Lake Vättern between the initial deglaciation and the Younger Dryas. In the most recent of these, ice overrode proglacial lake sediments and re‐advanced from north of Visingsö to the southern reaches of the lake, where ice up to 400 m thick encroached on land in a lobate fashion, moulding crag‐and‐tail lineations and depositing till above earlier glacifluvial sediments. This event precedes the Younger Dryas, which our data reveal was probably restricted to north‐central sectors of the basin. These dynamics, and their position within the regional retreat chronology, indicate a highly active ice margin during deglaciation, with retreat rates on average 175 m a?1. The pronounced topography of the Vättern basin and its deep proglacial‐dammed lake are likely to have encouraged the dynamic behaviour of this major Fennoscandian outlet glacier.  相似文献   

11.
Graham, A.G.C., Lonergan, L. & Stoker, M.S. 2010: Depositional environments and chronology of Late Weichselian glaciation and deglaciation in the central North Sea. Boreas, Vol. 39, pp. 471–491. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00144.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Geological constraints on ice‐sheet deglaciation are essential for improving the modelling of ice masses and understanding their potential for future change. Here, we present a detailed interpretation of depositional environments from a new 30‐m‐long borehole in the central North Sea, with the aim of improving constraints on the history of the marine Late Pleistocene British–Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. Seven units characterize a sequence of compacted and distorted glaciomarine diamictons, which are overlain by interbedded glaciomarine diamictons and soft, bedded to homogeneous marine muds. Through correlation of borehole and 2D/3D seismic observations, we identify three palaeoregimes. These are: a period of advance and ice‐sheet overriding; a phase of deglaciation; and a phase of postglacial glaciomarine‐to‐marine sedimentation. Deformed subglacial sediments correlate with a buried suite of streamlined subglacial bedforms, and indicate overriding by the SE–NW‐flowing Witch Ground ice stream. AMS 14C dating confirms ice‐stream activity and extensive glaciation of the North Sea during the Last Glacial Maximum, between c. 30 and 16.2 14C ka BP. Sediments overlying the ice‐compacted deposits have been reworked, but can be used to constrain initial deglaciation to no later than 16.2 14C ka BP. A re‐advance of British ice during the last deglaciation, dated at 13.9 14C ka BP, delivered ice‐proximal deposits to the core site and deposited glaciomarine sediments rapidly during the subsequent retreat. A transition to more temperate marine conditions is clear in lithostratigraphic and seismic records, marked by a regionally pervasive iceberg‐ploughmarked erosion surface. The iceberg discharges that formed this horizon are dated to between 13.9 and 12 14C ka BP, and may correspond to oscillating ice‐sheet margins during final, dynamic ice‐sheet decay.  相似文献   

12.
In the UK, a combination of outcrop mapping, satellite digital elevation models, high‐resolution marine geophysical data and a range of dating techniques have constrained the maximum limit and overall retreat behaviour of the British and Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS). The changing styles of deglaciation have been most extensively studied in the west and north‐western sectors of the BIIS, primarily using offshore geophysical surveys. The surviving record in the southern, terrestrial sector is fragmentary, permitting only large‐scale (tens of kilometres) and longer timescale (c. 1 ka) reconstructions of ice‐margin movement, with limited information on deglacial processes. Here we present a high‐resolution study of the retreat behaviour for a section of the southern ice‐margin from Windermere in the Lake District, using high‐resolution two‐dimensional multi‐channel seismic data, processed using prestack depth migration. By combining the seismic stratigraphy with landform morphologies, extant cores and seismic velocity measurements, we are able to distinguish between: over‐consolidated till; recessional moraines; De Geer moraines; flowed till/ice‐front fan; supra‐/en‐glacial melt‐out till; and subsequent glaciolacustrine/lacustrine sedimentation. The results reveal a complex and active valley glacier withdrawal from Windermere that changed character between basins and produced two small, localized areas of ice‐stagnation and downwasting. This study indicates that similar active ice‐margin retreats probably took place in other valleys of the Lake District during the Late Devensian deglaciation rather than the previously held view of rapid ice‐stagnation and downwasting. When combined with the regional terrestrial record, this supports a model of early ice loss in terrestrial England compared with other parts of the UK. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

13.
Three‐dimensional (3D) seismic datasets, 2D seismic reflection profiles and shallow cores provide insights into the geometry and composition of glacial features on the continental shelf, offshore eastern Scotland (58° N, 1–2° W). The relic features are related to the activity of the last British Ice Sheet (BIS) in the Outer Moray Firth. A landsystem assemblage consisting of four types of subglacial and ice marginal morphology is mapped at the seafloor. The assemblage comprises: (i) large seabed banks (interpreted as end moraines), coeval with the Bosies Bank moraine; (ii) morainic ridges (hummocky, push and end moraine) formed beneath, and at the margins of the ice sheet; (iii) an incised valley (a subglacial meltwater channel), recording meltwater drainage beneath former ice sheets; and (iv) elongate ridges and grooves (subglacial bedforms) overprinted by transverse ridges (grounding line moraines). The bedforms suggest that fast‐flowing grounded ice advanced eastward of the previously proposed terminus of the offshore Late Weichselian BIS, increasing the size and extent of the ice sheet beyond traditional limits. Complex moraine formation at the margins of less active ice characterised subsequent retreat, with periodic stillstands and readvances. Observations are consistent with interpretations of a dynamic and oscillating ice margin during BIS deglaciation, and with an extensive ice sheet in the North Sea basin at the Last Glacial Maximum. Final ice margin retreat was rapid, manifested in stagnant ice topography, which aided preservation of the landsystem record. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

14.
A detailed high‐resolution seismic stratigraphy, calibrated by core data and terrestrial geomorphological mapping, has been constructed for Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye. This study has provided a palaeoenvironmental history of the area as well as important corroborative evidence for the stepped deglaciation of the Loch Lomond Stadial ice‐field on Skye. The Ainort Glacier reworked pre‐Loch Lomond glacial deposits terminating in a grounded tidewater ice‐front potentially 800 m beyond the previously extrapolated limit. The first stage of deglaciation was characterised by the formation of De Geer moraines indicative of a period of interrupted retreat. The second phase, by contrast, produced hummocky relief with sporadic linear moraines suggesting periods of uninterrupted retreat with occasional stillstands/readvances. Paraglacial reworking of terrestrial slopes resulted in the deposition of thick, subaqueous, debris flows which graded into fluvioglacial dominated sediments and ultimately modern fjordic deposits. The identification of an initial period of active retreat punctuated by numerous readvances correlates directly with the terrestrial record. However, the offshore stratigraphy suggests that although the second phase was dominated by uninterrupted retreat, occasional stillstands/ readvances did occur. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

15.
Lithostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy of samples from 18 deep boreholes in Vendsyssel have resulted in new insight into the Late Weichselian glaciation history of northern Denmark. Prior to the Late Weichselian Main advance c. 23–21 kyr BP, Vendsyssel was part of an ice‐dammed lake where the Ribjerg Formation was deposited c. 27–23 kyr BP. The timing of the Late Weichselian deglaciation is well constrained by the Main advance and the Lateglacial marine inundation c. 18 kyr BP, and thus spans only a few millennia. Rapid deposition of more than 200 m of sediments took place mainly in a highly dynamic proglacial and ice‐marginal environment during the overall ice recession. Mean retreat rates have been estimated as 45–50 m/yr in Vendsyssel with significantly higher retreat rates between periods of standstill and re‐advance. The deglaciation commenced in Vendsyssel c. 20 kyr BP, and the Troldbjerg Formation was deposited c. 20–19 kyr BP in a large ice‐dammed lake in front of the receding ice sheet, partly as glaciolacustrine sediments and partly as rapid and focused sedimentation in prominent ice‐contact fans, which make up the Jyske Ås and Hammer Bakker moraines. In the northern part of central Vendsyssel, at least four generations of north–south orientated tunnel valleys are identified, each generation related to a recessional ice margin. This initial deglaciation was interrupted by a major re‐advance from the east c. 19 kyr BP, which covered most of Vendsyssel. An ice‐dammed lake formed in front of the ice sheet as it retreated towards the east; the Morild Formation was deposited here c. 19–18 kyr BP. Related to this stage of deglaciation, eight ice‐marginal positions have been identified based on the distribution of large tunnel‐valley systems and pronounced recessional moraines. The Morild Formation consists of glaciolacustrine sediments, including the sediment infill of more than 190 m deep tunnel valleys, as well as the sediments in recessional moraines, which were formed as ice‐contact sedimentary ridges, possibly in combination with glaciotectonic deformation. The character of the tunnel‐valley infill sediments was determined by proximity to the ice margin. During episodes of rapid retreat of the ice margin, tunnel valleys were quickly abandoned and filled with fine‐grained sediments in a distal setting. During slow retreat of the ice margin, tunnel valleys were filled in an ice‐proximal environment, and the infill consists of alternating layers of fine‐ to coarse‐grained sediments. At c. 18 kyr BP, Vendsyssel was inundated by the sea, when the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream broke up, and a succession of marine sediments (Vendsyssel Formation) was deposited during a forced regression.  相似文献   

16.
The Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) covered much of the mountainous northwestern part of North America at least several times during the Pleistocene. The pattern and timing of its growth and decay are, however, poorly understood. Here, we present a reconstruction of the pattern of ice‐sheet retreat in central British Columbia at the end of the last glaciation based on a palaeoglaciological interpretation of ice‐marginal meltwater channels, eskers and deltas mapped from satellite imagery and digital elevation models. A consistent spatial pattern of high‐elevation (1600–2400 m a.s.l.), ice‐marginal meltwater channels is evident across central British Columbia. These landforms indicate the presence of ice domes over the Skeena Mountains and the central Coast Mountains early during deglaciation. Ice sourced in the Coast Mountains remained dominant over the southern and east‐central parts of the Interior Plateau during deglaciation. Our reconstruction shows a successive westward retreat of the ice margin from the western foot of the Rocky Mountains, accompanied by the formation and rapid evolution of a glacial lake in the upper Fraser River basin. The final stage of deglaciation is characterized by the frontal retreat of ice lobes through the valleys of the Skeena and Omineca Mountains and by the formation of large esker systems in the most prominent topographic lows of the Interior Plateau. We conclude that the CIS underwent a large‐scale reconfiguration early during deglaciation and was subsequently diminished by thinning and complex frontal retreat towards the Coast Mountains.  相似文献   

17.
It generally is assumed that the Early Permian Gondwana deglaciation in South Africa started with a collapse of the marine ice‐sheet. The northeast part of the Karoo Basin became ice‐free as a result of this collapse. The deglaciation here probably took place under temperate glacial conditions. Three glacial phases have been identified. Phase 1: the marine ice retreat of 400 km over the northeast Karoo Basin, which may have been completed over a few thousand years. The glaciers grounded in the shallower areas around the shore of the basin. Phase 2: the smaller, now mainly continental ice‐sheet here re‐stabilised and remained more or less stationary for several tens of thousand years. During this phase, between 50 and 200 m of massive glaciomarine mud with dropstones accumulated in the open, marine basin that became ice‐free during Phase 1. Isostatic uplift, as a response to the first rapid deglaciation phase, can be traced in the inland part of the region. Phase 3: the final deglaciation may have taken 10 to 20 kyr. After this time no new ice sheet was built up over southern Africa. The entire Early Permian deglaciation of the northeast Karoo Basin was completed within thousands rather than millions of years. Phases 1 and 3 had lengths similar to typical Quaternary deglaciations, whereas Phase 2 was a long, stable phase, more similar to a full Quaternary glaciation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

18.
New optically stimulated luminescence dating and Bayesian models integrating all legacy and BRITICE-CHRONO geochronology facilitated exploration of the controls on the deglaciation of two former sectors of the British–Irish Ice Sheet, the Donegal Bay (DBIS) and Malin Sea ice-streams (MSIS). Shelf-edge glaciation occurred ~27 ka, before the global Last Glacial Maximum, and shelf-wide retreat began 26–26.5 ka at a rate of ~18.7–20.7 m a–1. MSIS grounding zone wedges and DBIS recessional moraines show episodic retreat punctuated by prolonged still-stands. By ~23–22 ka the outer shelf (~25 000 km2) was free of grounded ice. After this time, MSIS retreat was faster (~20 m a–1 vs. ~2–6 m a–1 of DBIS). Separation of Irish and Scottish ice sources occurred ~20–19.5 ka, leaving an autonomous Donegal ice dome. Inner Malin shelf deglaciation followed the submarine troughs reaching the Hebridean coast ~19 ka. DBIS retreat formed the extensive complex of moraines in outer Donegal Bay at 20.5–19 ka. DBIS retreated on land by ~17–16 ka. Isolated ice caps in Scotland and Ireland persisted until ~14.5 ka. Early retreat of this marine-terminating margin is best explained by local ice loading increasing water depths and promoting calving ice losses rather than by changes in global temperatures. Topographical controls governed the differences between the ice-stream retreat from mid-shelf to the coast.  相似文献   

19.
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20.
Ice streams are the fast-flowing zones of ice sheets that can discharge a large flux of ice. The glaciated western Svalbard margin consists of several cross-shelf troughs which are the former ice stream drainage pathways during the Pliocene–Pleistocene glaciations. From an integrated analysis of high-resolution multibeam swath-bathymetric data and several high-resolution two-dimensional reflection seismic profiles across the western and northwestern Svalbard margin we infer the ice stream flow directions and the deposition centres of glacial debris that the ice streams deposited on the outer margin. Our results show that the northwestern margin of Svalbard experienced a switching of a major ice stream. Based on correlation with the regional seismic stratigraphy as well as the results from ODP 911 on Yermak Plateau and ODP 986 farther south on the western margin of Spitsbergen, off Van Mijenfjord, we find that first a northwestward flowing ice stream developed during initial northern hemispheric cooling (starting ～2.8–2.6 Ma). A switch in ice stream flow direction to the present-day Kongsfjorden cross-shelf trough took place during a glaciation at ～1.5 Ma or probably later during an intensive major glaciation phase known as the ‘Mid-Pleistocene Revolution’ starting at ～1.0 Ma. The seismic and bathymetric data suggest that the switch was abrupt rather than gradual and we attribute it to the reaching of a tipping point when growth of the Svalbard ice sheet had reached a critical thickness and the ice sheet could overcome a topographic barrier.  相似文献   

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