Last glacial ice‐rafted debris off southwestern Europe: the role of the British–Irish Ice Sheet |
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| Authors: | Grant R Bigg Richard C Levine Chris D Clark Sarah L Greenwood Haflidi Haflidason Anna L C Hughes Atlé Nygård Hans Petter Sejrup |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK;2. Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden;3. Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;4. School of the Environment and Society, Swansea University, Swansea, UK;5. StatoilHydro ASA, Sandsliveien 90, N‐5020 Bergen, Norway |
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| Abstract: | Ice‐rafted debris (IRD) seeded into the ocean from Northern Hemisphere ice sheets is found in ocean cores along the southwestern European margin through the last glacial period. It is known that the origin of this IRD, especially off Iberia, can vary between North America and western Europe during short‐lived episodes of greatly enhanced iceberg flux, known as Heinrich events, although in most Heinrich events the IRD has a North American source. During the longer times of much lower IRD fluxes between Heinrich events, use of an intermediate complexity climate model, coupled to an iceberg dynamic and thermodynamic model, shows that background levels of IRD most likely originate from western Europe, particularly the British–Irish Ice Sheet. Combining modelling with palaeoceanographic evidence supports reconstructions of a short‐lived, but substantial, Celtic and Irish Sea Ice Stream around 23 ka. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | ice‐rafted debris Iberian margin British– Irish Ice Sheet iceberg model Polar Front climate model |
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