Glacier extent and sea level variation during the Late Weichselian on northwest Spitsbergen

[摘要] The nature and timing of the last glaciation in the Svalbard- Barents Shelf region has been a major source of debate for the last century. Presently, the results of most glacial geologic investigations along the west coast of Spitsbergen suggest a diminutive Late Weichselian glaciation in that area - an argument that rests primarily on the occasional occurrences of ice Limit features and on the widespread distribution of well preserved pre-Late Weichselian raised marine terraces. Proponents of more extensive Late Weichselian ice cover rest their case on: 1) the magnitude of postglacial uplift in the area, which reaches 60 m on some headlands and more than 100 m near the center of the archipelago (Salvigsen unpublished), 2) on the possibility that pre-Late Weichselian beaches might survive coverage by cold-based ice and 3) on the further possibility that ice limit features may record former grounding lines within fjords instead of former ice margins. Because of this controversy, we present a large body of ...

[学科分类] 自然科学（综合）