Search

Today the Arctic is undergoing far-reaching changes with rising air and sea-water temperatures, and rapidly decreasing glaciers and ice sheets. In order to model future changes of the ice sheet-ocean-atmosphere climate system, it is urgent to obtain more knowledge on the glacier dynamics of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Very little is known about the past evolution of the eastern sector of this ice sheet, e.g. it has not been established where its maximum position was during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Furthermore, neither ice dynamics, sediment production by subglacial erosion or timing and nature of ice recession from the shelf is established. In this study, we have investigated the outermost part of the northeastern Greenland continental shelf. This is the widest shelf surrounding Greenland, with a shelf edge located more than 200 km off the coastline. Here, the shelf morphology comprises two large troughs (Norske Trough and the Westwind Trough) separated by a shallow bank complex (Belgica Bank, Northwind Shoal and the AWI Bank). Previous studies differ strongly on where this sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet reached its maximum position during the LGM. The studies point to positions from the inner shelf, mid-shelf or the shelf edge with the largest uncertainty related to the area of the shallow bank complex. During favorable sea-ice conditions in 2017, a ~130 km2 area on the outermost part of the shelf was surveyed by multi-beam echo-sounder and a sub-bottom profiler (Chirp). Close to the shelf break, the data displays part of a shelf-break parallel ridge that is heavily scoured by icebergs. The ridge is c. 30 m high, up to 9 km wide and with a steep western (proximal) and a gentler eastern (distal) slope. Compared to the recessional moraines reported from elsewhere in this area (Arndt et al., 2017), this feature is wider and higher, and its shape resembles a grounding-zone wedge identified in the nearby Norske Trough. Thus, we tentatively suggest that the observed ridge is also a grounding zone wedge formed at the grounding line of an ice sheet or ice cap reaching the outermost shelf. Part of a second ridge is seen approx. 10 km west of (inside) this ridge, implying a dynamic ice front with several halts or readvances during the retreat from the outer shelf. The age of these features remains to be determined, and this will be part of the future analysis of the sediment cores obtained in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the decay of marine-based ice sheets observed today, e.g. in Antarctica and Greenland, there is a pressing need also for an improved understanding of marine paleo-ice sheets and their decay, as they provide critical constraints for a better understanding of the dynamics of modern ice sheets and their future behavior.Here we present new multi-beam swath-bathymetry and high-resolution Topas seismic data from the NW Barents Sea acquired during the Nansen Legacy (https://arvenetternansen.com/) Paleo-cruise in 2018, which provide new insights on the deglaciation history of the marine based Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet. Previous multi-beam data from the straits and troughs east of the Svalbard archipelago provided unclear or even conflicting evidence of full-glacial flow; i) eastwards, through the Erik Eriksen Strait and its eastward continuation, terminating in the Franz Victoria Trough, and ii) northwards through the Kvitøya Trough (Dowdeswell et al., 2010; Hogan et al., 2010).The new data provide evidence of a dynamic ice-sheet retreat during the deglaciation of the Erik Eriksen Strait and its eastern extension. A succession of superposing transverse ridges with a zig-zag like morphology characterize the eastern part of the mapped area. These ridges are interpreted to be recessional push-moraines, resulting from several smaller re-advances of the ice front during overall retreat through this part of the strait. To the west, ridges are buried by a ~40 m high and 20 km long sedimentary wedge, characterized by a smooth surface. The internal seismic configuration of the wedge is transparent. This sediment accumulation is interpreted to be a grounding zone wedge that likely formed during a major eastward oriented re-advance of the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet during the deglaciation, burying some of the older recessional push-moraines. Thus, the eastward flow previously identified may be due to a major re-advance during the deglaciation rather than formed during full-glacial conditions.A ~3 msec thick layer of acoustically transparent sediments covering the grounding zone wedge and the recessional push-moraines, has been ground-truthed by gravity cores, both in front (east) of, and on top of the wedge. Radiocarbon dating will provide a minimum age for the formation of the glacial landforms, and thus add to our knowledge on the timing and dynamics of the retreat of this marine-based sector of the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet following the Last Glacial Maximum, and this will enable improved modelling of this marine-based ice sheet.References:Dowdeswell, J.A., Hogan, K.A., Evans, J., Noormets, R., Ó Cofaigh, C., and Ottesen, D. (2010). Past ice-sheet flow east of Svalbard inferred from streamlined subglacial landforms. Geology, 38(2), 163-166.Hogan, K.A., Dowdeswell, J.A., Noormets, R., Evans, J., Cofaigh, C.Ó., and Jakobsson, M. (2010). Submarine landforms and ice-sheet flow in the Kvitøya Trough, northwestern Barents Sea. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(25), 3545-3562. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]