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The architecture and evolution of the subglacial hydrological system plays a key role in modulating ice flow. Eskers provide an opportunity to understand subglacial hydrology at a broader perspective than contemporary studies. Recent research has established a morphogenetic classification for eskers, but these studies have been limited to topographically simple regions of a single ice sheet. We present an updated map of esker distribution in Northern Ireland based on 5-m resolution elevation data. We also present a high-resolution map of the glacial geomorphology of SW Northern Ireland, based on ~ 0.4-m resolution elevation data. Ground Penetrating Radar data from four sites along the > 20-km long Evishanoran Esker system in central Northern Ireland are combined with geomorphological observations to provide insight into depositional processes and controls on esker formation. Esker architecture indicates two styles of deposition, including an initial high energy flow event in a subglacial conduit and delta foreset deposition close to the ice sheet margin during ice margin retreat. These delta foreset deposits can be used to reconstruct former ice margins. We identify that local topographic complexity and geological structures (e.g. , faults) are important controls on esker formation. The broad-scale esker architecture remains the same despite variable esker planform morphology, suggesting hydrological conditions alone cannot explain esker morphology. This study provides further evidence that morphogenetic relationships cannot be based solely on remote sensing data and must be supported by robust field observations, especially where post-glacial processes may distort esker morphology (e.g. , peat infilling). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subglacial lakes are common features of contemporary ice masses. However, they are rarely identified in the geological record. This is due to the difficulty in discriminating between subglacial and proglacial lake sediments; a proglacial origin is typically preferred as the ‘simplest’ explanation. We hypothesise that numerous deposits currently interpreted to record proglacial lake sedimentation may actually have a subglacial origin. Here we try and find ways of distinguishing proglacial from subglacial lake sediments by investigating three sites along the Dänischer Wohld Peninsula, northern Germany, which have been interpreted to record both proglacial and subglacial sedimentation. We identify two major phases of ice activity and associated lake formation during the Late Weichselian glaciation. (1) Proglacial lake formation at ∼23 ka in front of the advancing Baltic Ice Stream. This lake was subsequently overridden and the sediments glaciotectonised as ice continued to advance to its maximum extent. (2) Retreat of ice back into the Baltic Basin at ∼19 ka and formation of a proglacial lake that persisted for ∼4 ka. We suggest that subglacial lake activity may have occurred at two of the sites between 23 and 19 ka. This is based on the presence of aggrading sediment deposits characterised by stratified/laminated diamictons and interbedded tabular to channelized sorted sediments, the juxtaposition of relatively undeformed waterlain sediment and subglacial till, absence of glaciotectonic thrusting and folding or of fining/coarsening successions and the geomorphic association with tunnel valleys to the south of the study area. The style of sedimentation and deformation provided the greatest insight into the discrimination of proglacially vs subglacially deposited glaciolacustrine sediments. The luminescence signal palaeodose distributions also offers a potentially powerful means of fingerprinting sediment transport pathways of young glacial systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Antarctic Ice Sheet is underlain by numerous subglacial lakes, which comprise a significant and active component of its hydrological network. These lakes are widespread and occur at a range of scales under a variety of conditions. At present much glaciological research is concerned with the role of modern subglacial lake systems in Antarctica. Another approach to the exploration of subglacial lakes involves identification of the geological record of subglacial lakes that once existed beneath former ice sheets. This is challenging, both conceptually, in identifying whether and where subglacial lakes may have formed, and also distinguishing the signature of former subglacial lakes in the geological record. In this work we provide a synthesis of subglacial lake types that have been identified or may theoretically exist beneath contemporary or palaeo-ice sheets. This includes a discussion of the formative mechanisms that could trigger onset of (or drain) subglacial lakes. These concepts provide a framework for discussing the probability that subglacial lakes exist(ed) beneath other (palaeo-)ice sheets. Indeed we conclude that the former mid-latitude ice sheets are likely to have hosted subglacial lakes, although the spatial distribution, frequency and type of lakes may have differed from today''s ice sheets and between palaeo-ice sheets. Given this possibility, we propose diagnostic criteria for identifying palaeo-subglacial lakes in the geological record. These criteria are derived from contemporary observations, hydrological theory and process-analogues and provide an observational template for detailed field investigations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The complex glacial geomorphology and stratigraphy of the Solway Lowlands (Cumbria, UK) reflects dynamic ice flow during the Main Late Devensian Glaciation, with numerous ice-flow shifts, and re-advances now recognised. The final incursion of Scottish ice into the region (Scottish Re-advance) during a late stage of deglaciation has provoked widespread debate and even scepticism arising from ill-defined marginal limits, and a paucity of landforms, sediments and dates. In an attempt to resolve some of these issues this paper has applied both geomorphological and stratigraphic techniques to critically review evidence pertaining to the Scottish Re-advance. A major deltaic landform-sediment assemblage at Holme St. Cuthbert; a thin, patchy till sheet; and eskers at Thursby and Sowerby Wood verify that Scottish ice re-advanced into the Solway Lowlands at a late stage of deglaciation. The thin, patchy till sheet associated with the re-advance is indicative of a short-lived pulse, with ice thought to have flowed rapidly across water-saturated sediment and into proglacial lakes dammed up against higher ground to the east. The Holme St. Cuthbert delta, which evolved from a subaqueous outwash fan marks a major still-stand and development of a large ice-contact lake in the vicinity of Wigton. The extent of the glaciation is difficult to elucidate, with the till sheet disparately exposed as far east as Lannercost although identification of the Blackhall Wood Re-advance Till member probably limits its SE extent to just south of Carlisle. Coeval re-advance of Lake District ice is possible given that a final stage lobate movement of ice out of the Vale of Eden and into the Solway Lowlands is now recognised, however there is no direct stratigraphic correlation or dating control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Digital elevation models of the area around the Solway Lowlands reveal complex subglacial bedform imprints relating the central sector of the LGM British and Irish Ice Sheet. Drumlin and lineation mapping in four case studies show that glacier flow directions switched significantly through time. These are summarised in four major flow phases in the region: Phase I flow was from a dominant Scottish dispersal centre, which transported Criffel granite erratics to the Eden Valley and forced Lake District ice eastwards over the Pennines at Stainmore; Phase II involved easterly flow of Lake District and Scottish ice through the Tyne Gap and Stainmore Gap with an ice divide located over the Solway Firth; Phase III was a dominant westerly flow from upland dispersal centres into the Solway lowlands and along the Solway Firth due to draw down of ice into the Irish Sea basin; Phase IV was characterised by unconstrained advance of Scottish ice across the Solway Firth. Forcing of a numerical model of ice sheet inception and decay by the Greenland ice core record facilitates an assessment of the potential for rapid ice flow directional switching during one glacial cycle. The model indicates that, after fluctuations of smaller radially flowing ice caps prior to 30kaBP, the ice sheet grows to produce an elongate, triangular-shaped dome over NW England and SW Scotland at the LGM at 19.5kaBP. Recession after 18.5kaBP displays a complex pattern of significant ice flow directional switches over relatively short timescales, complementing the geomorphologically-based assessments of palaeo-ice dynamics. The palaeoglaciological implications of this combined geomorphic and modelling approach are that: (a) the central sector of the BIIS was as a major dispersal centre for only ca 2.5ka after the LGM; (b) the ice sheet had no real steady state and comprised constantly migrating dispersal centres and ice divides; (c) subglacial streamlining of flow sets was completed over short ... [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper compiles and reviews marine and terrestrial data constraining the dimensions and configuration of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) through deglaciation to the present day. These data are used to reconstruct grounding-line retreat in 5 ka time-steps from 25 ka BP to present. Glacial landforms and subglacial tills on the eastern and western Antarctic Peninsula (AP) shelf indicate that the APIS was grounded to the outer shelf/shelf edge at the LGM and contained a series of fast-flowing ice streams that drained along cross-shelf bathymetric troughs. The ice sheet was grounded at the shelf edge until ∼20 cal ka BP. Chronological control on retreat is provided by radiocarbon dates on glacimarine sediments from the shelf troughs and on lacustrine and terrestrial organic remains, as well as cosmogenic nuclide dates on erratics and ice moulded bedrock. Retreat in the east was underway by about 18 cal ka BP. The earliest dates on recession in the west are from Bransfield Basin where recession was underway by 17.5 cal ka BP. Ice streams were active during deglaciation at least until the ice sheet had pulled back to the mid-shelf. The timing of initial retreat decreased progressively southwards along the western AP shelf; the large ice stream in Marguerite Trough may have remained grounded at the shelf edge until about 14 cal ka BP, although terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide ages indicate that thinning had commenced by 18 ka BP. Between 15 and 10 cal ka BP the APIS underwent significant recession along the western AP margin, although retreat between individual troughs was asynchronous. Ice in Marguerite Trough may have still been grounded on the mid-shelf at 10 cal ka BP. In the Larsen-A region the transition from grounded to floating ice was established by 10.7–10.6 cal ka BP. The APIS had retreated towards its present configuration in the western AP by the mid-Holocene but on the eastern peninsula may have approached its present configuration several thousand years earlier, by the start of the Holocene. Mid to late-Holocene retreat was diachronous with stillstands, re-advances and changes in ice-shelf configuration being recorded in most places. Subglacial topography exerted a major control on grounding-line retreat with grounding-zone wedges, and thus by inference slow-downs or stillstands in the retreat of the grounding line, occurring in some cases on reverse bed slopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Understanding the triggers and pace of marine-based ice sheet decay is critical for constraining the future mass loss and dynamic behaviour of marine-based sectors of the large polar ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Numerical models which seek to predict this behaviour need to be calibrated against data from both contemporary and palaeo-ice sheets, and the latter requires accurate reconstruction of former ice sheet extent, dynamics and timing. Marine geophysics, sediment cores, benthic foraminiferal assemblages and radiocarbon dating are used to reconstruct the extent of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS), and the timing and style of its retreat on the Atlantic shelf northwest of Ireland. Shelf edge moraines and subglacial till recovered in cores from the outer continental shelf are dated to younger than 26.3 ka cal BP and indicate an extensive ice sheet at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) that was grounded to the shelf edge. Nested arcuate moraines record the subsequent episodic retreat of the ice sheet across the shelf. Lithofacies and associated foraminiferal assemblages demonstrate that this retreat occurred in a glacimarine environment as a grounded tidewater margin and that high relative sea level and cold waters prevailed during retreat. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the timing of initial ice sheet retreat from the shelf edge occurred in the interval between 26.3 and 24.8 ka cal BP, during the period of minimum global eustatic sea level, and that the ice sheet had retreated to the mid-shelf by 24.8 ka cal BP. The 'Donegal Bay Moraine', a large moraine at the mouth of Donegal Bay, records a major stillstand and readvance of the ice sheet during deglaciation between 20.2 and 17.9 ka cal BP. Estimated retreat rates of 5.5–35 m a−1 across the shelf demonstrate that retreat was slow. It is noteworthy that retreat was initiated in the absence of ocean warming and when eustatic sea level was at a minimum. The sea-level rise that initiated deglaciation from the shelf edge therefore, is inferred to have been a product of local glacio-isostatic crustal depression rather than external forcing. This demonstrates that marine-based sectors of ice sheets can trigger their own demise internally through glacio-isostatic adjustment and it provides an explanation for the early retreat of the BIIS on the Atlantic shelf during the global LGM (gLGM). Highlights • British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) grounded to the continental shelf edge offshore NW Ireland at the LGM. • Initial retreat occurred during the maximum eustatic sea level lowstand. • Retreat driven by glacioisostatic depression and high relative sea level. • Importance of glacioisostasy for triggering the demise of marine-based sectors of ice sheets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) the marine-terminating Barra Fan Ice Stream (BFIS), a major conduit of the British Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS), drained much of western Scotland and northwest Ireland with ice streaming onto the continental shelf of the Malin Sea. The extent and retreat history of this ice stream across the shelf, until now, is not well known. In particular, geochronological constraints on the history of this ice stream have thus far been restricted to deep-sea cores or terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating onshore, with ages across the shelf absent. To understand the possible external forcing factors acting on this marine terminating ice stream during retreat, improved geochronological constraint on its deglaciation is necessary. Here, we present new geophysical data, marine sediment cores and over forty radiocarbon dates to provide important constraints on maximum extent of the BFIS, as well as the timing and pattern of retreat back across the Malin Shelf. Dated moraines and grounding-zone wedges (GZW) seen in seafloor sub-bottom profiles provide evidence that the BFIS reached the Malin Shelf edge during the LGM and was at its maximum extent around 26.7 ka BP. The presence of two sets of GZWs suggests that the style of retreat was episodic. The new radiocarbon chronology shows that retreat from the shelf edge was underway by 25.9 ka BP, with the majority of the continental shelf ice free by 23.2 ka BP, and that glacimarine conditions were present in the Sea of Hebrides by 20.2 ka BP at the latest. Collectively, these results indicate that the majority of the Malin Shelf was free of grounded ice by ∼21.5–20 ka BP, which is up to 4000 years earlier than previously reconstructed. We attribute this early deglaciation to high relative sea level caused by glacial isostatic depression when the BIIS reached its maximum extent promoting ice shelf and grounding line instability. Two deep troughs, forming reverse bed slopes, aided the continued retreat of the BFIS. This suggests that local ice loading and bed morphology can be significant controls on the destabilisation of a marine-terminating ice stream and can override the influence of ocean and atmospheric temperatures. Highlights • Detailed reconstruction of MIS 2 deglaciation of the Malin Shelf using marine data. • Early retreat of the Barra Fan Ice Stream (BFIS) from the shelf edge by 25.9 ka. • Initial retreat likely caused by isostatic loading and relative sea-level rise. • The entire Malin Shelf was ice free by 20.2 ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstructing the growth and decay of palaeo-ice sheets is critical to understanding mechanisms of global climate change and associated sea-level fluctuations in the past, present and future. The significance of palaeo-ice sheets is further underlined by the broad range of disciplines concerned with reconstructing their behaviour, many of which have undergone a rapid expansion since the 1980s. In particular, there has been a major increase in the size and qualitative diversity of empirical data used to reconstruct and date ice sheets, and major improvements in our ability to simulate their dynamics in numerical ice sheet models. These developments have made it increasingly necessary to forge interdisciplinary links between sub-disciplines and to link numerical modelling with observations and dating of proxy records. The aim of this paper is to evaluate recent developments in the methods used to reconstruct ice sheets and outline some key challenges that remain, with an emphasis on how future work might integrate terrestrial and marine evidence together with numerical modelling. Our focus is on pan-ice sheet reconstructions of the last deglaciation, but regional case studies are used to illustrate methodological achievements, challenges and opportunities. Whilst various disciplines have made important progress in our understanding of ice-sheet dynamics, it is clear that data-model integration remains under-used, and that uncertainties remain poorly quantified in both empirically-based and numerical ice-sheet reconstructions. The representation of past climate will continue to be the largest source of uncertainty for numerical modelling. As such, palaeo-observations are critical to constrain and validate modelling. State-of-the-art numerical models will continue to improve both in model resolution and in the breadth of inclusion of relevant processes, thereby enabling more accurate and more direct comparison with the increasing range of palaeo-observations. Thus, the capability is developing to use all relevant palaeo-records to more strongly constrain deglacial (and to a lesser extent pre-LGM) ice sheet evolution. In working towards that goal, the accurate representation of uncertainties is required for both constraint data and model outputs. Close cooperation between modelling and data-gathering communities is essential to ensure this capability is realised and continues to progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Awareness is growing on the significance of overdeepenings in ice sheet systems. However, a complete understanding of overdeepening formation is lacking, meaning observations of overdeepening location and morphometry are urgently required to motivate process understanding. Subject to the development of appropriate mapping approaches, high resolution subglacial topography data sets covering the whole of Antarctica and Greenland offer significant potential to acquire such observations and to relate overdeepening characteristics to ice sheet parameters. We explore a possible method for mapping overdeepenings beneath the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets and illustrate a potential application of this approach by testing a possible relationship between overdeepening elongation ratio and ice sheet flow velocity. We find that hydrological and terrain filtering approaches are unsuited to mapping overdeepenings and develop a novel rule-based GIS methodology that delineates overdeepening perimeters by analysis of closed-contour properties. We then develop GIS procedures that provide information on overdeepening morphology and topographic context. Limitations in the accuracy and resolution of bed-topography data sets mean that application to glaciological problems requires consideration of quality-control criteria to (a) remove potentially spurious depressions and (b) reduce uncertainties that arise from the inclusion of depressions of nonglacial origin, or those in regions where empirical data are sparse. To address the problem of overdeepening elongation, potential quality control criteria are introduced; and discussion of this example serves to highlight the limitations that mapping approaches — and applications of such approaches — must confront. We predict that improvements in bed-data quality will reduce the need for quality control procedures and facilitate increasingly robust insights from empirical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]