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Late Weichselian Glaciation of the Russian High Arctic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Martin J. Siegert ,
Julian A. Dowdeswell  and
Martin Melles
Martin J. Siegert
Affiliation:
Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1SS, United Kingdom
Julian A. Dowdeswell
Affiliation:
Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1SS, United Kingdom
Martin Melles
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A43, D-14473, Potsdam, Germany
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Abstract

A numerical ice-sheet model was used to reconstruct the Late Weichselian glaciation of the Eurasian High Arctic, between Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya. An ice sheet was developed over the entire Eurasian High Arctic so that ice flow from the central Barents and Kara seas toward the northern Russian Arctic could be accounted for. An inverse approach to modeling was utilized, where ice-sheet results were forced to be compatible with geological information indicating ice-free conditions over the Taymyr Peninsula during the Late Weichselian. The model indicates complete glaciation of the Barents and Kara seas and predicts a “maximum-sized” ice sheet for the Late Weichselian Russian High Arctic. In this scenario, full-glacial conditions are characterized by a 1500-m-thick ice mass over the Barents Sea, from which ice flowed to the north and west within several bathymetric troughs as large ice streams. In contrast to this reconstruction, a “minimum” model of glaciation involves restricted glaciation in the Kara Sea, where the ice thickness is only 300 m in the south and which is free of ice in the north across Severnaya Zemlya. Our maximum reconstruction is compatible with geological information that indicates complete glaciation of the Barents Sea. However, geological data from Severnaya Zemlya suggest our minimum model is more relevant further east. This, in turn, implies a strong paleoclimatic gradient to colder and drier conditions eastward across the Eurasian Arctic during the Late Weichselian.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , November 1999 , pp. 273 - 285
Copyright
University of Washington

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