Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-wxk4p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-30T20:32:14.021Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Weichselian and Holocene Relative Sea-level History of Bröggerhalvöya, Spitsbergen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Steven L. Forman ,
Daniel H. Mann  and
Gifford H. Miller
Steven L. Forman
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309
Daniel H. Mann
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, AK-60, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
Gifford H. Miller
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Radiocarbon-dated whalebones from raised beaches record a relative sea-level history for Bröggerhalvöya, western Spitsbergen that suggest a two-step deglaciation on Svalbard at the end of the late Weichselian glaciation. The late Weichselian marine limit was reached at about 13,000 yr B.P. and was followed by relatively slow emergence until about 10,000 yr B.P. either in response to ice unloading in the Barents Sea, initial retreat of local fjord glaciers, or some combination of the two. Rare whale skeletons dating between 13,000 and 10,000 yr B.P. indicate that the Norwegian Sea was at least seasonally ice free during that interval. Deglaciation of Spitsbergen is recorded by the rapid emergence of Bröggerhalvöya after 10,000 yr B.P. This was followed by a transgression during the mid-Holocene, here named the Talavera Transgression, and another in modern times. Raised beach morphologies suggest striking differences in nearshore depositional processes before and after 10,000 yr B.P. that are probably related to changes in the rate of uplift and in sea-ice conditions.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , January 1987 , pp. 41 - 50
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Best, P.B., (1982). Whales: Why do they strand? African Wildlife 36, 96–101 Google Scholar
Blake, W. Jr. (1961). Russian settlement and land rise in Nordaustlandet, Spitsbergern Arctic 14, 101–111 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blake, W. Jr. Radiocarbon dating of raised beaches in Nordaustlandet, Spitsbergen Raasch, G.O., (1961). The Geology of the Arctic; Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Arctic Geology Univ. of Toronto Press Toronto 133–145 Google Scholar
Blake, W. Jr. (1975). Radiocarbon age determinations and postglacial emergence at Cape Storm, southern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada Geografiska Annaler 57A, 1–71 Google Scholar
Boulton, G.S., (1979). Glacial history of the Spitsbergen Archipelago and the problem of the Barents Sea ice-sheet Boreas 8, 31–55 Google Scholar
Boulton, G.S. Baldwin, C.T. Peacock, J.D. McCabe, A.M. Miller, G. Jarvis, J. Horsefield, B. Worsley, P. Eyles, N. Chroston, P.N. Day, T.E. Gibbard, P. Hare, P.E. von Brunn, V., (1982). Glacio-isostatic facies model and amino acid stratigraphy for late Quaternary events in Spitsbergen and the Arctic Nature (London) 298, 437–441 Google Scholar
Carter, R.W.G. Orford, J.D., (1984). Coarse clastic barrier beaches: A discussion of the distinctive dynamics and morpho-sedimentary characteristics Marine Geology 60, 377–389 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elverhøi, A. Solheim, A., (1983). Barents Sea icesheet—A sedimentological discussion Polar Research 1, 23–42 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
England, J., (1983). Isostatic adjustment in a full glacial sea Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 20, 895–917 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feyling-Hanssen, R.W., (1955). Late Pleistocene deposits at Kapp Wijk, Vestspitsbergen Norsk Polarinstitutt Skrifter 108, 1–20 Google Scholar
Feyling-Hanssen, R.W., (1965). Shoreline displacement in central Vestspitsbergen and a marine section from the Holocene of Talavera on Barentsöya in Spitsbergen Norsk Polarinstitutt Meddelelser 93, 1–34 Google Scholar
Forman, S.L. Miller, G.H., (1984). Time-dependent soil morphologies and pedogenic processes on raised beaches, Bröggerhalvöya, Spitsbergen, Svalbard Archipelago Arctic and Alpine Research 16, 381–394 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forman, S.L. Miller, G.H. Lehman, S.J., (1984). Late Weichselian glacial and relative sealevel history of Forlandsundet, western Spitsbergen, Svalbard Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 16, 511 Google Scholar
Grosswald, M.G., (1972). Glacier variations and crustal movements in European Russia and late Pleistocene and Holocene times Varsari, Y. Hyvärinen, H. Hicks, S. Climatic Changes in Arctic Areas during the Last Ten Thousand Years Acta Universitatis Ouluensis Oulo, Finland 205–224 Google Scholar
Hafsten, U., (1983). Shore-level changes in south Norway during the last 13,000 years, traced by biostratigraphical methods and radiometric dating Norsk Geografiska Tidsskrift 37, 63–79 Google Scholar
Häggblom, A., (1982). Driftwood in Svalbard as an indicator of sea ice conditions Geografiska Annaler 64A, 81–94 Google Scholar
Hald, M. Vorren, T.O., (1983). A shoreline displacement curve from the Tromsø district, north Norway Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 63, 103–110 Google Scholar
Hjort, C., (1973). The Vega Transgression: A hypsithermal event in central east Greenland Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark 22, 25–38 Google Scholar
Hyvärinen, H., (1969). Trullvatnet: A Flandrian stratigraphical site near Murchinsonfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Spitsbergen Geografiska Annaler 51A, 42–45 Google Scholar
Jahn, A., (1977). Periglacial forms produced by shore ice at Hornsund (Spitsbergen) Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis Studia Geograficzne 387, 19–30 Google Scholar
Jansen, E. Bjørkland, K., (1985). Surface ocean circulation in the Norwegian Sea 15,000 years B.P. to present Boreas 14, 243–258 Google Scholar
Jansen, E. Sejrup, H.P. Fjaeran, T. Hald, M. Holtedahl, H. Skarbø, O., (1983). Late Weichselian paleooceanography of the southeastern Norwegian Sea Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 63, 117–146 Google Scholar
Kellogg, T.B., (1980). Paleoclimatology and paleooceanography of the Norwegian and Greenland Seas: Glacial-interglacial contrast Boreas 9, 115–137 Google Scholar
Lehman, S.J., (1986). Quaternary Glacial and Relative Sea Level History of Prins Karls Forland and Northern Kongsfjorden, West Spitsbergen, Svalbard Unpublished Masters thesis University of Colorado Google Scholar
Lie, S.E. Stabell, B. Mangerud, J., (1983). Diatom stratigraphy related to late Weichselian sealevel changes in Sunnmøre western Norway Norsk Geologiske Undersøkelse 380, 208–219 Google Scholar
Mangerud, J., (1977). Late Weichselian marine sediments containing shells foraminifera and pollen at Ågotnes, western Norway Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 56, 23–54 Google Scholar
Marthinussen, M., (1962). 14C-datings referring to shorelines, transgressions, and glacial substages in northern Norway Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse 115, 37–67 Google Scholar
Marthinussen, M., (1974). Contributions to the Quaternary geology of north-easternmost Norway and the closely adjoining foreign territories Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse 315, 1–157 Google Scholar
Miller, G.H., (1982). Quaternary depositional episodes, western Spitsbergen, Norway: Aminostratigraphy and glacial history Arctic and Alpine Research 14, 321–340 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, E., (1984). Ecology of North Atlantic boreal and arctic Monodontid and Hysticete Whales Jacob, H.K. Snoeijing, K. Vaughan, R. Arctic Whaling; Proceedings of the International Symposium on Arctic Whaling, 1983 University of Groningen Netherlands 65–78 Google Scholar
Moign, A., (1974). Standflates Immergés du Spitsberg Central et Nord-Occidentale Unpublished thesis University of Bretagne Occidentale Google Scholar
Möller, J.J., (1984). Holocene shoreline displacement at Nappstraumen, Lofoten, north Norway Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 64, 1–5 Google Scholar
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Tide Table 1984 for Europe and West Coast of Africa Including the Mediterranean Sea (1983). United States Department of Commerce Washington, D.C Google Scholar
Olsson, I.U., (1980). Content of 14C in marine mammals from northern Europe Radiocarbon 22, 662–675 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Punning, J.M. Rajamäe, R. Ehrenpreis, M., (1978). Tallinn radiocarbon dates V Radiocarbon 20, 461–468 Google Scholar
Punning, J.M. Rajamäe, R. Ehrenpreis, M. Sarv, L., (1977). Tallinn radiocarbon dates IV Radiocarbon 19, 111–117 Google Scholar
Punning, J.M. Rajamäe, R. Joers, K. Putnik, H., (1980). Tallinn radiocarbon dates VI Radiocarbon 22, 91–98 Google Scholar
Rice, D.W., (1967). Cetaceans Anderson, S. Jones, J.K. Recent Mammals of the Wold Ronald Press New York 291–324 Google Scholar
Salvigsen, O., (1977). Radiocarbon datings and the extension of the Weichselian ice-sheet in Svalbard Norsk Polarinstitutt Årbok 1976, 209–224 Google Scholar
Salvigsen, O., (1978). Holocene emergence and finds of pumice, whalebone and driftwood at Svartknaussflya, Nordauestlandet Norsk Polarinstitutt Årbok 1977, 217–228 Google Scholar
Salvigsen, O., (1981). Radiocarbon dated raised beaches in Kong Karls Land, Svalbard, and their consequences for the glacial history of the Barents Sea area Geografiska Annaler 63A, 283–291 Google Scholar
Salvigsen, O., (1984). Occurrence of pumice on raised beaches and Holocene shoreline displacement in the inner Isford area, Svalbard Polar Research 2, 115–116 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salvigsen, O. Nydal, R., (1981). The Weichselian glaciation in Svalbard before 15,000 B.P. Boreas 10, 433–446 Google Scholar
Salvigsen, O. Österholm, A.C., (1982). Radiocarbon dated raised beaches and glacial history of the northern coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard Polar Research 1, 97–115 Google Scholar
Steffensen, E.L., (1982). The climate at Norwegian arctic stations Klima 5, 3–31 Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. Polach, H.A., (1977). Discussion: Reporting of 14C data Radiocarbon 19, 355–363 Google Scholar