Chapter 14 - Holocene glacial landscapes of the Scandinavian Peninsula

Abstract

The Scandinavian Peninsula is located between 55°N and 71°N, and 5°E and 32°E in Northern Europe. Numerous records of Holocene glacier variations from northern and southern Scandinavia have been derived mainly from stratigraphic investigations of proglacial lacustrine and terrestrial sedimentary sequences in combination with mapped marginal moraines. Mapping and dating demonstrate a rapid wastage of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet in the Early Holocene. By ~10.5–10.0ka, the ice sheet had largely melted. During wastage of the ice sheet, brief episodes of glacier readvance or stillstand occurred at ~11.5–11.3, ~11.1, ~10.5 and ~10.2–9.7ka. Remnants of the ice sheet that survived wastage during the Early Holocene, together with isolated mountain glaciers that existed beyond the limits of the ice sheet during Younger Dryas times, were briefly revived during the ~ 8.2ka (Finse) Event. During the Middle Holocene, Scandinavian glaciers were reduced in size and most, if not all, melted away completely, at least between ~7.5 and 5.5ka. During the Late Holocene, they reformed (neoglaciation), increasing in size in response to a cooler and more humid climate. Several century- to millennial-scale events were apparently superimposed on this trend, but none of these glacier expansion episodes exceeded that of the Little Ice Age. In Scandinavia, the timing and extent of the mid-18th century Little Ice Age glacial maximum have been well established based on historical evidence. Retreat from this maximum has been reconstructed from recessional moraines dated by monitored glacier-front variations, historical evidence and lichenometric dating. Since attaining their Little Ice Age maximum, Scandinavian glaciers have shrunk considerably. At present, Scandinavian glaciers cover an area of approximately 2620km2 and number about 5560 (>0.1km2), of which the vast majority are located in Norway and about 300 in northern Sweden.