Abstract
The stratigraphy and sedimentology of a diamicton-stratified sand deposit have been studied in the Veskoniemi area, near Lake Inarijarvi in central Finnish Lapland. Test pit excavations were used for stratigraphical investigations. Till-covered laminar and crossbedded sands were dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). Ages range between 21.0 ± 1.5 and 22.4 ± 1.6 ka for laminated sands at upper levels and 39 ± 3 and 46 ± 3 ka for sands at deeper levels. These dating results strengthen the evidence for a Middle Weichselian interstadial in northern Finland during oxygen isotope stage 3, and can be compared with other results in eastern and southern Lapland. This is the first time that sediments from the Middle and Late Weichselian contact have been identified in Finland. These new dating results indicate that an ice-free period could have lasted from halfway through the Middle Weichselian to the beginning of the Late Weichselian about 22-25 ka ago in northern Finland.
Highlights
Over the last ten years the age of stratified inter-till layers has been the subject of intense investigations both in Finland and in other areas influenced by the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS)
The lower part of the VESKO 1 section consists of a 2.8 m thick unit of deformed laminated silt and sand (Unit 1; Figs 2 and 3)
New dating results indicate that this ice-free period may have lasted up to the beginning of the Late Weichselian, about 22–25 ka ago, in northern Finland
Summary
Over the last ten years the age of stratified inter-till layers has been the subject of intense investigations both in Finland and in other areas influenced by the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS). There is disagreement concerning phases of the Middle Weichselian (oxygen isotope stage 3) and concerning phases during the transition from the Eemian stadial to the Early Weichselian interstadial/-glacial cycles. Most of the new data are obtained by studying the stratigraphy and sedimentology of the sections in open pits and test pits and by using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating for the till-covered and/or inter-till stratified layers. New sampling targets are actively sought in the areas from which earlier studies did not yield dating results, in order to tighten the stratigraphical observation grid in northern Finland
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