Late Quaternary Sediment Yield from the High Arctic Svalbard Area

Abstract

Late Quaternary sediment yields from the Isfjorden drainage area ($$7327 km^{2}$$), a high arctic region on Svalbard characterized by an alpine landscape, have been reconstructed by using seismic stratigraphy supported by sediment core analysis. The sediments that accumulated in the fjord during and since deglaciation can be divided into three stratigraphic units. The volumes of these units were determined and converted into sediment yield rates averaged over the drainage basin. During deglaciation, 13 to 10 ka, the sediment yield was $$\sim 860 tons(t) \cdot km^{-2} \cdot yr^{-1}$$. In the early Holocene it decreased to $$190 t \cdot km^{-2} \cdot yr^{-1}$$, and then increased to $$390 t \cdot km^{-2} \cdot yr^{-1}$$ during the late Holocene Little Ice Age. When normalized to the approximate glacierized area, these rates correspond to a sediment yield of $$\sim 800 t \cdot km^{-2} \cdot yr^{-1}$$. Sediment yield from non-glacierized parts of the drainage is estimated to be $$35 t \cdot km^{-2} \cdot yr^{...