Late Weichselian/Devensian ice sheets in the North Sea and adjacent land areas.

Abstract

A considerable discussion concerning the extent of the last Scandinavian and Scottish ice sheets has continued for several years. In contrast to earlier models based on an ice sheet extending to the edge of the continental shelf, recent proposals favor a limited geographical and vertical extent and imply that the Scandinavian and British ice sheets did not coalesce in the North Sea. These models indicate an ice‐free, open embayment in the northern North Sea and areas of dry land in the southern North Sea region during the Late Weichselian/Devensian glacial maximum. Late Weichselian ice‐sheet profiles from the North Sea to the adjacent land areas of southern Norway have been tentatively reconstructed. Low‐gradient profiles in the present shelf areas are explained by unconsolidated, deformable sediments on the continental shelf inducing subglacial water pressure and low basal shear stress beneath marginal parts of the Scandinavian ice sheet. Combined with higher basal shear stress conditions in the present mainland areas, this explains the slightly concave and convex shape of the reconstructed ice‐sheet profiles in the present coastal and inland areas of western Norway, respectively.