Non-glacial paleoenvironments and the extent of Weichselian ice sheets on Severnaya Zemlya, Russian High Arctic

Abstract

The extent of the Barents-Kara Sea ice sheet (northern Europe and Russia) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 is controversial, especially along the southern and northeastern (Russian High Arctic) margins. We conducted a multi-disciplinary study of various organic and mineral fractions, obtaining chronologies with 14C and luminescence dating methods on a 10.5 m long core from Changeable Lake (4 km from the Vavilov Ice Cap) on Severnaya Zemlya. The numeric ages indicate that the last glaciation at this site occurred during or prior to MIS 5d-4 (Early Middle Weichselian). Deglaciation was followed by a marine transgression which affected the Changeable Lake basin. After the regression the basin dried up. In late Middle Weichselian time (ca 25–40 ka), reworked marine sediments were deposited in a saline water body. During the Late Weichselian (MIS 2), the basin was not affected by glaciation, and lacustrine sediments were formed which reflect cold and arid climate conditions. During the termination of the Pleistocene and into the Holocene, warmer and wetter climate conditions than before led to a higher sediment input. Thus, our chronology demonstrates that the northeastern margin of the LGM Barents-Kara Sea ice sheet did not reach the Changeable Lake basin. This result supports a modest model of the LGM ice sheet in northern Europe determined from numeric ice sheet modelling and geological investigations.