The glacial History of the Barents and Kara Sea Region

Abstract

This chapter discusses the present knowledge of the Quaternary ice sheet history in the Barents and Kara Sea region. A reconstruction of the ice sheet extent during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is presented in the chapter. The reconstructions are based on a review of published geological and geophysical data from the shelf and adjacent islands and have also taken into account unpublished results. The ice sheet extent during the LGM has been much debated over the past decades, and was considered to represent one of the largest uncertainties in the global distribution of glaciers. According to one extreme view, much of northern Eurasia was covered by an enormous shelf-centered ice sheet at the LGM whereas others visualize more localized ice caps over the Arctic islands. Based on comprehensive investigations, it has now been demonstrated that a major ice sheet did exist in the Barents Sea region at this time. However, this ice sheet did not expand onto the Russian Lowland and there was no major ice dispersal centres over the Kara Sea shelf during the LGM.