Abstract

Marine geologic evidence from the western Barents Sea shelf leaves little doubt that theareawascoveredbygroundediceduringthelastglaciation,butthepatternandtiming of the subsequent deglaciation were not well determined. Here we reconstruct the timing and mechanism of ice-sheet retreat as constrained by seismic stratigraphy and lithostratigraphy and accelerator-mass-spectrometer 14 C dating of foraminifera and mollusc shellsinsedimentboringsfromthesoutheasternBarentsSea, ;1000kmfromthewestern shelf edge and former ice-sheet margin. The deposition of ice-proximal glaciomarine sediments upon till began at or shortly before 12.7 ka, indicating that the ice-sheet retreat— whichmostlikelycommencedalongthewesternmarginoftheBarentsSeashelfat15‐14.5 ka—reached the southeastern part of the shelf in #2 ka. The subsequent accumulation of glaciomarinesedimentstookplaceintwodistinctpulses(;12.7‐12.1kaand ;10.5‐9.4ka) separatedbyanintervalofnondepositionlasting $1.5ka.Thetwopulsesofsedimentation were coeval with periods of increasing surface-water and air temperatures in the northern Atlanticregionandacceleratedeustaticsea-levelrise,suggestingthattheremainingretreat of the Barents Shelf ice sheet was paced by these factors.

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