Ice Sheet Thickness Research Articles

Amazonian northern mid-latitude glaciation on Mars: A proposed climate scenario

Recent geological observations in the northern mid-latitudes of Mars show evidence for past glacial activity during the late Amazonian, similar to the integrated glacial landsystems in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. The large accumulation of ice (many hundreds of meters) required to create the observed glacial deposits points to significant atmospheric precipitation, snow and ice accumulation, and glacial flow. In order to understand the climate scenario required for these conditions, we used the LMD (Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique) Mars GCM (General Circulation Model), which is able to reproduce the present-day water cycle, and to predict past deposition of ice consistent with geological observations in many cases. Prior to this analysis, however, significant mid-latitude glaciation had not been simulated by the model, run under a range of parameters. In this analysis, we studied the response of the GCM to a wider range of orbital configurations and water ice reservoirs, and show that during periods of moderate obliquity ( ϵ = 25–35°) and high dust opacity ( τ dust = 1.5–2.5), broad-scale glaciation in the northern mid-latitudes occurs if water ice deposited on the flanks of the Tharsis volcanoes at higher obliquity is available for sublimation. We find that high dust contents of the atmosphere increase its water vapor holding capacity, thereby moving the saturation region to the northern mid-latitudes. Precipitation events are then controlled by topographic forcing of stationary planetary waves and transient weather systems, producing surface ice distribution and amounts that are consistent with the geological record. Ice accumulation rates of ∼10 mm yr −1 lead to the formation of a 500–1000 m thick regional ice sheet that will produce glacial flow patterns consistent with the geological observations.

Deglaciation and weathering of Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica

In situ cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating, radiocarbon determinations, salt and sediment geochemistry, and rock weathering observations indicate that parts of Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica have been subaerially exposed throughout much of the last glacial cycle, with the last glaciation occurring prior to 100 ka bp. Salt-enhanced subaerial weathering, coupled with a paucity of glacial erratics, made exposure age dating challenging. Rapid subaerial surface lowering in some places means that some exposure ages may underestimate the true age of deglaciation. Despite this uncertainty, the data are consistent with the absence of overriding by a thick ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum ∼20–18 ka bp.

Basement interpretations from airborne magnetic and gravity data over the Lambert Rift region of East Antarctica

Geological exposures in the Lambert Rift region of East Antarctica comprise scattered coastal outcrops and inland nunataks sporadically protruding through the Antarctic ice sheet from Prydz Bay to the southernmost end of the Prince Charles Mountains. This study utilized airborne magnetic, gravity, and ice radar data to interpret the distribution and architecture of tectonic terranes that are largely buried beneath the thick ice sheet. Free‐air and Bouguer gravity data are highly influenced by the subice and mantle topography, respectively. Gravity stripping facilitated the removal of the effect of ice and Moho, and the residual gravity data set thus obtained for the intermediate crustal level allowed a direct comparison with magnetic data. Interpretation of geophysical data also provided insight into the distribution and geometry of four tectonic blocks: namely, the Vestfold, Beaver, Mawson, and Gamburtsev domains. These tectonic domains are supported by surface observations such as rock descriptions, isotopic data sets, and structural mapping.

Constraints on the lake volume required for hydro‐fracture through ice sheets

Water‐filled cracks are an effective mechanism to drive hydro‐fractures through thick ice sheets. Crack geometry is therefore critical in assessing whether a supraglacial lake contains a sufficient volume of water to keep a crack water‐filled until it reaches the bed. In this study, we investigate fracture propagation using a linear elastic fracture mechanics model to calculate the dimensions of water‐filled cracks beneath supraglacial lakes. We find that the cross‐sectional area of water‐filled cracks increases non‐linearly with ice sheet thickness. Using these results, we place volumetric constraints on the amount of water necessary to drive cracks through ∼1 km of sub‐freezing ice. For ice sheet regions under little tension, lakes larger than 0.25–0.80 km in diameter contain sufficient water to rapidly drive hydro‐fractures through 1–1.5 km of subfreezing ice. This represents ∼98% of the meltwater volume held in supraglacial lakes in the central western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Evolution of an englacial volcanic ridge: Pillow Ridge tindar, Mount Edziza volcanic complex, NCVP, British Columbia, Canada

Glaciovolcanic deposits are critical for documenting the presence and thickness of terrestrial ice-sheets, and for testing hypotheses about inferred terrestrial ice volumes based on the marine record. Deposits formed by the coincidence of volcanism and ice at the Mount Edziza volcanic complex (MEVC) in northern British Columbia, Canada, preserve an important record for documenting local and possibly regional ice dynamics. Pillow Ridge, located at the northwestern end of the MEVC, formed by ice-confined, fissure-fed eruptions. It comprises predominantly pillow lavas and volcanic breccias of alkaline basalt composition, with subordinate finer-grained volcaniclastic deposits and dykes. The ridge is presently ∼ 4 km long, ∼ 1000 m in maximum width, and ∼ 600 m high. Fifteen syn- and post-eruptive lithofacies are recognized in excellent exposures along the glacially dissected western side of the ridge. We recognize five lithofacies associations: (1) poorly sorted tuff breccia and dykes, (2) proximal pillow lava, dykes and tuff breccia, (3) distal pillow lava, poorly sorted conglomerate and well-sorted volcanic sandstone, (4) interbedded tuff, lapilli tuff, and tuff breccia units, and (5) heterolithic volcanogenic conglomerate and sandstone. Given the abundance of pillow lavas and the lack of surrounding topographic barriers capable of impounding water, we agree with Souther [Souther, J.G., 1992. The late Cenozoic Mount Edziza volcanic complex. Geol. Soc. Can. Mem., vol. 420. 320 pp] that the bulk of the edifice formed while confined by ice, but have found evidence for a more complex and variable eruption history than that which he proposed. Preliminary estimates of water-ice depths derived from FTIR analyses of H 2O give ranges of 300 to 680 m assuming 0 ppm CO 2, and 857 to 1297 m assuming 25 ppm CO 2. Variations in depth estimates among samples may indicate that water/ice depths changed during the evolution of the ridge, which is consistent with our interpretations for the origins of different lithofacies associations. Given that the age of the units are likely to be ca. 0.9 Ma [Souther, J.G., 1992. The late Cenozoic Mount Edziza volcanic complex. Geol. Soc. Can. Mem., vol. 420. 320 pp], Pillow Ridge may be the best documentation of a regional high stand of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) in the middle Pleistocene, and an excellent example of the lithofacies and stratigraphic complexities produced by variations in water levels during a prolonged glaciovolcanic eruption.

Interannual Atmospheric Variability Affects Continental Ice Sheet Simulations on Millennial Time Scales

Abstract To inform the ongoing development of earth system models that aim to incorporate interactive ice, the potential impact of interannual variability associated with synoptic variability and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) on the evolution of a large continental ice sheet is explored through a series of targeted numerical modeling experiments. Global and North American signatures of ENSO at the LGM are described based on a multidecadal paleoclimate simulation using an atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). Experiments in which a thermomechanical North American ice sheet model (ISM) was forced with persistent LGM ENSO composite anomaly maps derived from the AOGCM showed only modest ice sheet thickness sensitivity to ENSO teleconnections. In contrast, very high model sensitivity was found when North American climate variations were incorporated directly in the ISM as a looping interannual time series. Under this configuration, localized transient cold anomalies in the atmospheric record instigated substantial new ice formation through a dynamically mediated feedback at the ice sheet margin, altering the equilibrium geometry and resulting in a bulk 10% growth of the Laurentide ice sheet volume over 5 kyr.

Preliminary 10Be chronology for the last deglaciation of the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet

AbstractThe now acknowledged thinning of the Greenland Ice Sheet raises concerns about its potential contribution to future sea level rise. In order to appreciate the full extent of its contribution to sea level rise, reconstruction of the ice sheet's most recent last deglaciation could provide key information on the timing and the height of the ice sheet at a time of rapid climate readjustment. We measured 10Be concentrations in 12 samples collected along longitudinal and altitudinal transects from Sisimiut to within 10 km of the Isunguata Sermia Glacier ice margin on the western coast of Greenland. Along the longitudinal transect, we collected three perched boulders and two bedrocks. In addition, we sampled seven perched boulders along a vertical transect in a valley within 10 km of the Isunguata Sermia Glacier ice margin. Our pilot dataset constrains the height of the ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) between 500 m and 840 m (including the 120 m relative sea level depression at the time of the LGM, 21 ka BP). From the transect we estimate the thinning of the ice sheet at the end of the deglaciation between 12.3 ± 1.5 10Be ka (n = 2) and 8.3 ± 1.2 10Be ka (n = 3) to be ∼6 cm a−1 over this time period. Direct dating of the retreat of the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet has the potential to better constrain the retreat rate of the ice margin, the thickness of the former ice sheet as well as its response to climate change. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Simulating the impact of glaciations on continental groundwater flow systems: 1. Relevant processes and model formulation

In the recent literature, it has been shown that Pleistocene glaciations had a large impact on North American regional groundwater flow systems. Because of the myriad of complex processes and large spatial scales involved during periods of glaciation, numerical models have become powerful tools to examine how ice sheets control subsurface flow systems. In this paper, the key processes that must be represented in a continental‐scale 3‐D numerical model of groundwater flow during a glaciation are reviewed, including subglacial infiltration, density‐dependent (i.e., high‐salinity) groundwater flow, permafrost evolution, isostasy, sea level changes, and ice sheet loading. One‐dimensional hydromechanical coupling associated with ice loading and brine generation were included in the numerical model HydroGeoSphere and tested against newly developed exact analytical solutions to verify their implementation. Other processes such as subglacial infiltration, permafrost evolution, and isostasy were explicitly added to HydroGeoSphere. A specified flux constrained by the ice sheet thickness was found to be the most appropriate boundary condition in the subglacial environment. For the permafrost, frozen and unfrozen elements can be selected at every time step with specified hydraulic conductivities. For the isostatic adjustment, the elevations of all the grid nodes in each vertical grid column below the ice sheet are adjusted uniformly to account for the Earth's crust depression and rebound. In a companion paper, the model is applied to the Wisconsinian glaciation over the Canadian landscape in order to illustrate the concepts developed in this paper and to better understand the impact of glaciation on 3‐D continental groundwater flow systems.

Late Weichselian relative sea-level changes and ice sheet history in southeast Greenland

Relative sea-level (RSL) observations from the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) provide information regarding the timing and rate of deglaciation and constraints on geophysical models of ice sheet evolution. In this paper we present the first RSL record for the southeast sector of the GIS based on field observations completed close to Ammassalik. The local marine limit is c. 69 m above sea-level (asl) and is dated to c. 11 k cal. yrs BP (thousand calibrated years before present) and is a minimum date for ice free conditions at the study site. RSL fell to c. 24 m asl by 9.5 k cal. yrs BP and continued to fall at a decreasing rate to reach close to present by 6.5 k cal. yrs BP. Our chronology agrees with radiocarbon dates from offshore cores that indicate ice free conditions on the adjacent mid-shelf by 15 k cal. yrs BP. We compare the new RSL data with predictions generated using two recently published glaciological models of the GIS that differ in the amount and timing of ice loading and unloading over our study area. These two GIS models are coupled to the same Earth viscosity model and background (global) ice model to aid in the data-model comparison. Neither model provides a close fit to the RSL observations. Based on a preliminary sensitivity study using a suite of Earth viscosity models, we conclude that the poor data-model fit is most likely due to an underestimate of the local ice unloading. An improved fit could be achieved by delaying the retreat of a thicker ice sheet across the continental shelf. A thick ice sheet extending well onto the continental shelf is in agreement with other recent observations elsewhere in east and south Greenland.

River ice cover flexure by an incoming wave

Abstract A river's ice cover can be broken up by unsteady flows that may result from a sudden increase in discharge resulting from a dam break event, an ice jam release event or a flash-flood. As the resulting wave (surge or ‘jave’) travels downstream, if it is not strong enough to break the cover, its amplitude and celerity will be dampened whereas if it is, they may be amplified. It is therefore important to know what rise in levels is required to break an intact ice sheet. In this paper, 1D and 2D numerical models are used to investigate the wave–ice cover interaction in order to formulate simple river ice sheet breakup criteria. The 1D model (based on the theory of beams on an elastic foundation) uses an iterative, in-house, finite difference method to converge on a solution that correctly models the limiting effect that the ice sheet's freeboard has on the imposed load. The analyses show the importance of non-linear ice sheet response to increasing wave amplitudes and/or water surface slopes as a function of ice sheet thickness. The paper also presents an analysis of water shear effects on axial and bending stresses. Lastly, a finite element method (FEM) is used to resolve the 2-D problem. For ice sheets frozen into or simply attached to the river banks, computed stresses are shown to be significantly different from the 1-D solution.

Dynamics of groundwater recharge and seepage over the Canadian landscape during the Wisconsinian glaciation

Pleistocene glaciations and their associated dramatic climatic conditions are suspected to have had a large impact on the groundwater flow system over the entire North American continent. Because of the myriad of complex flow‐related processes involved during a glaciation period, numerical models have become powerful tools for examining groundwater flow system evolution in this context. In this study, a series of key processes pertaining to coupled groundwater flow and glaciation modeling, such as density‐dependent (i.e., brine) flow, hydromechanical loading, subglacial infiltration, isostasy, and permafrost development, are included in the numerical model HydroGeoSphere to simulate groundwater flow over the Canadian landscape during the Wisconsinian glaciation (∼−120 ka to present). The primary objective is to demonstrate the immense impact of glacial advances and retreats during the Wisconsinian glaciation on the dynamical evolution of groundwater flow systems over the Canadian landscape, including surface‐subsurface water exchanges (i.e., recharge and discharge fluxes) in both the subglacial and the periglacial environments. It is shown that much of the infiltration of subglacial meltwater occurs during ice sheet progression and that during ice sheet regression, groundwater mainly exfiltrates on the surface, in both the subglacial and periglacial environments. The average infiltration/exfiltration fluxes range between 0 and 12 mm/a. Using mixed, ice sheet thickness–dependent boundary conditions for the subglacial environment, it was estimated that 15–70% of the meltwater infiltrated into the subsurface as recharge, with an average of 43%. Considering the volume of meltwater that was generated subsequent to the last glacial maximum, these recharge rates, which are related to the bedrock type and elastic properties, are historically significant and therefore played an immense role in the evolution of groundwater flow system evolution over the Canadian landmass over the last 120 ka. Finally, it is shown that the permafrost extent plays a key role in the distribution of surface‐subsurface interaction because the presence of permafrost acts as a barrier for groundwater flow.

Basaltic subglacial sheet-like sequences: Evidence for two types with different implications for the inferred thickness of associated ice

Subglacially-erupted volcanic sequences provide proxies for a unique range of palaeo-ice parameters and they are potentially highly useful archives of palaeoenvironmental information, particularly for pre-Quaternary periods. They can thus be incorporated by climate and ice sheet modellers in the same way as other environmental proxies, yet they remain largely under-utilised. Basaltic volcanic sequences erupted subglacially consist empirically of two major types, corresponding to eruptions under “thick” and “thin” ice, respectively. The latter are called subglacial sheet-like sequences and only one generic type of sequence has been described so far. However, there is now evidence that there are at least two generic types, with significantly different implications for interpretations of associated palaeo-ice sheet thicknesses. One type, which is relatively well described, is believed to be a diagnostic product of eruptions associated with a relatively thin glacial cover (< c. 150–200 m), probably corresponding most commonly to mountain glaciers but also conceivably thin ice caps or sheets, of any thermal regime (temperate, sub-polar, polar). It is here called the Mount Pinafore type. By contrast, a second subglacial sheet-like sequence, described in this paper for the first time and called the Dalsheidi-type, represents products of eruptions under much thicker ice (probably > 1000 m). Eruptions that form the Dalsheidi-type of sequence commence with the injection and inflation of a sill along the ice:bedrock interface. Such “interface sills” were predicted theoretically but had no known geological example, until now. Subsequent evolution commonly involves floating of the ice cover, catastrophic meltwater drainage and emplacement of widespread sheets of hyaloclastite, as cohesionless mass flows and hyperconcentrated flows. The water-saturated hyaloclastite is characteristically intruded by apophyses sourced in the underlying “interface sill”. Eruptions are commonly not explosive until their later stages. Dalsheidi-type deposits are outflow sequences probably linked to subglacial pillow volcanoes, which in Iceland were erupted along fissures. They only provide an indication of minimum thicknesses of the associated overlying ice, although theoretical considerations suggest substantial ice thicknesses in excess of 1000 m. However, they are likely to be characteristic products of eruptions under the thick West Antarctic Ice Sheet, but are currently inaccessible. Such eruptions may be capable of destabilising that ice sheet.

Ancient Biomolecules from Deep Ice Cores Reveal a Forested Southern Greenland

It is difficult to obtain fossil data from the 10% of Earth's terrestrial surface that is covered by thick glaciers and ice sheets, and hence, knowledge of the paleoenvironments of these regions has remained limited. We show that DNA and amino acids from buried organisms can be recovered from the basal sections of deep ice cores, enabling reconstructions of past flora and fauna. We show that high-altitude southern Greenland, currently lying below more than 2 kilometers of ice, was inhabited by a diverse array of conifer trees and insects within the past million years. The results provide direct evidence in support of a forested southern Greenland and suggest that many deep ice cores may contain genetic records of paleoenvironments in their basal sections.

Publisher's Note

Quaternary glacial stratigraphy and relative sea-level changes reveal at least four expansions of the Kara Sea ice sheet over the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago at 79 degrees N in the Russian Arctic, as indicated from tills interbedded with marine sediments, exposed in stratigraphic superposition, and from raised-beach sequences that occur at altitudes up to 140 m a.s.l. Chronologic control is provided by AMS C-14, electron-spin resonance, green-stimulated luminescence, and aspartic-acid geochronology. Major glaciations followed by deglaciation and marine inundation occurred during MIS 10-9, MIS 8-7, MIS 6-5e and MIS 5d-3. The MIS 6-5e event, associated with the high marine limit, implies ice-sheet thickness of >2000m only 200km from the deep Arctic Ocean, consistent with published evidence of ice grounding at similar to 1000m water depth in the central Arctic Ocean. Till fabrics and glacial tectonics record repeated expansions of local ice caps exclusively, suggesting wet-based ice cap advance followed by cold-based regional ice-sheet expansion. Local ice caps over highland sites along the perimeter of the shallow Kara Sea, including the Byrranga Mountains, appear to have repeatedly fostered initiation of a large Kara Sea ice sheet, with exception of the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS 2), when Kara Sea ice did not impact Severnaya Zemlya and barely graced northernmost Taymyr Peninsula. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Future directions in subglacial environments research

Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE) exploration and study is poised to be a major focus of Antarctic science for the next decade or more. The foundation for an intensive period of SALE research and field efforts has been provided by substantial improvement in our understanding of these environments, the establishment of SALE research programs by the International Polar Year (IPY) Program Office and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the funding of several national SALE programs, independent guidance on environmental stewardship issues, and a series of international workshops, meetings, and conferences that have refined SALE scientific objectives. This article summarizes recent developments in subglacial environment exploration and study and describes future research needs.In the 7 years since the report “Subglacial Lake Exploration: Workshop and Recommendations” (SCAR International Workshop, Cambridge, U.K., September 1999), our understanding of subglacial environments has greatly improved. Subglacial environments are continental‐scale phenomena that occur under thick ice sheets [Siegert et al., 2005]. The importance and role of subglacial water are now recognized as central to many processes that have shaped the Antarctic continent and its ice sheets today and in the past. Subglacial environments include a range of features that differ in geologic setting, age, evolutionary history, limnological conditions, and size [Bell, 2006]. These environments are ‘natural’ Earth‐bound macrocosms that in some instances trace their origins to a time before Antarctica became encased in ice [Bell, 2006].

Exposure ages from mountain dipsticks in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica, indicate little change in ice-sheet thickness since the Last Glacial Maximum

Past changes in East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) volume are poorly known and diffi cult to measure, yet are critical for predicting the response of the ice sheet to modern climate change. In particular, it is important to identify the sources of sea-level rise since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and ascertain the present-day stability of the world’s largest ice sheet. We present altitudinal transects of 10 Be and 26 Al exposure ages across the Framnes Mountains in Mac. Robertson Land that allow the magnitude and timing of EAIS retreat to be quantifi ed. Our data show that the coastal EAIS thinned by at most 350 m in this region during the past 13 k.y. This reduction in ice-sheet volume occurred over a ~5 k.y. period, and the present icesheet profi le was attained ca. 7 ka, in contrast to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which continues to retreat today. Combined with regional offshore and terrestrial geologic evidence, our data suggest that the reduction in EAIS volume since the LGM was smaller than that indicated by contemporary ice-sheet models and added little meltwater to the global oceans. Stability of the ice margin since the middle Holocene provides support for the hypothesis that EAIS volume changes are controlled by growth and decay of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets and associated global sea-level changes.

Inferences from stable water isotopes on the Holocene evolution of Scharffenbergbotnen blue-ice area, East Antarctica

AbstractWe show that it is possible to extract a high-resolution (annual) paleoclimate record from the surface of a blue-ice area (BIA). The variability of the surface stable-isotope values suggests that almost all the surface ice in Scharffenbergbotnen BIA, East Antarctica, is of Holocene age. The isotopic changes across the BIA show that the modern climate there is warmer than the climate in the early-Holocene optimum (11 kyr BP). A volume-conserving ice flow model for the BIA constrained by isotopic variability and layer thicknesses, and a series of 14C ages indicate both that the BIA has been smaller than now, and that the surface velocities were considerably smaller during the Last Glacial Maximum. Changes in ice-sheet thickness drive the BIA towards present-day conditions. The relatively young age of the majority of the BIA also explains the lack of meteorite finds in this area, and may be typical for many BIAs in low-elevation nunatak areas.

Groundwater flow beneath Late Weichselian glacier ice in Nordfjord, Norway

AbstractBasal water pressure and water flow patterns are significant factors in controlling the behavior of an ice sheet, because they influence ice-sheet thickness, stability and extent. Water produced by basal melting may infiltrate the subsurface, or occur as sheet or channelized flow at the ice/bed interface. We examine subglacial groundwater conditions along a flowline of the Scandinavian ice sheet through Nordfjord, in the western fjords region of southern Norway, using a steady-state, twodimensional groundwater-flow model. Meltwater input to the groundwater model is calculated by a two-dimensional, time-dependent, thermomechanically coupled ice-flow model oriented along the same flowline. Model results show that the subglacial sediments could not have transmitted all the meltwater out of the fjord during times of ice advance and when the ice sheet was at its maximum position at the edge of the continental shelf. In order for pore-water pressures to remain below the overburden pressure of the overlying ice, other paths of subglacial drainage are necessary to remove excess water. During times of retreat, the subglacial aquifer is incapable of transmitting all the meltwater that was probably generated. Pulses of meltwater reaching the bed could explain nonclimatically driven margin readvances during the overall retreat phase.

Pleistocene rhyolitic volcanism at Torfajökull, Iceland: eruption ages, glaciovolcanism and geochemical evolution

The Torfajokull central volcano lies in Iceland’s southern flank zone (a non-rifting zone) and last erupted in the 15th century. Peralkaline rhyolites from its pre-Holocene formations have been dated by the Ar-Ar method. Ages from 67±9 ka to 384±20 ka indicate Pleistocene eruptions, with the oldest age (384 ka) also being from the most evolved rhyolite (a pantellerite). The oldest age indicates that a mature and evolved magmatic-volcanic system was well established by the mid-Pleistocene and that the central volcano has been active for at least 400 ka. Good correlation is found between the Ar-Ar ages of sustained rhyolite eruptions into ice sheets (i.e. rhyolite tuya formation) and oxygen isotope stages dominated by cold conditions. This is the first stage of developing a new proxy that uses rhyolitic glaciovolcanic edifices to provide estimates of past Icelandic ice sheet thicknesses. The geochemistry of the dated samples corroborates earlier work showing a simple but enigmatic trend of steadily-decreasing alkalinity towards the present (i.e. older rocks are more evolved). The new ages reveal a hitherto-unrecognised drop in rhyolite alkalinity after 83 ka, which may be linked to the evacuation of c. 16 km3 of rhyolite during a subglacial eruption into the last (Weichselian) ice sheet, for which two new and overlapping Ar-Ar ages of 67±9 ka and 72±7 ka have been obtained. This rhyolite eruption, which is the largest known from Torfajokull, heralded a major change in the magma system as all subsequent eruptions are of small volume (<0.3 km3), dominated by subalkaline compositions, and characterised by interactions with mafic magmas. This change may be linked to lower rhyolite magma replenishment rates and/or to the increasing influence of rift zone volcano-tectonics.

An improved and extended GPS-derived 3D velocity field of the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) in Fennoscandia

We present a new GPS-derived 3D velocity field for the Fennoscandia glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) area. This new solution is based upon ∼3,000 days of continuous GPS observations obtained from the permanent networks in Fennoscandia. The period encompasses a prolongated phase of stable observation conditions after the northern autumn of 1996. Several significant improvements have led to smaller uncertainties and lower systematic errors in the new solutions compared to our previous results. The GPS satellite elevation cut-off angle was lowered to 10°, we fixed ambiguities to integers where possible, and only a few hardware changes occurred over the entire network. The GAMIT/GLOBK software package was used for the GPS analysis and reference frame realization. Our new results confirmed earlier findings of maximum discrepancies between GIA models and observations in northern Finland. The reason may be related to overestimated ice-sheet thickness and glaciation period in the north. In general, the new solutions are more coherent in the velocity field, as some of the perturbations are now avoided. We compared GPS-derived GIA rates with sea-level rates from tide-gauge observations, repeated precise leveling, and with GIA model computations, which showed consistency.