Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T07:26:39.090Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Exposure ages from relict lateral moraines overridden by the Fennoscandian ice sheet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Derek Fabel ,
David Fink ,
Ola Fredin ,
Jon Harbor ,
Magnus Land  and
Arjen P. Stroeven
Derek Fabel*
Affiliation:
Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
David Fink
Affiliation:
AMS-ANTARES, Environmental Division, ANSTO, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia
Ola Fredin
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Stockholm S-106 91, Sweden
Jon Harbor
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1397, USA
Magnus Land
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geochemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm S-106 91, Sweden
Arjen P. Stroeven
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Stockholm S-106 91, Sweden
*
*Corresponding author.Email Address:[email protected](D. Fabel).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Lateral moraines constructed along west to east sloping outlet glaciers from mountain centred, pre-last glacial maximum (LGM) ice fields of limited extent remain largely preserved in the northern Swedish landscape despite overriding by continental ice sheets, most recently during the last glacial. From field evidence, including geomorphological relationships and a detailed weathering profile including a buried soil, we have identified seven such lateral moraines that were overridden by the expansion and growth of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al exposure ages of 19 boulders from the crests of these moraines, combined with the field evidence, are correlated to episodes of moraine stabilisation, Pleistocene surface weathering, and glacial overriding. The last deglaciation event dominates the exposure ages, with 10Be and 26Al data derived from 15 moraine boulders indicating regional deglaciation 9600 ± 200 yr ago. This is the most robust numerical age for the final deglaciation of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. The older apparent exposure ages of the remaining boulders (14,600–26,400 yr) can be explained by cosmogenic nuclide inheritance from previous exposure of the moraine crests during the last glacial cycle. Their potential exposure history, based on local glacial chronologies, indicates that the current moraine morphologies formed at the latest during marine oxygen isotope stage 5. Although numerous deglaciation ages were obtained, this study demonstrates that numerical ages need to be treated with caution and assessed in light of the geomorphological evidence indicating moraines are not necessarily formed by the event that dominates the cosmogenic nuclide data.

Keywords

10Be and 26Al exposure datingRelict morainesBuried soilIce overridingDeglaciation chronologyNorthern Sweden
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 136 - 146
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1 Present address: Geological Survey of Norway (NGU), Leiv Eirikssons vei 39, Trondheim N-7491, Norway.

References

Ahlmann, H.W., (1919). Geomorphological studies in Norway. Geografiska Annaler 1, 1–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balco, G., Stone, J.O.H., Porter, S.C., Caffee, M.W., (2002). Cosmogenic-nuclide ages for New England coastal moraines, Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, 2127–2135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berglund, B.E., Barnekow, L., Hammarlund, D., Sandgren, P., Snowball, I.F., (1996). Holocene forest dynamics and climate changes in the Abisko area, northern Sweden—The Sonesson model of vegetation history reconsidered and confirmed. Ecological Bulletin 45, 15–30.Google Scholar
Bierman, P.R., Marsella, K.A., Patterson, C., Davis, P.T., Caffee, M., (1999). Mid-Pleistocene cosmogenic minimum-age limits for pre-Wisconsinian glacial surfaces in southwestern Minnesota and southern Baffin Island: a multiple nuclide approach. Geomorphology 27, 25–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boulton, G.S., Dongelmans, P., Punkari, M., Broadgate, M., (2001). Palaeoglaciology of an ice sheet through a glacial cycle: the European ice sheet through the Weichselian. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 591–625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Briner, J.P., Swanson, T.W., Caffee, M., (2001). Late Pleistocene cosmogenic Cl-36 glacial chronology of the southwestern Ahklun Mountains, Alaska. Quaternary Research 56, 148–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Child, D., Elliott, G., Mifsud, C., Smith, A.M., Fink, D., (2000). Sample processing for earth science studies at ANTARES. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 172, 856–860.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarhäll, A., Kleman, J., (1999). Distribution and glaciological implications of relict surfaces on the Ultevis plateau, northwestern Sweden. Annals of Glaciology 28, 202–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, P.U., Brook, E.J., Raisbeck, G.M., Yiou, F., Clark, J., (2003). Cosmogenic Be-10 ages of the Saglek Moraines, Torngat Mountains. Labrador Geology 31, 617–620.Google Scholar
Dyke, A.S., (1993). Landscapes of cold-centered late Wisconsinan ice caps, Arctic Canada. Progress in Physical Geography 17, 223–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fabel, D., Stroeven, A.P., Harbor, J., Kleman, J., Elmore, D., Fink, D., (2002). Landscape preservation under Fennoscandian ice sheets determined from in situ produced 10Be and 26Al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 201, 397–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fink, D., McKelvey, B., Hannan, D., Newsome, D., (2000). Cold rocks, hot sands: in-situ cosmogenic applications in Australia at ANTARES. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 172, 838–846.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fink, D., Hotchkis, M.A.C., Hua, Q., Jacobsen, G.E., Smith, A.M., Zoppi, U., Child, D., Mifsud, C., van der Gaast, H.A., Williams, A.A., Williams, M., (2004). The ANTARES AMS facility at ANSTO. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B223–B224, 109–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forsström, L., (1990). Occurrence of larch (Larix) in Fennoscandia during the Eemian interglacial and the Brørup interstadial according to pollen analytical data. Boreas 19, 241–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredén, C., (1998). Berg och Jord. SNA Publishing, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Fredin, O., (2004). Mountain Centered Icefields in Northern Scandinavia. Unpublished PhD diss, ., Stockholm University.Google Scholar
Fredin, A., Hättestrand, C., (2002). Relict lateral moraines in northern Sweden—Evidence for an early mountain centred ice sheet. Sedimentary Geology 149, 145–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hallet, B., Putkonen, J., (1994). Surface dating of dynamic landforms: young boulders on aging moraines. Science 265, 937–940.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hättestrand, C., (1998). The glacial geomorphology of central and northern Sweden. Sveriges Geologiska Undersoekning, Serie C: Avhandlingar och Uppsatser 85, 47 Google Scholar
Hättestrand, C., Stroeven, A.P., (2002). A relict landscape in the centre of Fennoscandian glaciation: geomorphological evidence of minimal quaternary glacial erosion. Geomorphology 44, 127–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helmens, K.F., Rasanen, M.E., Johansson, P.W., Jungner, H., Korjonen, K., (2000). The last interglacial–glacial cycle in NE Fennoscandia: a nearly continuous record from Sokli (Finnish Lapland). Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 1605–1623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirvas, H., (1991). Pleistocene stratigraphy of Finnish Lapland. Geological survey of Finland Bulletin 354, 123 Google Scholar
Houmark-Nielsen, M., Kjaer, K.H., (2003). Southwest Scandinavia, 40–15 kyr BP: palaeogeography and environmental change. Journal of Quaternary Science 18, 769–786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ives, J.D., Kirby, R.P., (1964). Fluvioglacial erosion near Knob Lake, central Quebeq-Labrador, Canada: a discussion. Geological Society of America Bulletin 75, 917–922.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleman, J., (1992). The palimpsest glacial landscape in northwestern Sweden-Late Weichselian deglaciation landforms and traces of older west-centered ice sheets. Geografiska Annaler 74A, 305–325.Google Scholar
Kleman, J., Hättestrand, C., (1999). Frozen-bed Fennoscandian and Laurentide ice sheets during the last glacial maximum. Nature 402, 63–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleman, J., Stroeven, A.P., (1997). Preglacial surface remnants and Quaternary glacial regimes in northwestern Sweden. Geomorphology 19, 35–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleman, J., Hättestrand, C., Borgström, I., Stroeven, A., (1997). Fennoscandian palaeoglaciology reconstructed using a glacial geological inversion model. Journal of Glaciology 43, 283–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohl, C.P., Nishiizumi, K., (1992). Chemical isolation of quartz for measurement of in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 56, 3586–3587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lagerbäck, R., (1988). The Veiki moraines in northern Sweden-widespread evidence of an early Weichselian deglaciation. Boreas 17, 469–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lagerbäck, R., Robertsson, A.-M., (1988). Kettle holes-stratigraphical archives for Weichselian geology and palaeoenvironment in northernmost Sweden. Boreas 17, 439–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lal, D., (1991). Cosmic-ray labeling of erosion surfaces: in situ nuclide production rates and erosion models. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 104, 424–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Land, M., Öhlander, B., (2000). Chemical weathering rates, erosion rates and mobility of major and trace elements in a boreal till. Aquatic Geochemistry 6, 435–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen, E., Sejrup, H.P., (1990). Weichselian land-sea interactions: Western Norway-Norwegian Sea. Quaternary Science Reviews 9, 85–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, K.R., Nesbitt, H.W., Longstaffe, F.J., (1991). Weathering of granitic tills and the genesis of a podzol. American Journal of Science 291, 940–976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Licciardi, J.M., Clark, P.U., Brook, E.J., Pierce, K.L., Kurz, M.D., Elmore, D., Sharma, P., (2001). Cosmogenic He-3 and Be-10 chronologies of the late Pinedale northern Yellowstone ice cap, Montana, USA. Geology 29, 1095–1098.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linge, H., Lauritzen, S.E., (2001). Stable isotope stratigraphy of a late last interglacial speleothem from Rana, Northern Norway. Quaternary Research 56, 155–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ljungner, E., (1949). The east-west balance of the Quaternary ice caps in Patagonia and Scandinavia. Bulletin of the Geological Institute of Uppsala 33, 11–96.Google Scholar
Lundqvist, J., (1971). The interglacial deposit at the Leveäniemi Mine, Svappavaara, Swedish Lapland. Sveriges Geologiska Undersoekning, Serie C: Avhandlingar och Uppsatser 658, 163 Google Scholar
Lundqvist, J., (1992). Glacial stratigraphy in Sweden. Special Paper-Geological Survey of Finland 15, 43–59.Google Scholar
Mangerud, J., (2004). Ice sheet limits on Norway and the Norwegian continental shelf. Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P., Quaternary Glaciations-Extent and Chronology, Part I: Europe. Elsevier, Developments in Quaternary Science, Amsterdam.488 Google Scholar
Mangerud, J., Jansen, E., Landvik, J.Y., (1996). Late Cenozoic history of the Scandinavian and Barents Sea ice sheets. Global and Planetary Change 12, 11–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Näslund, J.O., Rodhe, L., Fastook, J.L., Holmlund, P., (2003). New ways of studying ice sheet flow directions and glacial erosion by computer modelling—examples from Fennoscandia. Quaternary Science Reviews 22, 245–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olsen, L., Mejdahl, V., Selvik, S.F., (1996). Middle and Late Pleistocene stratigraphy, chronology and glacial history in Finnmark, north Norway. Bulletin-Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse 429 Google Scholar
Phillips, F.M., Zreda, M.G., Evenson, E.B., Hall, R.D., Chadwick, O.A., Sharma, P., (1997). Cosmogenic Cl-36 and Be-10 ages of Quaternary glacial and fluvial deposits of the Wind River Range, Wyoming. Geological Society of America Bulletin 109, 1453–1463.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putkonen, J., Swanson, T., (2003). Accuracy of cosmogenic ages for moraines. Quaternary Research 59, 255–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rea, B.R., Whalley, W.B., Rainey, M.M., Gordon, J.E., (1996). Blockfields, old or new? Evidence and implications from some plateaus in northern Norway. Geomorphology 15, 109–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodhe, L., (1988). Glaciofluvial channels formed prior to the last deglaciation—Examples from Swedish Lapland. Boreas 17, 511–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sollid, L.J., Sørbel, L., (1994). Distribution of glacial landforms in southern Norway in relation to the thermal regime of the last continental ice sheet. Geografiska Annaler 76A, 25–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone, J.O., (2000). Air pressure and cosmogenic isotope production. Journal of Geophysical Research 105, 23753–23759.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroeven, A.P., Fabel, D., Harbor, J., Hättestrand, C., Kleman, J., (2002a). Quantifying the erosional impact of the Fennoscandian ice sheet in the Torneträsk-Narvik corridor, northern Sweden, based on cosmogenic radionuclide data. Geografiska Annaler 84, a, 275–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroeven, A.P., Fabel, D., Hättestrand, C., Harbor, J., (2002b). A relict landscape in the centre of Fennoscandian glaciation: cosmogenic radionuclide evidence of tors preserved through multiple glacial cycles. Geomorphology 44, 145–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zreda, M., Phillips, F.M., Elmore, D., (1994). Cosmogenic 36Cl accumulation in unstable landforms 2. Simulations and measurements on eroding surfaces. Water Resources Research 30, 3127–3136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar