Open AccessMaximum extent of the Eurasian ice sheets in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Weichselian
Author(s) -
SVENDSEN JOHN INGE,
ASTAKHOV VALERY I.,
BOLSHIYANOV DMITRI YU.,
DEMIDOV IGOR,
DOWDESWELL JULIAN A.,
GATAULLIN VALERY,
HJORT CHRISTIAN,
HUBBERTEN HANS W.,
LARSEN EILIV,
MANGERUD JAN,
MELLES MARTIN,
MÖLLER PER,
SAARNISTO MATTI,
SIEGERT MARTIN J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
boreas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1502-3885
pISSN - 0300-9483
DOI - 10.1111/j.1502-3885.1999.tb00217.x
Subject(s) - geology , ice sheet , arctic ice pack , sea ice , antarctic sea ice , arctic , ice field , oceanography , climatology , paleontology , glacier
Based on field investigations in northern Russia and interpretation of offshore seismic data, we have made a preliminary reconstruction of the maximum ice‐sheet extent in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Early/Middle Weichselian and the Late Weichselian. Our investigations indicate that the Barents and Kara ice sheets attained their maximum Weichselian positions in northern Russia prior to 50 000 yr BP, whereas the northeastern flank of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet advanced to a maximum position shortly after 17000 calendar years ago. During the Late Weichselian (25 000–10000 yr BP), much of the Russian Arctic remained ice‐free. According to our reconstruction, the extent of the ice sheets in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Late Weichselian glacial maximum was less than half that of the maximum model which, up to now, has been widely used as a boundary condition for testing and refining General Circulation Models (GCMs). Preliminary numerical‐modelling experiments predict Late Weichselian ice sheets which are larger than the ice extent implied for the Kara Sea region from dated geological evidence, suggesting very low precipitation.