REASSESSMENT OF SUPPOSED EARLY LITTLE ICE-AGE AND OLDER NEOGLACIAL MORAINES IN THE SANDANE AREA OF WESTERN NORWAY

Neoglacial moraines that are substantially older than the conventional 'Little Ice Age' glacier maximum of the mid-eighteenth century have b een recognized recently in the Sandane area of western Norway. This is important in the context of Scandinavian Holocene glacier variations because, in southern Scandinavia at least, it is widely accepted that glaciers were lar er in the mid-eighteenth century than at any time si nce the Preboreal. In this report we question and test the age of supp osed early 'Little Ice Age' and older Neoglacial moraines in two valle ys in the Sandane area. Observations and data relating to moraine morp hology, lichenometry and vegetation cover are reassessed and new lines of evidence based on boulder weathering (Schmidt hammer), soil develo pment and glaciofluvial activity are introduced. Critical appraisal of the evidence leads to the conclusion that the existence of pre- or ea rly 'Little Ice Age' moraines, dating from the thirteenth to seventeen th centuries (or, indeed, older Neoglacial moraines) cannot be support ed. In Jardalen/Fagerdalen the evidence suggests only moraines of Youn ger Dryas and possibly Preboreal age; in Sorsendalen we recognize, in addition, a conventional 'Little Ice Age' moraine limit in front of Bl abreen.