POSTGLACIAL EMERGENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF LATE WEICHSELIAN ICE-SHEET LOADS IN THE NORTHERN BARENTS AND KARA SEAS, RUSSIA

Reconstructions of late Weichselian glacier coverage on the continenta l shelves of the Russian Arctic range from a large ice sheet terminati ng in northern Siberia to isolated ice caps restricted to Arctic archi pelagos. This disparity in glacier reconstructions reflects the lack o f chronological control on glacial and deglacial landforms. We present new Holocene relative sea-level data from Franz Josef Land and northe rn Novaya Zemlya, Russia, that place the thickest glacier loads in the northern Barents Sea and not over Novaya Zemlya. Radiocarbon ages fro m shelf and terrestrial areas at the former ice-sheet margin support d eglaciation of the northern Barents Sea between 13.0 and 10.3 ka, cons iderably later than inferred from isotopic records for the Arctic Ocea n. This analysis indicates that the Barents Sea ice sheet was a domina nt sea-level reservoir in northern Eurasia, and that glacier loading o f Novaya Zemlya was comparatively limited during the last glaciation.