Sl. Forman et al., POSTGLACIAL EMERGENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF LATE WEICHSELIAN ICE-SHEET LOADS IN THE NORTHERN BARENTS AND KARA SEAS, RUSSIA, Geology, 23(2), 1995, pp. 113-116
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.