MODELING ICE-SHEET SENSITIVITY TO LATE WEICHSELIAN ENVIRONMENTS IN THE SVALBARD BARENTS SEA REGION

Ice-proximal sedimentological features from the northwestern Barents S ea suggest that this region was covered by a grounded ice sheet during the Late Weichselian. However, there is debate as to whether these se diments were deposited by the ice sheet at its maximum or a retreating ice sheet that had covered the whole Barents Sea. To examine the like lihood of total glaciation of the Late Weichselian Barents Sea, a nume rical ice-sheet model was run using a range of environmental condition s. Total glaciation of the Barents Sea, originating solely from Svalba rd and the northwestern Barents Sea, was not predicted even under extr eme environmental conditions. Therefore, if the Barents Sea was comple tely covered by a grounded Late Weichselian ice sheet, then a mechanis m (not accounted for within the glaciological model) by which grounded ice could have formed rapidly within the central Barents Sea, may hav e been active during the last glaciation. Such mechanisms include (i) grounded ice migration from nearby ice sheets in Scandinavia and the c entral Barents Sea, (ii) the processes of sea-ice-induced ice-shelf th ickening and (iii) isostatic uplift of the central Barents Sea floor.