THE BARENTS SEA-ICE SHEET - A MODEL OF ITS GROWTH AND DECAY DURING THE LAST ICE MAXIMUM

On the basis of geomorphological and sedimentological data, we believe that the entire Barents Sea was covered by grounded ice during the la st glacial maximum. C-14 dates on shells embedded in tills suggest mar ine conditions in the Barents Sea as late as 22 ka BP; and models of t he deglaciation history based on uplift data from the northern Norwegi an coast suggest that significant parts of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet c alved off as early as 15 ka BP. The growth of the ice sheet is related to glacioeustatic fall and the exposure of shallow banks in the centr al Barents Sea, where ice caps may develop and expand to finally coale sce with the expanding ice masses from Svalbard and Fennoscandia. The outlined model for growth and decay of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet sugge sts a system which developed and existed under periods of maximum clim atic deterioration, and where its growth and decay were strongly relat ed to the fall and rise of sea level.