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

Further evidence for an early 'Little Ice Age' in the Sandane area, so uthern Norway, is presented in support of the lichen data of Evans ei al. (1994) and in response to the reassessment of Matthews et al. (199 6). The geomorphological evidence for three phases of moraine depositi on is clarified and relative age dating based upon Schmidt hammer R-va lues and soil development is presented. These data, in combination wit h the lichenometry reported earlier, indicate that the moraines of the Jardalen/Fagerdalen cirque in particular are not all of the same age (pre-'Little Ice Age' as suggested by Matthews et al. (1996) but inste ad date either to post-Preboreal/Younger Dryas times (Stage 1 moraines ) or to the 'Little Ice Age' (Stage 2 and 3 moraines). The gradual inc rease in lichen diameters, R-values and soil depths from the youngest 'Little Ice Age' (Stage 3) moraine to the outermost and oldest Stage 2 moraine lends further support to the suggestion that the 'Little Ice Age' in western Norway may have begun much earlier than previously doc umented in the literature. Problems in using the Schmidt hammer for re lative age dating in mountainous terrain, where the moraines being dat ed are often constructed from old glacial deposits and fresh rock fall debris, are also discussed.