Luminescence dating of the last Weichselian Glacier advance in East Greenland

We have studied fluvial and deltaic sediments that accumulated at the margi n of a fjord during the Flakkerhuk stade when the last major glaciers advan ced and retreated in the Scoresby Sund region, East Greenland. The sediment s have been dated using the optically stimulated luminescence of quartz and , as a control on the technique, those sediments deposited after deglaciati on were also dated using C-14. We conclude that the last glacier build-up b egan much earlier than previously suggested; our data indicate the existenc e of a more or less stable ice cover for a period of c. 50 ka. This is cons istent with the record of ice rafted detritus on the continental slope off the Scoresby Sund fjord complex, and suggests that the glacier had a polar regime with little surface melting or basal slide. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.