Radiocarbon and seismic evidence of ice-sheet extent and the last deglaciation on the mid-Norwegian continental shelf

Reconstruction of the ice extent and glacier chronology on the continental shelf off mid-Norway has been severely hampered by the lack of dates from t he glacial deposits. Seismic interpretation and new accelerator mass spectr ometer radiocarbon dates show that the ice sheer extended to the edge of th e continental shelf at the last glacial maximum. The two youngest till unit s near the shelf edge were deposited about 15,000 and 13,500 BP. The result s indicate that the ice sheet partly reached the shelf break as late as 13, 000 BP, followed by a deglaciation of most of the continental shelf in less than 1000 years.