Stratigraphic and morphologic constraints on the Weichselian glacial history of northern Prins Karls Forland, western Svalbard

Uncertainty remains if ice-free marginal areas existed on the west coast of Svalbard during the Late Weichselian. Field mapping and correlation to wel l dated raised beach sequences on nearby Broggerhalvoya reveal the existenc e of two generations of raised beach deposits on northern Prins Karls Forla nd. Distinct beach ridges rise up to the inferred tate Weichselian marine l imit at 18 m a.s.l. Discontinuous pre-late Weichselian beach deposits rise from the Late Weichselian marine limit up to approximately 60 m a.s.l. Expa nsion of local glaciers during the Late Weichselian is indicated by the lim ited distribution of a till that overlies parts of the older beach sequence . Stratigraphic data and chronological control indicate deposition in a sha llow marine environment before 50 ka BP. Correlation to stratigraphic sites on western Svalbard suggests deposition at c. 70+/-10 ka. Glaciotectonic s tructures disclose expansion of local glaciers into the Forlandsundet basin during stage 4 or late stage 5 high relative sea level. Palaeotemperature estimates derived from amino acid ratios indicate that during the time inte rval c. 70 to 10 ka the area was exposed to cold subaerial temperatures wit h low rates of racemization. Pedogenesis and frost-shattered clasts at the contact between c. 70 ka deposits and Holocene deposits further indicate a prolonged period of subaerial polar desert conditions during this lime inte rval. The evidence suggests that the Barents Sea ice sheet did not extend a cross northern Prins Karls Forland during the Weichselian. It is inferred t hat during the Late Weichselian, ice was drained throughout the major fjord s on the west coast of Svalbard and that relatively large marginal areas ex perienced polar desert conditions and minor expansions of local glaciers.