COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Thickness, Extent and Basal Conditions the Scandinavian Ice Sheet Around the Last Glacial Maximum

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT A collaborative project: Thickness, Extent, and Basal Conditions of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet Around the Last Glacial Maximum (Proposal Nr. 0087369) by David M. Mickelson and Paul Cutler (Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin-Madison) We will reconstruct the thickness, extent, and subglacial environment of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) from ~32 ka to ~10 ka. Four still controversial aspects will be considered in the study: First, what was the thickness of the ice sheet at the last glacial maximum (LGM), and did ice-free regions exist in western Norway? Second, is it physically reasonable to interpret geomorphic evidence from the central parts of the ice sheet as indicating a cold-based ice sheet through most of glacial time? Third, what was the extent of the eastern margin of the ice sheet in Russia at 21 ka - a time for which no geomorphic evidence exists, but a key time in GCM simulations of past climates. Fourth, what were the relative contributions of climate and internal cycles to regulating ice dynamics, and what was the role of the SIS in a global context? To answer these questions, we will focus our efforts on two key regions of the SIS (western Norway, and a transect from northern Norway eastwards into Russia) where we will collect samples for preconsolidation tests and cosmogenic dating. The results from field work as well as other available geologic and climate data will be incorporated into a two-dimensional, time-dependent flowband ice-sheet model.