3. Relative sea-level changes in Iceland: new aspects of the Weichselian deglaciation of Iceland

Late Weichselian history of relative sea level changes in Iceland during a collapse and subsequent retreat of marine based ice sheet

“…A 100 km long and up to 50 m high ridge, thought to be a terminal moraine at 200-350 m below sea level on the shelf some 130 km west off the Breiðafjörður inlet in West Iceland, most likely marks the LGM extent of the Icelandic ice sheet (Ólafsdóttir, 1975;Syvitsky et al, 1999). Submarine landforms and geophysical and bathymetric data showing position and extent of apparent end and terminal moraines as well as lateral extent and thickness of glacigenic and nonglacigenic sediment accumulations, have been used for confining the LGM ice sheet on the shelf off Southwest, West, Northwest and North Iceland, reviewed in Norðdahl and Pétursson (2005). Spagnolo and Clark (2009) have analysed data from the Olex database and recognized moraines on the shelf around Iceland, much in agreement with earlier research.…”

“…This paper gives a brief overview of the history of relative sea level changes, deglaciation and environmental changes in Iceland since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and it is primarily based on reviews by Norðdahl and Pétursson (2005) and Norðdahl et al (2008).…”

The origin of glacial alpine landscape in Tröllaskagi Peninsula (North Iceland)

“…The evolution of the IIS has been summarised in recent publications (Kaldal and Víkingssson, 1990;Norðdahl and Pétursson 2005;Norðdahl et al, 2008;Geirsdóttir et al, 2009;Geirsdóttir, 2011;Pétursson et al, 2015). Most of these publications highlight the fact that the IIS retreated rapidly and catastrophically, until it occupied only the centre and southeast of the island, around 15 ka (Andrews et al, 2000;Norðdahl and Einarsson 2001, Geirsdóttir et al 2009, Brynjólfsson et al, 2015a.…”

“…During the Allerød stadial, the temperature rose again considerably and the glaciers retreated again (Rundgren, 1995(Rundgren, , 1999Rundgren and Ingólfsson, 1999). During the Younger Dryas the glaciers started to re-advance and in the north and northwest they reached the present coastline and entered the great fiords, in many cases obstructing lateral valleys and forming lakes (Geirsdóttir et al, 2002;Norðdahl and Pétursson, 2005), but many interfluves remained free of ice during this period (Norðdahl and Einarsson, 2001). After the glacier retreat at the end of the Younger Dryas, the glacial fronts re-advanced again in the Early Preboreal period, around 11.2 ka (Ingólfsson et al, 1997;Norðdahl and Einarsson, 2001;Norðdahl and Pétursson, 2005).…”

“…During the Younger Dryas the glaciers started to re-advance and in the north and northwest they reached the present coastline and entered the great fiords, in many cases obstructing lateral valleys and forming lakes (Geirsdóttir et al, 2002;Norðdahl and Pétursson, 2005), but many interfluves remained free of ice during this period (Norðdahl and Einarsson, 2001). After the glacier retreat at the end of the Younger Dryas, the glacial fronts re-advanced again in the Early Preboreal period, around 11.2 ka (Ingólfsson et al, 1997;Norðdahl and Einarsson, 2001;Norðdahl and Pétursson, 2005). Later, the glaciers retreated rapidly (Kaldal and Víkingssson, 1990;Andrews et al, 2000;Norðdahl and Einarsson, 2001;Geirsdóttir et al, 2002Geirsdóttir et al, , 2009Larsen et al, 2012).…”