Beach ridges from the Varanger Peninsula (Arctic Norwegian coast): Characteristics and significance

During his journey on the Beagle, Darwin observed the uniformity in the elevation of coastal Eastern Patagonia along more than 2000 km. More than one century later, the sequences of Quaternary shorelines of eastern Patagonia have been described and their deposits dated but not yet interpreted in terms of geodynamics. Consequently, we i) mapped the repartition of the Quaternary coastal sequences in Argentinean Patagonia, ii) secured accurate altitudes of shoreline angles associated with erosional morphologies (i.e. marine terraces and notches), iii) took into account previous chrono-stratigraphical interpretations in order to calculate mean uplift rates since~440 ka (MIS 11) and proposed age ranges for the higher and older features (up to~180 m), and iv) focused on the Last Interglacial Maximum terrace (MIS 5e) as the best constrained marine terrace (in terms of age and altitude) in order to use it as a tectonic benchmark to quantify uplift rates along the entire passive margin of Eastern South America. Our results show that the eastern Patagonia uplift is constant through time and twice the uplift of the rest of the South American margin. We suggest that the enhanced uplift along the eastern Patagonian coast that interested Darwin during his journey around South America on the Beagle could originate from the subduction of the Chile ridge and the associated dynamic uplift.

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“…Sanjaume and Tolgensbakk, 2009). The lack of abundant sediment supply is an obstacle to the formation of beach ridge plains.…”

Section: Depositional Morphologies: Wave-built Terrace Beach Ridges mentioning

confidence: 99%

Uplift of quaternary shorelines in eastern Patagonia: Darwin revisited

et al. 2011

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“…Some coarse-grained beach ridges form from a single high-energy (storm) event (e.g., Sanjaume and Tolgensbakk, 2009;Jahnert et al, 2012). These ridges only record wave heights in response to that single event, rather than representing long-term average wave conditions.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…RSL variations and sediment supply -Beach-ridge plains are common along coasts evolving under conditions of forced regression (e.g., BjØrnsen et al, 2008;Tamura et al, 2008;Sanjaume and Tolgensbakk, 2009;Clemmensen and Nielsen, 2010;Jahnert et al, 2012) where progradation is mainly driven by falling RSL. Beach-ridge plains are less common where RSL is stable or rising, where they are the result of high sedimentation rates (e.g., Forbes et al, 1995;Orford et al, 2002;FitzGerald et al, 2007).…”

Section: Impact Of Rsl Changes On Beach-ridge Plain Progradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regressive barriers and beach-ridge systems, prograding coastal features formed when sediment accumulation rates exceed creation of accommodation (vertical space available for sediment) by RSL changes (Galloway and Hobday, 1983;Davis and FitzGerald, 2004;Bristow and Pucillo, 2006;Timmons et al, 2010), have the potential to record past coastal responses to environmental change (Stapor, 1975;Otvos, 2000;Guedes et al, 2011;Tamura, 2012). For example, regressive coastal systems have been used to provide insight into Holocene RSL changes (e.g., van Heteren et al, 2000;Rodriguez and Meyer, 2006;Clemmensen et al, 2012;Hede et al, 2013;, changes in sediment supply (e.g., FitzGerald et al, 1992;Brooke et al, 2008;Sanjaume and Tolgensbakk, 2009), climatic changes (e.g., Goy et al, 2003;Allard et al, 2008;Nott et al, 2009) and variations in wave regimes (e.g., Dominguez et al, 1987;Goodwin et al, 2006;Rodriguez and Meyer, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Insight into the late Holocene sea-level changes in the NW Atlantic from a paraglacial beach-ridge plain south of Newfoundland

et al. 2015

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“…We can therefore expect the morphology of raised gravel beach sequences to reflect general trends in wave energy and not simply the last major event. For example, Sanjaume and Tolgensbakk (2009) examined raised beach ridges on the varanger Peninsula in Arctic norway and concluded that differences in the number of ridges between sites could be explained by intrinsic factors such as wave energy, beach and offshore gradient, volume of sediment supply, size of sediments, and coastal evolution with strong self-organization. the role of sea ice in the geomorphology of modern and raised polar beaches has also been recognized by Butler (1999) from studies in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Raised Gravel Beaches as Proxy Indicators of Past Sea-Ice and Wave Conditions, Lowther Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

St-Hilaire-Gravel¹,

Bell²,

Forbes³

2010

ARCTIC

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ABStRACt. this study investigates whether raised beach sequences preserved on emergent coasts of the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago contain a proxy record of past sea-ice conditions and wave intensity. We hypothesize that periods of reduced sea ice (increased open water) expose shorelines to more prolonged and higher wave energy, leading to better-developed beach ridges. Surveys of raised beach sequences on Lowther Island revealed the following patterns: a) high, wide, single-to multicrested barriers backed by deep swales or lagoons characterize both the active and lowest relict shorelines; b) small, narrow, discontinuous ridges of poorly sorted gravel extend from 1.0 to 7.5 m asl, except from 4.5 to 5.0 m asl; c) ridge morphology is similar to the active and first relict ridges between 7.5 and 11 m asl; d) a near-featureless zone with minor terraces and ridges above 11 m extends to above 30 m asl. these distinct morphological and sedimentary units are interpreted as a function of wave climate and thus of summer sea-ice conditions. this model suggests periods

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Beach ridges from the Varanger Peninsula (Arctic Norwegian coast): Characteristics and significance

Cited by 30 publications

References 15 publications

Uplift of quaternary shorelines in eastern Patagonia: Darwin revisited

Uplift of quaternary shorelines in eastern Patagonia: Darwin revisited

Insight into the late Holocene sea-level changes in the NW Atlantic from a paraglacial beach-ridge plain south of Newfoundland

Raised Gravel Beaches as Proxy Indicators of Past Sea-Ice and Wave Conditions, Lowther Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

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