Glacier variations in Breheimen, southern Norway: dating Little Ice Age moraine sequences at seven low‐altitude glaciers

Abstract

2003. Glacier variations in Breheimen, southern Norway: dating Little Ice Age moraine sequences at seven low-altitude glaciers.ABSTRACT: Moraine sequences in front of seven relatively low-altitude glaciers in the Breheimen region of central southern Norway are described and dated using a 'multi-proxy' approach to moraine stratigraphy. Lichenometric dating, based on the Rhizocarpon subgenus, is used to construct a composite moraine chronology, which indicates eight phases of synchronous moraine formation: AD . Although the existence of a few cases of older moraines, possibly dating from earlier in the eighteenth or late in the seventeenth centuries cannot be ruled out by lichenometry, Schmidt hammer R-values from boulders on outermost moraine ridges suggest an absence of Holocene moraines older than the Little Ice Age. Twenty-three radiocarbon dates from buried soils and peat associated with outermost moraines at three glaciers-Tverreggibreen, Storegrovbreen and Greinbreen-also indicate that the 'Little Ice Age' glacier maximum was the Neoglacial maximum at most if not all glaciers. Several maximum age estimates for the Little Ice Age glacier maximum range between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, with the youngest from a buried soil being AD 1693. A pre-Little Ice Age maximum cannot be ruled out at Greinbreen, however, where the age of buried peat suggests the outermost moraine dates from AD 981-1399 (at variance with the lichenometric evidence). Glaciofluvial stratigraphy at Tverreggibreen provides evidence for minor glacier advances about AD 655-963 and AD 1277-1396, respectively.

Glacier fluctuations, equilibrium-line altitudes and palaeoclimate in Lyngen, northern Norway, during the Lateglacial and Holocene

“…The Holocene glacial history obtained in this study deviates in some periods with that suggested for northern Sweden (Karlén, 1973;Karlén and Denton, 1975;Karlén, 1976) and for northern Norway (Griffey and Worsley, 1978;Ballantyne, 1990;Winkler et al, 2003 …”

“…Similar measurements on the M10 and M8 moraines yield maximum lichen diameters >230 and >250 mm, respectively, that are well beyond the realible range of modern growth curves in Norway (e.g. Innes, 1985;Matthews, 1994;Winkler et al, 2003).…”

“…Ballantyne, 1990), whereas the lichen diameters of M8 to M12 are well beyond the reliable range of modern growth curves in Norway (e.g. Innes, 1985;Matthews, 1994;Winkler et al, 2003).…”

“…However, the lichen dated 'old' glacier advances in northern Sweden and Lyngen are well beyond the reliable range of modern growth curves in Norway (e.g. Innes, 1985;Erikstad and Sollid, 1986;Matthews, 1994;Winkler et al, 2003).…”

The Schmidt hammer as a relative‐age dating technique: Potential and limitations of its application on Holocene moraines in Mt Cook National Park, Southern Alps, New Zealand

“…The Schmidt hammer can be used as part of a "multiproxy approach" with lichenometry and (if possible) radiocarbon dating of associated deposits (Winkler et al 2003). Lichenometry has the potential to date moraines with a precision of up to 5-10 yr, but cannot be used for dates extending further back than c. 500 yr (Innes 1985;Matthews 1994).…”