Persistence of Holocene ice cap in northeast Svalbard aided by glacio-isostatic rebound

Abstract

The deglaciation of the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet was driven by relative sea-level rise, the incursion of North Atlantic waters around Spitsbergen, and increasing summer insolation. However, ice retreat was inter rupted by asynchronous re-advances that occurred into high relative seas, during a period associated with warm regional waters and elevated summer temperatures. Better understanding of this complex style of deglaciation and the dynamic response to a warming climate can serve as an important analogue for modern warming and today’s ice sheets. We present evidence from northern Svalbard of glacier re-advances during the Late Glacial Early Holocene in hand with relative sea-level history and the occurrence of thermophilous molluscs. We argue that glacio-isostatic adjustment during the transition into the Holocene influenced ice marginal dynamics and as a result, the southern region of the Åsgardfonna ice cap persisted through the Holocene Thermal Maximum.