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At present, there remains uncertainty surrounding the glacial history of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet on the Kola Peninsula and Russian Lapland, northwest Arctic Russia. This is attributed to the lack of high-resolution ice sheet-scale geomorphological data in the region. This paper presents 245,997 landforms in a new high-resolution, glacial geomor...
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... style (i.e. polyline or polygon) for each landform type considers the most appropriate representation of landform size, orientation, and shape (Tables 1 and 2). Polylines map the crest-line of individual landforms while polygons map the break-of-slope outline of individual landforms. ...Context 2
... aid interpretations of ice dynamics during the glacial reconstruction some landforms have been classified according to the morphologies identified in northwest Arctic Russia. For the numbers of mapped landforms see Table 1. Annotated figures of the ArcticDEM imagery accompany each landform type: the symbology used matches the Main Map. ...Context 3
... this section, we discuss the mapped landforms. The occurrence and estimated completeness of mapped landforms can be found in Table 1. The diagnostic criteria of the landforms identified in the mapped region and examples of the mapped landforms in the ArcticDEM imagery are outlined in Table 2. ...Context 4
... therefore, reflects the existing form of the landforms identified in the remotely sensed imagery. It is estimated that the map is approximately 85% complete; however, the estimated completeness varies for each landform type (Table 1). Smaller and more subtle landforms identified in the taiga forest during field mapping were missed during the digital mapping stage. ...Citations
... Sodeman et al., 2021), the Fennoscandian ice sheet (e.g. Stroeven et al., 2016;Boyes et al., 2021), the Barents Sea and Scandinavian ice sheets (e.g. Larsen et al., 2006), the Late Midlandian Irish ice sheet (e.g. ...
Ice low-switching, which can involve changes in ice flow velocity and direction, is crucial to a full understanding of ice masses and their response to climate change. A topographically controlled ice flow switch near a glacier margin was recently documented at Breiðamerkurjökull, southeast Iceland, where the central flow unit migrated eastward in response to variations in subglacial topography and the influence of Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon. This site provides an opportunity to study the geomorphic response to ice-margin reconfiguration. Investigating contemporary processes can offer valuable insights into analogous landforms created during the deglaciation of palaeo-ice sheets. The landform assemblage and topographic setting of our Icelandic study site is compared to a palaeo-example from Alberta, Canada, which was once covered by the Laurentide ice sheet.
Uncrewed aerial vehicle-(UAV) derived data was used to assess the geomorphic response to this switching and related processes across a 1.5 km2 area of the central flow unit which deglaciated between 2010 and 2023. From 2010 to 2017, the landscape featured streamlined subglacial material, a stable subglacial esker system and proglacial lakes (Landsystem A), shifting to a spillway-dominated system between 2018 and 2023 (Landsystem B). Since 2018 this section of Breiðamerkurjökull has been retreating across a reverse slope bed, resulting in the formation of quasi-annual ice-marginal spillways. Meltwater impoundment at the ice margin, formed ice-contact lakes which eventually initiated ice-margin parallel spillways draining proglacial meltwater along the local land-surface gradient, towards Jökulsárlón. As the ice retreats, an ice-contact lake forms again at the new margin and initiates the erosion of the next ice-marginal spillway. The geomorphological signature demonstrates how subglacial topography and ice-flow switching can significantly influence ice and meltwater dynamics.
Since the glacier flow-switch, part of the central unit is now lake-terminating with areas of the margin evolving into a stagnant system, as it is now cut off from the accumulation centre. Therefore, Landsystem B could be analogous to regions of ice stream shut down and where ice masses retreated across reverse slope beds. For example, the Pakowki Lake region of Southeastern Alberta displays a similar landform assemblage and is presented as a palaeo-example in this work. Such insights are important for assessing the efficacy of numerical models in reconstructing the finer scale dynamics of past ice sheets during retreat.
... In terms of orientation, L1 lineations are oriented along 131 N direction, L2 along 107 N direction and L3 along 115 N direction. Based on their morphometric characteristics (elongation ratio and height) as well as their position within the stratigraphy, these features are interpreted as MSGLs (Boyes et al., 2021;Clark, 1993;Dowdeswell et al., 2016;Spagnolo et al., 2014). ...
... The incisions also are infilled by multiple stratified sediment units corresponding to Unit 3a (see description in section 4.1) (Fig. 9d). Considering the location of these features within the stratigraphy, incising the acoustic basement, as well as the dimensions and shape (irregular profile along the thalweg), they are interpreted as subglacial meltwater channels, as described in similar geological settings (Boyes et al., 2021;Dowdeswell et al., 2016;Greenwood et al., 2007;Greenwood and Clark, 2008;Kleman et al., 2014). Within the extent of these channels, it remains unclear whether the Unit 4 deposits correspond to the general subglacial till recognised or to coarse and massive sediments related to glacifluvial activity (Kirkham et al., 2021;Knight, 2003;Montelli et al., 2017;Pugin et al., 1996). ...
... These typically form pronounced bathymetric expressions at the seafloor, having been only partially infilled. The dataset presented here highlights an extensive buried channel network (Fig. 9) associated with one of these tunnel valleys, Lambay Deep (Fig. 11), whose irregular longitudinal profiles (Fig. 9c) are typical of subglacial meltwater channels (Boyes et al., 2021;Greenwood et al., 2007). Following initial rapid retreat (550 m.yr À1 ), the ISIS slowed (~100 m.yr À1 ) through the topographic constriction between the Irish east coast and the Welsh coast before passing into the northern Irish Sea by 21.9e20.7 ka, where there was a slight increase in the retreat rate (200e250 m.yr À1 ) (Chiverrell et al., 2013). ...
... Studies of the Lateglacial and Holocene developments in Fennoscandia, including the Kola region, have focused on four major topics: (i) the history of deglaciation (e.g. Boyes et al., 2021;Hughes et al., 2016;Lunkka et al., 2018); (ii) postglacial vegetation development (e.g. Berglund and Ralska-Jasiwichewa, 1986;Gervais et al., 2002;Giesecke and Bennett, 2004;Velichko et al., 2017); (iii) climate dynamics and sensitivity of pollen and other biological proxies to global and regional climate changes (e.g. ...
A radiocarbon-dated sediment core collected from the small freshwater Lake Kamenistoe, in the central part of the Kola Peninsula, provides a pollen record of vegetation and climate history of this part of Fennoscandia and the European Arctic during the past ca. 13,000 years. In contrast to existing Scandinavian Ice Sheet reconstructions, the record shows that the study site was ice-free at 13 cal. kyr BP, thus allows to improve our knowledge on deglaciation dynamics in North Europe. The biome reconstruction results together with other pollen records from the wider region suggest that forest-tundra surrounded Kamenistoe at the end of the Bølling-Allerød interstadial and that the reconstructed presence of trees is not determined by far-distance pollen transport. The spread of pine in the study region started ca. 9.3 cal. kyr BP, and maximum pollen percentages during 8.2–4.2 cal. kyr BP mark the Holocene thermal optimum. Progressive climate cooling accompanied by increasing moisture levels from 6 cal. kyr BP is indicated by the spread of spruce (boreal evergreen conifer), reflecting the expansion of taiga forests. In contrast to some previous interpretations, we argue that the spread of pine in the Early Holocene and spruce in the Middle Holocene did not follow zonal expansions, but rather originated from scattered small populations withing the study region. Archaeological records from northern Fennoscandia suggest that postglacial human occupation on the Kola Peninsula began no later than 10,000 years ago. This northward expansion of hunter-gatherers was likely related to the continuous Early Holocene warming, which not only resulted in less harsh climatic conditions for human occupation, but may have also pushed reindeer populations to the study region. This game animal, which has been a major resource for humans, prefers July temperatures below 12–13 °C and thus may have migrated to cooler environments during the Early Holocene.
... In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to morphometry of large groups of eskers located in Canada and Northern Europe (e.g. Hättestrand and Clark, 2006;Aylsworth et al., 2012;Storrar et al., 2014Storrar et al., , 2015Lewington, 2020;Lewington et al., 2020a;Boyes et al., 2021;Dewald et al., 2021;Stoker et al., 2021). The most comprehensive study of this kind is the analysis of >20 thousand Canadian eskers conducted by Storrar et al. (2014), subsequently built upon in successive studies (Lewington, 2020;Lewington et al., 2020a). ...
... Storrar et al. (2015) also analysed eskers in the foreland of Breiðamerkurjökull on Iceland and documented complex esker systems and their transformations in the course of ice-front recession. Boyes et al. (2021) presented data on the location and selected morphological aspects of eskers in the Kola Peninsula. Spatial distribution and characteristics of eskers in the Scandinavian Peninsula were presented by e.g. ...
... Brennand, 1994;Burke et al., 2015;Perkins et al., 2016). However, this parameter is rather rarely determined during regional analyses of eskers because eskers are most often mapped as linear objects, which reflects theirusually clearly visiblecrestline (Boulton et al., 2009;Storrar et al., 2013Storrar et al., , 2014Boyes et al., 2021). This parameter was determined for eskers in Canada by Lewington et al. (2020b). ...
The article presents the results of morphometric analysis of approximately 300 eskers in Poland, to the south of the Last Glacial Maximum. The measurements included their length, fragmentation, maximum width, elongation, sinuosity, orientation and presence of tributary ridges and their order. The analysed area of Poland is dominated with eskers of 1–3 km in length with the maximum length slightly exceeding 10 km. They are characterised by the average maximum width of 250 m, clear elongation, slight predominance of straight over sinuous forms, and the presence of tributary ridges of maximally second order. The distribution and morphological characteristics of eskers in Poland, to the south of the LGM were mainly influenced by the origination of forms on a permeable substrate in N-channels and a combination of N-channels and R-channels, complex genesis of eskers and superimposition of open crevasse sediments over the subglacial facies, as well as formation of eskers during older glaciations (MIS6-12) and their subsequent transformations and erosion under variable climatic conditions. The morphological and sedimentological features of analysed eskers support the theory of predominance of the synchronous model of esker formation in this area. The presented studies refine the understanding of eskers of older glaciations than the forms that originated within the extent of the Last Glacial Maximum. The research provides new insights into the nature of esker formation and subglacial meltwater drainage in the area of soft bed.
... The Kola Peninsula itself is largely absent of any subglacial meltwater routes consistent with inferred cold-based conditions (cf. Boyes et al., 2021;Hättestrand & Clark, 2006). ...
Subglacial drainage systems are crucial elements of glaciers and ice sheets because they modulate ice flow velocity. However, logistical challenges of measuring subglacial processes beneath contemporary ice and natural limitations in long-term monitoring hinder our understanding about their spatiotemporal evolution. Subglacial meltwater landforms created by palaeo-ice sheets are records of past subglacial drainage systems and offer the potential to study their large-scale development throughout deglaciation. Although collectively recording subglacial drainage, individual meltwater landforms such as eskers, meltwater channels and meltwater corridors, which comprise tunnel valleys and meltwater tracks (assemblages of landforms in broad, elongated paths with irregular surface texture), have mostly been investigated as separate entities. Using high-resolution (1-2 m) digital elevation models, we map integrated networks of subglacial meltwater landforms, herein called subglacial meltwater routes, on an ice-sheet scale in Fennoscandia. Our map provides a basis for future research on the long-term evolution of subglacial drainage networks and its effect on ice dynamics of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet.
The Late- and post-glacial history of the development of the White Sea coastal zone in the area of the Varzuga River mouth is considered as a result of the interaction of endogenous and exogenous factors of coastal morpholithogenesis. Based on geomorphological investigations, study of Holocene deposits by lithostratigraphic, diatom and radiocarbon analyses, as well as collection and analysis of published data, new results on the area’s relief development for ~13 cal ka BP have been obtained. The features of the regional hierarchical morphostructure and local post-glacial tectonics of the territory — the spatial relationships of blocks and the speed of vertical movements – were determined. The superimposed linear Nizhnevarzugskaya depression, which determined the configuration of the Varzuga River estuary in the late and postglacial time, was identified for the first time. The influence of the spatial ratio of blocks and differentiated postglacial uplift on the coastal morpholithogenesis was established. The course of changes in the relative sea level (RSL), development conditions and morphodynamics of the open coast and the estuary of the Varzuga River were reconstructed and new data on the rhythms of coastal morpholithogenesis processes (coastal, estuarine, and aeolian) obtained. Three stages of the coastal zone development were identified, corresponding to regional rhythms of changes in the relative sea level and climate: (I) Late Glacial transgression and Early Holocene regression (~12–9.8 cal ka BP), (II) Middle Holocene Tapes transgression (7.8–4.9 cal ka BP), (III) Late Holocene regression (after 4.9 cal ka BP). The upper marine boundary of the Late Glacial transgression is traced at the elevation of ~54–55 m a. s. l. to the west of the Nizhnevaruzgskaya depression, — ~39–40 m a. s. l. to the east of it, and — 22–25 m a. s. l. in the depression. The shores of lower morphostructural blocks were probably blocked by dead ice up until ~10.2–9.8 cal ka BP. During the Tapes transgression, the RSL reached a maximum (~7.8–7.6 cal ka BP; ~20 m a. s. l.), and by 4.9 cal ka BP fall to ~15 m a. s. l. The prevailing directions of sediment fluxes, winds and wave approach became similar to those of today. However, the main source of the coastal zone sedimentary supply was the erosion of glaciofluvial sediments and the input of sands from the seabed. In the interval of ~4.9–1.7 cal ka BP, the RSL decreased to ~5 m a. s. l. The sediment runoff of the Varzuga River became the main source of feeding the coastal zone.
Improvement in quality of digital elevation models and satellite images of the Earth’s surface led to a tendency to interpret them without sufficient confirmation by geological research methods. At the same time, the geological data is critical for the interpretation of genesis of accumulative glacial landforms and regional landscape reconstruction during the last glaciation. The article provides a classification and geologic structure of the glacial relief of one of the key areas in the Kola region. New data were obtained using morphometric analysis of relief, geological, structural analysis of glacial landforms, petrographic analysis of coarse glacial deposits, and the study of lake sediments. Two bands of glacial accumulative relief were identified in the study area. The first band forms a parallel ridge relief on the southern slope of the Lovozero Tundra. It represents the formations of a lateral moraine formed at the edge of a glacier moving from the west to the east along the slope. Also a hummocky-ridge relief along the slopes of the Lovozero, Panskie, and Fedorova Tundras that consist of terminal moraines is included in this band. The moraines are composed of dislocated limno- and fluvioglacial deposits, dump and ablative moraines. The second band is formed by three subparallel chains of ridge-hummocky relief. They include folded and imbricated-thrust glaciotectonically deformed deposits. Fluvioglacial deposits are developed on the distal slope of the outer chain. Both bands of glacial relief are associated with formation of marginal landforms during two stages of glacial retreats. Analysis of deglaciation models of the last ice sheet in the Kola and adjacent regions and data on the position of known marginal glacial formations made it possible to compare the stages with the final episodes of the Luga (Karelian) and Neva (Syamozero) Stages. The information obtained reveals more details about the stages of development of the last ice sheet and the deglaciation pattern of the Kola region in the Late Glacial.
Based on high‐resolution (sub)glacial geomorphological mapping, we present a first digital inventory of streamlined bedforms within the footprint of a Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) Alpine piedmont glacier. A total of 2460 drumlins were mapped across the Rhine glacier foreland. Glacial lineations and one field of subglacial ribs (ribbed/Rogen moraines) — the first record of this type of subglacial landform on the Alpine foreland—were identified. Two flowsets, associated with (i) the Rhine glacier's LGM maximum advance (Schaffhausen stadial) and (ii) a late LGM readvance (Stein am Rhein stadial), are differentiated. The vast majority of streamlined bedforms occur in fields aligned in a 16‐ to 30‐km‐wide swath upstream of the Stein am Rhein frontal moraines. Orientation and elongation of drumlins and glacial lineations set the basis for the reconstruction of paleo‐ice flow. Basal flow paths of the LGM maximum advance are visually interpreted and restricted to the zone proximal to the former ice front. The flow field reconstructed for the late LGM glacier readvance (Stein am Rhein stadial) extends tens of kilometres upstream and is modelled implementing a recently published kriging routine. The derived basal flow patterns paired with information on ice surface levels from lateral and frontal moraines and combined with relative ice velocity differences inferred from spatial changes in bedform elongation reveal detailed insights on ice flow geometries, particularly during the glacier readvance. Reconstructed flowlines highlight basal flow under shallow ice that is strongly controlled by local topography evidenced by diverging around basal bumps and converging in (narrow) valley sections and troughs, where basal flow velocities, steered by topography, are high. Gained paleo‐ice basal flow patterns offer new insights on landscape evolution of the northern Alpine foreland and provide evidence‐based flow data to validate future physical modelling results.
