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Exposure ages from relict lateral moraines overridden by the Fennoscandian ice sheet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Derek Fabel ,
David Fink ,
Ola Fredin ,
Jon Harbor ,
Magnus Land  and
Arjen P. Stroeven
Derek Fabel*
Affiliation:
Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
David Fink
Affiliation:
AMS-ANTARES, Environmental Division, ANSTO, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia
Ola Fredin
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Stockholm S-106 91, Sweden
Jon Harbor
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1397, USA
Magnus Land
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geochemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm S-106 91, Sweden
Arjen P. Stroeven
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Stockholm S-106 91, Sweden
*
*Corresponding author.Email Address:dfabel@ges.gla.ac.uk(D. Fabel).
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Abstract

Lateral moraines constructed along west to east sloping outlet glaciers from mountain centred, pre-last glacial maximum (LGM) ice fields of limited extent remain largely preserved in the northern Swedish landscape despite overriding by continental ice sheets, most recently during the last glacial. From field evidence, including geomorphological relationships and a detailed weathering profile including a buried soil, we have identified seven such lateral moraines that were overridden by the expansion and growth of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al exposure ages of 19 boulders from the crests of these moraines, combined with the field evidence, are correlated to episodes of moraine stabilisation, Pleistocene surface weathering, and glacial overriding. The last deglaciation event dominates the exposure ages, with 10Be and 26Al data derived from 15 moraine boulders indicating regional deglaciation 9600 ± 200 yr ago. This is the most robust numerical age for the final deglaciation of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. The older apparent exposure ages of the remaining boulders (14,600–26,400 yr) can be explained by cosmogenic nuclide inheritance from previous exposure of the moraine crests during the last glacial cycle. Their potential exposure history, based on local glacial chronologies, indicates that the current moraine morphologies formed at the latest during marine oxygen isotope stage 5. Although numerous deglaciation ages were obtained, this study demonstrates that numerical ages need to be treated with caution and assessed in light of the geomorphological evidence indicating moraines are not necessarily formed by the event that dominates the cosmogenic nuclide data.

Keywords

10Be and 26Al exposure datingRelict morainesBuried soilIce overridingDeglaciation chronologyNorthern Sweden
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 136 - 146
Copyright
University of Washington

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Footnotes

1 Present address: Geological Survey of Norway (NGU), Leiv Eirikssons vei 39, Trondheim N-7491, Norway.

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