Andrews, J.T, Bigg, G.R and Wilton, D.J (2014) Holocene ice-rafting and sediment transport from the glaciated margin of East Greenland (67-70°N) to the N Iceland shelves: detecting and modelling changing sediment sources. Quaternary Science Reviews, 91. pp. 204-217. ISSN 0277-3791
Abstract
We examine variations in the ice-rafted sources for sediments in the Iceland/East Greenland offshore marine archives by utilizing a sediment unmixing model and link the results to a coupled iceberg-ocean model. Surface samples from around Iceland and along the E/NE Greenland shelf are used to define potential sediment sources, and these are examined within the context of the down-core variations in mineralogy in the <2 mm sediment fraction from a transect of cores across Denmark Strait. A sediment unmixing model is used to estimate the fraction of sediment <2 mm off NW and N Iceland exported across Denmark Strait; this averaged between 10 and 20%. Both the sediment unmixing model and the coupled iceberg-ocean model are consistent in finding that the fraction of "far-travelled" sediments in the Denmark Strait environs is overwhelmingly of local, mid-East Greenland, provenance, and therefore with a significant cross-channel component to their travel. The Holocene record of ice-rafted sediments denotes a three-part division of the Holocene in terms of iceberg sediment transport with a notable increase in the process starting ca 4000 cal yr BP. This latter increase may represent the re-advance during the Neoglacial period of land-terminating glaciers on the Geikie Plateau to become marine-terminating. The contrast in spectral signals between these cores and the 1500-yr cycle at VM28-14, just south of the Denmark Strait, combined with the coupled iceberg-model results, leads us to speculate that the signal at VM28-14 reflects pulses in overflow waters, rather than an ice-rafted signal. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2013 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC NE/H023402/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 06 Jun 2014 12:49 |
Last Modified: | 06 Jun 2014 12:49 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.08.019 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.08.019 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:78108 |