LATE QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHY OF WESTERN YAMAL PENINSULA; RUSSIA: NEW CONSTRAINTS ON THE CONFIGURATION OF THE EURASIAN ICE SHEET

Abstract

Ice-sheet reconstructions for the last glacial maximum in northern Eurasia range from nearly complete coverage by a contiguous marine-based ice sheet to large unglaciated areas. Stratigraphic records from Yamal Peninsula, Russia, provide new insight on the eastern limit of the Eurasian ice sheet in the Kara Sea. Radiocarbon and infrared stimulated luminescence ages from coastal cliff sections date the emplacement of the Kara diamicton as older than ca. 40 ka, reflecting regional glaciation. Ice-wedge growth, peat accumulation, and eolian and fluvial deposition characterized the past ˜40 k.y. and do not support coverage of Yamal Peninsula by an ice sheet or proximity to a glacier margin. Thus, the late Weichselian Eurasian ice sheet was largely confined to Barents Sea and its global sea-level contribution is reduced to ˜7 m of sea-level equivalent.