The genesis and age of the Quaternary deposits in the eastern part of Van Mijenfjorden, West Spitsbergen

Late Holocene palaeoceanography in Van Mijenfjorden, Svalbard

“…5, 6) is interpreted to reflect the major surge in Van Mijenfjorden (Dahlgren et al unpubl.). The age of this event compares well to minimum and maximum ages obtained by dating the till deposits on land (Punning et al 1976;Rowan et al 1982). During this event the PGS ice front advanced to a position 35 km beyond its present front, and acoustic unit 4 was deposited very rapidly.…”

“…During the advance, the PGS picked up marine sediments and incor- porated them into the diamicton of the moraines (Högbom 1911). A surge genesis of these sediments was later supported by De Geer (1919), Cöster (1925), Punning et al (1976), Haga (1978) and Rowan et al (1982). However, there were different views with respect to the number of surges, as well as their ages.…”

“…The three most recent of these studies all concluded that a major PGS surge took place in fairly recent times. Fossils of turf and driftwood buried within the marine diamicton, gave maximum ages of the last major surge of 930 ± 80 years (Rowan et al 1982) and 605 ± 50 years BP (Punning et al 1976). Dahlgren et al (unpubl.…”

Mud aprons in front of Svalbard surge moraines: Evidence of subglacial deforming layers or proglacial glaciotectonics?

“…The glacial landforms described in this paper were deposited at the maximum Holocene position of Paulabreen (77°417 N. 17°238 E.) (Punning et al, 1976;Rowan et al, 1982;Hald et al, 2001) (Fig. 1).…”

A surge of the glaciers Skobreen–Paulabreen, Svalbard, observed by time-lapse photographs and remote sensing data

“…The Holocene maximum position of Paulabreen is located 25 km from the present glacier front and dates to around 1300 AD (Punning et al 1976;Rowan et al 1982;Hald et al 2001;Kristensen et al 2009). The moraines record one of the largest Little Ice Age advances (and subsequent retreat) of any Svalbard glacier (De Geer 1919).…”