Widespread erosion on high plateaus during recent glaciations in Scandinavia

Jane L. Andersen; David L. Egholm; Mads F. Knudsen; Henriette Linge; John D. Jansen; Vivi K. Pedersen; Soren B. Nielsen; Dmitry Tikhomirov; Jesper Olsen; Derek Fabel; Sheng Xu

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03280-2

Widespread erosion on high plateaus during recent glaciations in Scandinavia

Jane L. Andersen^*, David L. Egholm, Mads F. Knudsen, Henriette Linge, John D. Jansen, Vivi K. Pedersen, Soren B. Nielsen, Dmitry Tikhomirov, Jesper Olsen, Derek Fabel, Sheng Xu

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

Glaciers create some of Earth's steepest topography; yet, many areas that were repeatedly overridden by ice sheets in the last few million years include extensive plateaus. The distinct geomorphic contrast between plateaus and the glacial troughs that dissect them has sustained two long-held hypotheses: first, that ice sheets perform insignificant erosion beyond glacial troughs, and, second, that the plateaus represent ancient pre-glacial landforms bearing information of tectonic and geomorphic history prior to Pliocene-Pleistocene global cooling (~3.5 Myr ago). Here we show that the Fennoscandian ice sheets drove widespread erosion across plateaus far beyond glacial troughs. We apply inverse modelling to 118 new cosmogenic ¹⁰ Be and ²⁶ Al measurements to quantify ice sheet erosion on the plateaus fringing the Sognefjorden glacial trough in western Norway. Our findings demonstrate substantial modification of the pre-glacial landscape during the Quaternary, and that glacial erosion of plateaus is important when estimating the global sediment flux to the oceans.

Original language	English
Article number	830
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	9
Issue	1
Number of pages	7
ISSN	2041-1723
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03280-2
Publication status	Published - 26 Feb 2018

Keywords

FENNOSCANDIAN ICE-SHEET
BE-10 EXPOSURE AGES
CLIMATE-CHANGE
LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION
COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES
WESTERN NORWAY
AMS STANDARDS
RATES
SEDIMENT
SURFACES

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title = "Widespread erosion on high plateaus during recent glaciations in Scandinavia",

abstract = "Glaciers create some of Earth's steepest topography; yet, many areas that were repeatedly overridden by ice sheets in the last few million years include extensive plateaus. The distinct geomorphic contrast between plateaus and the glacial troughs that dissect them has sustained two long-held hypotheses: first, that ice sheets perform insignificant erosion beyond glacial troughs, and, second, that the plateaus represent ancient pre-glacial landforms bearing information of tectonic and geomorphic history prior to Pliocene-Pleistocene global cooling (~3.5 Myr ago). Here we show that the Fennoscandian ice sheets drove widespread erosion across plateaus far beyond glacial troughs. We apply inverse modelling to 118 new cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al measurements to quantify ice sheet erosion on the plateaus fringing the Sognefjorden glacial trough in western Norway. Our findings demonstrate substantial modification of the pre-glacial landscape during the Quaternary, and that glacial erosion of plateaus is important when estimating the global sediment flux to the oceans.",

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author = "Andersen, {Jane L.} and Egholm, {David L.} and Knudsen, {Mads F.} and Henriette Linge and Jansen, {John D.} and Pedersen, {Vivi K.} and Nielsen, {Soren B.} and Dmitry Tikhomirov and Jesper Olsen and Derek Fabel and Sheng Xu",

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AU - Andersen, Jane L.

AU - Egholm, David L.

AU - Knudsen, Mads F.

AU - Linge, Henriette

AU - Jansen, John D.

AU - Pedersen, Vivi K.

AU - Nielsen, Soren B.

AU - Tikhomirov, Dmitry

AU - Olsen, Jesper

AU - Fabel, Derek

AU - Xu, Sheng

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AB - Glaciers create some of Earth's steepest topography; yet, many areas that were repeatedly overridden by ice sheets in the last few million years include extensive plateaus. The distinct geomorphic contrast between plateaus and the glacial troughs that dissect them has sustained two long-held hypotheses: first, that ice sheets perform insignificant erosion beyond glacial troughs, and, second, that the plateaus represent ancient pre-glacial landforms bearing information of tectonic and geomorphic history prior to Pliocene-Pleistocene global cooling (~3.5 Myr ago). Here we show that the Fennoscandian ice sheets drove widespread erosion across plateaus far beyond glacial troughs. We apply inverse modelling to 118 new cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al measurements to quantify ice sheet erosion on the plateaus fringing the Sognefjorden glacial trough in western Norway. Our findings demonstrate substantial modification of the pre-glacial landscape during the Quaternary, and that glacial erosion of plateaus is important when estimating the global sediment flux to the oceans.

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KW - WESTERN NORWAY

KW - AMS STANDARDS

KW - RATES

KW - SEDIMENT

KW - SURFACES

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Widespread erosion on high plateaus during recent glaciations in Scandinavia

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Keywords

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