Deglacial history of glacial lake Windermere, UK; implications for the central British and Irish Ice Sheet
Deglacial history of glacial lake Windermere, UK; implications for the central British and Irish Ice Sheet
In the UK, a combination of outcrop mapping, satellite Digital Elevation Models, high-resolution marine geophysical data, and a range of dating techniques have constrained the maximum limit and overall retreat behaviour of the British and Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS). The changing styles of deglaciation have been most extensively studied in the west and north-western sectors of the BIIS, primarily using offshore geophysical surveys. The surviving record in the southern, terrestrial sector is fragmentary, permitting only large-scale (tens of kilometres) and longer timescale (c. 1 ka) reconstructions of ice-margin movement, with limited information on deglacial processes. Here we present a high-resolution study of the retreat behaviour for a section of the southern ice-margin from Windermere in the Lake District, using high-resolution 2D multi-channel seismic (MCS) data, processed using prestack depth migration. By combining the seismic stratigraphy with landform morphologies, extant cores, and seismic velocity measurements, we are able to distinguish between: over-consolidated till; recessional moraines; De Geer moraines; flowed till/ice-front fan; supra-/en-glacial melt-out till; and subsequent glaciolacustrine/lacustrine sedimentation. The results reveal a complex and active valley glacier withdrawal from Windermere that changed character between basins and produced two small, localised areas of ice-stagnation and downwasting. This study indicates that similar active ice-margin retreats probably took place in other valleys of the Lake District during the Late Devensian deglaciation rather than the previously held view of rapid ice-stagnation and downwasting. When combined with the regional terrestrial record, this supports a model of early ice loss in terrestrial England compared to other parts of the United Kingdom.
Deglaciation, Geophysical surveys, Proglacial, Terrestrial ice sheet, Windermere
83-94
Pinson, Luke J.W.
754e7438-c374-4c2a-946b-aab1b11bc998
Vardy, Mark E.
8dd019dc-e57d-4b49-8f23-0fa6d246e69d
Dix, Justin K.
efbb0b6e-7dfd-47e1-ae96-92412bd45628
Henstock, Timothy J.
27c450a4-3e6b-41f8-97f9-4e0e181400bb
Bull, Jonathan M.
974037fd-544b-458f-98cc-ce8eca89e3c8
MacLachlan, Suzanne E.
a6c1b5e7-066a-45f5-a6bd-15cbcf127758
January 2013
Pinson, Luke J.W.
754e7438-c374-4c2a-946b-aab1b11bc998
Vardy, Mark E.
8dd019dc-e57d-4b49-8f23-0fa6d246e69d
Dix, Justin K.
efbb0b6e-7dfd-47e1-ae96-92412bd45628
Henstock, Timothy J.
27c450a4-3e6b-41f8-97f9-4e0e181400bb
Bull, Jonathan M.
974037fd-544b-458f-98cc-ce8eca89e3c8
MacLachlan, Suzanne E.
a6c1b5e7-066a-45f5-a6bd-15cbcf127758
Pinson, Luke J.W., Vardy, Mark E., Dix, Justin K., Henstock, Timothy J., Bull, Jonathan M. and MacLachlan, Suzanne E.
(2013)
Deglacial history of glacial lake Windermere, UK; implications for the central British and Irish Ice Sheet.
Journal of Quaternary Science, 28 (1), .
(doi:10.1002/jqs.2595).
Abstract
In the UK, a combination of outcrop mapping, satellite Digital Elevation Models, high-resolution marine geophysical data, and a range of dating techniques have constrained the maximum limit and overall retreat behaviour of the British and Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS). The changing styles of deglaciation have been most extensively studied in the west and north-western sectors of the BIIS, primarily using offshore geophysical surveys. The surviving record in the southern, terrestrial sector is fragmentary, permitting only large-scale (tens of kilometres) and longer timescale (c. 1 ka) reconstructions of ice-margin movement, with limited information on deglacial processes. Here we present a high-resolution study of the retreat behaviour for a section of the southern ice-margin from Windermere in the Lake District, using high-resolution 2D multi-channel seismic (MCS) data, processed using prestack depth migration. By combining the seismic stratigraphy with landform morphologies, extant cores, and seismic velocity measurements, we are able to distinguish between: over-consolidated till; recessional moraines; De Geer moraines; flowed till/ice-front fan; supra-/en-glacial melt-out till; and subsequent glaciolacustrine/lacustrine sedimentation. The results reveal a complex and active valley glacier withdrawal from Windermere that changed character between basins and produced two small, localised areas of ice-stagnation and downwasting. This study indicates that similar active ice-margin retreats probably took place in other valleys of the Lake District during the Late Devensian deglaciation rather than the previously held view of rapid ice-stagnation and downwasting. When combined with the regional terrestrial record, this supports a model of early ice loss in terrestrial England compared to other parts of the United Kingdom.
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: September 2012
e-pub ahead of print date: December 2012
Published date: January 2013
Keywords:
Deglaciation, Geophysical surveys, Proglacial, Terrestrial ice sheet, Windermere
Organisations:
Geology & Geophysics, Marine Geoscience
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 343045
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/343045
ISSN: 0267-8179
PURE UUID: 9f61c336-3294-4af2-816b-18853725b850
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Date deposited: 29 Oct 2012 09:43
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:04
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Author:
Luke J.W. Pinson
Author:
Mark E. Vardy
Author:
Suzanne E. MacLachlan
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