Náttúrufræðingurinn

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Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1988, Síða 26

Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1988, Síða 26
northeast flowing ice streams from the ice streams and outlet glaciers which flowed through passes and along the valleys and fjords east of the ice divide. All the area was ice-covered except the high moun- tains between the outlet glaciers. These mountains held cirque glaciers and minor valley glaciers at that time. North and south of these a few nunataks were close to the secondary ice divide. Breiödalur stage, the middle stage is represented by moraines in the area be- tween Lón and Norðfjöröur, which means that the edge of the main Icelandic ice sheet had retreated to the present coast line of East and Southeast Iceland. The lowering of the relative sea-Ievel by 12 m in Norðfjörður, Reyðarfjörður and Fá- skrúðsfjörður was contemporaneous with the retreat from the Fáskrúðsfjörður mo- raines. Due to differences in the isostatic lowering of the land the absolute altitude of the shorelines is greater in the inner parts of the fjords than in their outer parts. The altitude of the marine limits im- mediately outside the Breiðdalur mo- raines is between 39 m a.s.l. in Stöðvar- fjörður and 59 m a.s.l. in Reyðarfjörður. This difference in the altitude of the mar- ine limits is explained by the different ex- tent and thickness of the outlet glaciers. The Breiðdalur moraines were formed ei- ther during a standstill of the ice fronts or a readvance. The extent of ice-free areas in east and Southeast Iceland was greatly increased in the time between the forma- tion of the Fáskrúðsfjörður and Breiðdal- ur moraines. The high mountains between the fjords still held cirque and valley gla- ciers. A third set of moraines is found behind the Breiðdalur moraines in Reyðarfjörð- ur, Fáskrúðsfjörður, Breiðdalur and Beru- fjörður. When the glaciers retreated from the Breiðdalur moraines sea-level regres- sed, but was stabilized again between 8 m and 19 m below the previous marine limit at the moraines in Lón, Alftafjörður, Ha- marsfjörður, Berufjörður, Breiðdalur, Stöðvarfjörður, Fáskrúðsfjörður, Reyðar- fjörður and Eskifjörður. This third set of moraines and lower marine limits together constitute the Berufjörður stage, the youngest stage in the deglaciation and sea- level changes in East and Southeast Ice- land. When the glaciers retreated from the Berufjörður moraines sea-level regres- sed towards present sea-level. The stratigraphical position of the Fá- skrúðsfjörður, Breiðdalur and Berufjörð- ur moraines and their related marine lim- its is uncertain, as radiometric dates are still lacking. The above described course of deglaciation and sea-level changes in East and Southeast Iceland is correlated to the Late Weichselian Substage. A com- parative pattern of deglaciation and sea- level changes is known from South and West Iceland. A tentative correlation be- tween these two regions in Iceland en- ables following conclusions to be drawn. The formation of the Fáskrúðsfjörður moraines concurred with the glacier read- vance during the Álftanes Stadial, 12,000- 12,300 l4C years B.P. The Breiðdalur mo- raines were formed concurrently with the glacier readvance in the early Búði Sta- dial, about 11,000 I4C years B.P. The Berufjörður moraines may have been formed in Early Flandrian time, 9000- 10,000 14C years B.P. It is, however, equally possible that the Berufjörður mo- raines reflect the twofoldness of the Younger Dryas Stadial as it is described in the Oslofjord area and Southern Sweden and were, therefore, formed about 10,500 14C years B.P. 80

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