Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1975, Page 93

Glacial Erratics from the Sea Floor
South-East of the Faeroe Islands and the
Limit of Glaciation
Regin Waagstein1) and Jóannes Rasmussen2)
Introduction
There are only a few publications which deal with the
glacial geology of the Faeroe Islands and none of these are of
recent date. Geikie (1880), Helland (1880) and Grossman and
Lomas (1895) agree, because of the directions of glacial striae
and the complete lack of foreign erratics, that the Faeroe Is-
lands have had a local ice cap. As no glacial striae, roche
moutonnees or larger glaciated terrain forms have been ob-
served above 500 meters height they suggest that the ice has
only reached this height, i. e. the highest mountains protruded
above the ice as nunataks. Geikie (1880) supposed that ice
with this thickness would be able to reach the 200 fathoms
isobath, where it should break up into icebergs.
The present paper deals with the limit of glaciation south-
east of the Faeroe Islands and is based on a study of glacial
erratics dredged from the sea floor. It is part of a current
marine geological research programme initiated by the Faero-
ese Government in 1971 in cooperation with the Geological
*) Mineralogisk Museum, Østervoldgade 5—7, DK 1350 Copenhagen K,
Denmark.
2) Føroya Jarðfrøðisavn, J. C. Svabosgøta 14, DK 3800 Tórshavn, the
Faeroe Islands.