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Emergence of the Varanger Peninsula, Arctic Norway, and climate changes since deglaciation

SOEST, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawaii, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu HI 96822, USA

Rhodes W. Fairbridge

Department of Geological Sciences, Columbia University and NASA-Goddard Institute for Space Research, 2880 Broadway, New York 10025, USA

Jakob J. Moller

Geology Department, Tromso Museum, University of Tromso, N-9000 Tromso, Norway

Antony J. Long

Department of Geography, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO9 5NH, UK

Fields of glacioisostatically uplifted beach ridges on the eastern Varanger Peninsula coast in northern Norway record the occurrence of major storms since deglaciation. More than 70 radiocarbon dates of palaeoshoreline indicators establish the Late Weichselian and Holocene history of beach-ridge building and relative sea-level change. Optimal ridge-building in the region requires sustained, strong easterlies driving high waves across the Barents Sea. Such winds occur when low pressure systems are forced across the North Sea and the Baltic landmass to the region of the Gulf of Bothnia and the Kola Peninsula. This situation probably frequently occurs during transition periods from milder to cooler climate in the region. The beach-ridge morphology reveals a fall of local sea level following the stormy episodes. Over the short term, this is related to the end of storm-induced set-up and the termination of mild-phase-related warm coastal currents. Over the long term, local sea-level falls with the onset of sustained calm winter-type conditions and continued glacioisostatic uplift. Pre- and early-Holocene changes in climate regime occurred with a frequency of several decades to several centuries. The mid- to late-Holocene records show increased climatic stability, transitions occurring with less frequency, and mild phases frequently lasting many hundreds of years.

Key Words: sea level • postglacial • Norway • beach ridges • climate change • storms • glacioisostasy.

The Holocene, Vol. 3, No. 2, 116-127 (1993)
DOI: 10.1177/095968369300300203


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