Deglaciation of the
Svartisen area, northern Norway, and isolation of a large ice mass in front of
the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet
Kevin P. Blake, Department of Geography and
Geology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
USA
Lars Olsen, Geological Survey of Norway,
Leiv Eirikssons vei 39, P. O. Box 3006, Lade, Trondheim,
Norway
South of Svartisen Ice Cap, the relative age of ice-flow indicators shows that as the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet declined in the area, glacial ice was diverted from a westward to a southward flow direction toward Ranafjord. Eventually, an active ice cap with an accumulation center over the Svartisen highlands was isolated in front of the inland ice sheet and extended all the way to Ranafjord. The maximum limit of the southern portion of the Svartisen ice mass is determined by the location of ice-marginal deposits and the limit of young southeastward striations at high elevations that cross-cut the westward ice-flow indicators formed by the ice sheet. Radiocarbon ages of mollusk shells in glaciomarine sediments within the margin of this ice cap show that Svartisen was at its maximum extent around 9500 BP, retreated from its maximum position shortly before about 9300 BP, and receded halfway to the present position of Svartisen by about 9000 BP.