The long warming transition from the Last Ice Age into the present Interglacial period, the last deglaciation, holds the key to our understanding of future abrupt climate change. In the last decades, a great effort has been put into deciphering the linkage between freshwater fluxes from melting ice sheets and rapid shifts in global ocean-atmospheric circulation that characterized this puzzling climate period. In particular, the regional expressions of climate change in response to freshwater forcing are still largely unresolved. This projects aims at evaluating the environmental, hydro-climatic and oceanographic response in the Eastern North Atlantic domain to freshwater fluxes from the Scandinavian Ice Sheet during the last deglaciation (~19,000-11,000 years ago). The results presented in this thesis involve an overview of the regional representations of climate change across rapid climatic transitions and provide the groundwork to better understand spatial and temporal propagations of past atmospheric and ocean perturbations. Specifically, this thesis comprises i) a comparison of pollenstratigraphic records from densely 14C dated lake sediment sequences, which provides insight into the regional sensitivity of North European vegetation to freshwater forcing in the Nordic Seas around the onset of the Younger Dryas stadial (~12,900 years ago); ii) a reconstruction of North European hydro-climate, which, together with transient climate simulations, shed light on the mechanisms and regionality of climate shortly prior to the transition into the Younger Dryas stadial; iii) studies of a ~1250-year long glacial varve chronology, which provides an accurate timing for the sudden drainage of proglacial freshwater stored in the former ice-dammed Baltic Ice Lake into the North Atlantic Ocean; iv) a 5000-year long terrestrial-marine reconstruction of Eastern North Atlantic hydro-climate and oceanographic changes that clarifies the hitherto elusive relationship between freshwater forcing and the transient behaviour of the North Atlantic overturning circulation system. The results presented in this thesis provide new important temporal constraints on the events that punctuated the last deglaciation in Northern Europe, and give a clearer understanding of the ocean – atmosphere – ice-sheet feedbacks that were at work in the North Atlantic. This increases our understanding of how the Earth climate system functions in more extreme situations. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: In press. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Thesis advisor: Jeremy D. Shakun / Few data are available to infer the thinning rate of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) through the last deglaciation, despite its importance for constraining past ice sheet response to climate warming. We measured 31 cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages in samples collected on coastal mountainsides in Acadia National Park and from the slightly inland Pineo Ridge moraine complex, a ~100-km-long glaciomarine delta, to constrain the timing and rate of LIS thinning and subsequent retreat in coastal Maine. Samples collected along vertical transects in Acadia National Park have indistinguishable exposure ages over a 300 m range of elevation, suggesting that rapid, century-scale thinning occurred at 15.2 ± 0.7 ka, similar to the timing of abrupt thinning inferred from cosmogenic exposure ages at Mt. Katahdin in central Maine (Davis et al., 2015). This rapid ice sheet surface lowering, which likely occurred during the latter part of the cold Heinrich Stadial 1 event (19-14.6 ka), may have been due to enhanced ice-shelf melt and calving in the Gulf of Maine, perhaps related to regional oceanic warming associated with a weakened Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at this time. The ice margin subsequently stabilized at the Pineo Ridge moraine complex until 14.5 ± 0.7 ka, near the onset of Bølling Interstadial warming. Our 10Be ages are substantially younger than marine radiocarbon constraints on LIS retreat in the coastal lowlands, suggesting that the deglacial marine reservoir effect in this area was ~1,200 14C years, perhaps also related to the sluggish Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during Heinrich Stadial 1. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Glaciers and ice sheets covered extensive areas in the Northern Hemisphere during the last glacial period. Subsequently to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), they retreated rapidly and, except for Greenland and some other ice caps and glaciers, they vanished after the last glacial termination. This thesis examines the dynamics of deglacial environments by analysing the glacial geomorphological record with focus on the landforms created by glacial meltwater. The aims are (i) to evaluate the data available for mapping glacial meltwater features at the regional scale, and (ii) to demonstrate the potential of such features for regional ice retreat reconstructions in high-relief landscapes. Meltwater landforms such as ice-marginal meltwater channels, eskers, deltas and fossil glacial lake shorelines are used to infer former ice surface slope directions and successive positions of retreating ice margins. Evaluated high-resolution satellite imagery and digital elevation models reveal their potential to replace aerial photographs as the primary data for mapping glacial meltwater landforms. Following a methods study, reconstructions of the deglacial dynamics are carried out for central Transbaikalia, Siberia, Russia, and for the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) in central British Columbia, Canada, using regional geomorphological mapping surveys. Mapped glacial landforms in central Transbaikalia show evidence of a significant glaciation that possibly extended beyond the high mountain areas. Large glacial lakes were formed as advancing glaciers blocked rivers, and of these, Glacial Lake Vitim was the most prominent. Deglacial dynamics of the CIS reveals that the ice divide shifted to the Coast Mountains in north-central British Columbia and the eastern ice margin retreated towards the ice divide in late glacial time. This thesis demonstrates the potential to reconstruct ice retreat patterns and deglacial dynamics at regional scales by interpretation of the meltwater landform record. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 5: Submitted. Paper 6: Manuscript.

Understanding of the processes of sediment transfer within, and from, glaciated catchments is of fundamental importance in order to establish rates of sediment transfer and resultant landscape evolution. Rates of glacio-fluvial sediment transfer are strongly controlled by glacier meltwater runoff and the availability of sediments for entrainment. However, it is becoming apparent that recently deglaciated forefields can modify the patterns of suspended sediment transfer. Glacier shrinkage exposes areas of unstable glacigenic sediments that can be subject to reworking and redistribution, and, as these environments become ice-free, heightened levels of geomorphological activity (so-called 'paraglacial' activity) are also likely to have a significant impact on both sediment and water yields from deglaciating catchments. Consequently, questions are raised as to the impacts of deglaciation upon contemporary and future rates of suspended sediment transfer, and the resultant fluvial sediments loads and rates of landscape adjustment. Therefore, the aim of this research was to present an integrated study of how sediment transfer in a glaciated catchment functions during, and is responding to, deglaciation. A variety of techniques were employed to examine the hydrological functioning of an Alpine glacier, the Feegletscher Nord, Switzerland, and the resultant temporal and spatial patterns of sediment transfer in light of catchment hydrology, ablation processes and forefield geomorphology. Data was collected over two field campaigns in 2010 and 2012 to capture the inputs, throughputs and outputs of meltwater and sediment. This research found that patterns of sediment transfer were modified within the proglacial zone, reinforcing previous findings that the location of proglacial monitoring is important in determining the observed patterns of sediment transfer. These patterns of sediment transfer were attributed to variations in forefield sediment availability, which appeared to demonstrate marked spatial variability. This variability was hypothesised to be influenced by the geomorphological characteristics of the forefield, including rock fall debris that appeared to limit sediment availability, and glacigenic sediment deposits that enhanced the availability of in-channel and channel-marginal sediments. These findings suggest that the investigation of rates of sediment transfer and paraglacial sedimentation may be complicated in catchments that have experienced complex geomorphological responses to deglaciation. In addition, the investigation of sediment transfer processes and the development of a glacier runoff model enabled the exploration of future suspended sediment loads with progressive deglaciation and a changing climate. Suspended sediment loads were predicted to experience rapid declines until the end of the 21st Century due to reductions in meltwater runoff as glacier extent is reduced. However, it is suggested that uncertainties in future sediment availability limit the usefulness of such forecasts. Consequently, this research highlights how the understanding of both sedimentary and hydrological processes in glaciated catchments may be enhanced by consideration of the changes that can occur in these environments associated with glacier shrinkage and a changing climate.

The prospect of sea level rise due to melting ice sheets affirms the urgency of gaining knowledge on ice sheet dynamics during deglaciation. The Fennoscandian Ice Sheet serves as an analogue, whose retreat can be reconstructed from the geomorphological record. The recent development of a high-resolution LiDAR-derived elevation model can reveal new relationships between landforms, even for well-studied areas such as the Torneträsk region in northwestern Sweden. Therefore, this study aims to refine the reconstruction of the deglaciation in this region based on an updated glacial geomorphological map. A range of glacial landforms were mapped, which by means of an inversion model were utilized to form swarms representing spatially and temporally coherent ice sheet flow systems. Additionally, glacial lake traces allowed for the identification of ice margins that dammed lakes in Torneträsk, Rautasjaure, and other (former) lake basins. Eight glacial lake stages were identified for the Torneträsk basin, where final drainage occurred through Tornedalen. Over 20 glacial lake stages were identified for the Rautasjaure basin, where drainage occurred along the margins of a thinning ice lobe. The disparity between the glacial lake systems results from different damming mechanisms in relation to the contrasting topography of the basins. A strong topographic control on the retreat pattern is evident, as the ice sheet retreated southward in an orderly fashion in the premontane region, but disintegrated into ice lobes in the montane region. The temporal resolution of current dating techniques is insufficient to constrain the timing of ice retreat at the spatial scale of this study. Precise dating of the Pärvie fault would pinpoint the age of the ice margin which at the time of rupture was located between two glacial lake stages of Torneträsk. Collectively, this study provides data for better understanding the final retreat of the ice sheet and associated processes, such as interactions between glacial lakes and ice dynamics.

The prospect of sea level rise due to melting ice sheets affirms the urgency of gaining knowledge on ice sheet dynamics during deglaciation. The Fennoscandian Ice Sheet serves as an analogue, whose retreat can be reconstructed from the geomorphological record. The recent development of a high-resolution LiDAR-derived elevation model can reveal new relationships between landforms, even for well-studied areas such as the Torneträsk region in northwestern Sweden. Therefore, this study aims to refine the reconstruction of the deglaciation in this region based on an updated glacial geomorphological map. A range of glacial landforms were mapped, which by means of an inversion model were utilized to form swarms representing spatially and temporally coherent ice sheet flow systems. Additionally, glacial lake traces allowed for the identification of ice margins that dammed lakes in Torneträsk, Rautasjaure, and other (former) lake basins. Eight glacial lake stages were identified for the Torneträsk basin, where final drainage occurred through Tornedalen. Over 20 glacial lake stages were identified for the Rautasjaure basin, where drainage occurred along the margins of a thinning ice lobe. The disparity between the glacial lake systems results from different damming mechanisms in relation to the contrasting topography of the basins. A strong topographic control on the retreat pattern is evident, as the ice sheet retreated southward in an orderly fashion in the premontane region, but disintegrated into ice lobes in the montane region. The temporal resolution of current dating techniques is insufficient to constrain the timing of ice retreat at the spatial scale of this study. Precise dating of the Pärvie fault would pinpoint the age of the ice margin which at the time of rupture was located between two glacial lake stages of Torneträsk. Collectively, this study provides data for better understanding the final retreat of the ice sheet and associated processes, such as interactions between glacial lakes and ice dynamics.

No description available.

Syftet med arbetet är att kartlägga geomorfologin och landskapsutvecklingen i Sarekområdet med hjälp av LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data. LiDAR är en metod för fjärranalys som kan används i syfte att kartlägga markytan utan vegetation som störmoment. Datan erhölls från Lantmäteriet och har en punkttäthet på 1 punkt per kvadratmeter. Denna data bearbetas i GIS (ArcMap) för att skapa en terrängskuggning. Området för karteringen ligger strax sydöst om Sarekmassivet, vid vilket den senaste istiden tros ha dragit sig tillbaka emot. Tidigare kartering av området har gjorts av bland annat Sveriges Geologiska Undersökning där karteringen baserats på traditionella metoder som fältobservationer och flygfotoanalyser. Detta projekt bidrar till en ny kartering av en del av Sarekområdet. Där användning av LiDAR fått tidigare icke-karterade landformer att framkomma. Landformernas utseenden genom bearbetning av LiDAR uppvisas. Baserat på dessa landformer tolkas en generell deglaciationsriktning i det karterade området, röra sig från öst till väst. / The aim of this project is to map the geomorphology and landscape development in the Sarek area, with the help of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). LiDAR is a remote sensing method that can be used for the purpose of mapping the ground surface without the disturbance of vegetation. The data in this project was obtained from the Swedish authority Lantmäteriet and has an accuracy of 1 point per square meter. The obtained data was processed in GIS (ArcMap) to create a hillshade raster. The area for the mapping is located southeast of the Sarek massif, around which the latest ice age is believed to have retreated towards. Previous mapping in the area has been done by the Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU), which has been based on the more traditional methods of field observations and aerial photos. This project's purpose is to provide a new mapping of an area at the east side of the Sarek massif. Where the use of LiDAR has provided new, not before mapped landforms to arise. The appearance of the landforms by adaptation of LiDAR is displayed. Based on these landforms an interpretation of the general deglaciation tendency in the mapped area is shown to move from east to west.

Det Jämtländska fjällområdet Frostviken har under den senare delen av Weichsel haft ett komplicerat deglaciationsförlopp. Glacialfluviala landformer som ansamlingar av morän, lineationer och laterala smältvattenrännor är tydliga i landskapet. Vid glacialfluviala studier av postglaciala områden förstärks kunskapen om sedimenttransport som förändrat jordlagerföljder och format om landskapet. Den vetskapen kan vidare användas i samhällsplanering och jordbruk för att anpassa utbyggnad eller ombyggnad av befintlig miljö. Under deglaciationen bildades den omfattande issjön Frostviksissjön, en issjö vars tappningsränna inte kunnat lokaliseras i tidigare studier. Arbetet har utgått från en historisk kronologisk litteraturstudie tillsammans med en analys av LiDAR-data för att säkerställa och ifrågasätta den glacialfluviala transporten i landskapet. I detta arbete presenteras en möjlig tappningsränna för Frostviksissjön vid Storbergets östra sida och issjön är rekonstruerad med hjälp av strandnivåkarta från SGU. Landformerna i området har undersökts för att härleda om de härrör från den senaste nedisningen under Weichsel eller från tidigare nedisningar. / The mountain area in the most northwest part of Jämtland is Frostviken, which during the latter part of the Weichsel had a complicated deglaciation process. Glaciofluvial landforms such as accumulations of moraine, lineations and lateral meltwater channels are evident in the landscape. Glaciofluvial studies of postglacial areas emphasize knowledge about sediment transport that has changed soil layer sequences and reshaped the landscape. This knowledge can also be used in community planning and agriculture to adapt the expansion or rebuilding of the existing environment. During the deglaciation, the extensive ice lake Frostviksissjön was formed, an ice lake where the main spillway has not been interpreted in previous studies. The work has been based on a historical chronological literature study together with an analysis of LiDAR data to ensure and question the glaciofluvial transport in the landscape. In this study, a possible main spillway has been presented for Frostviksissjön on the eastern side of Storberget. The ice lake has been reconstructed using a shore level map from SGU. The landforms in the area have been studied in accordance with whether they originate from the most recent glaciation during the Weichsel period or derives from previous glaciations.

The master thesis is focused on analysis of the zone of recent deglaciation in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Geomorphological mapping that had been realized based on interpretation of the satellite data and field reconnaissance was used for interpretation of main geomorphological features and processes of the selected glacial valleys. Glaciofluvial processes and mass movements are the main processes that affected the relief in the recent period. Major differences in landforms presence and distribution have been found between the studied valleys. The main differences are between valleys located on the western side and eastern side of the mountains. Number of different sediments of different types have been identified on the western side, whereas no evidence of such sediments was found on the eastern side. These differences are probably caused by differences in geology and climatic conditions. Finally, a general sediment flux model on the information gained from the geomorfologic analysis has been created and shows space distribution of geomorphological features and processes. The analyses of the satellite data show different visual characteristics of the rocks, which has been confirmed during field works using Schmidt Hammer method. The results suggest that the rocks that have been exposed for longer time due...