Per Möller
Professor
A bowhead whale vertebra embedded in marine limit beach sediment on Barentsøya, Svalbard
Author
Summary, in English
A cross-valley beach terrace in Iladalen in the south-eastern corner of Barentsøya (Svalbard) is interpreted as built by long-shore sediment transport and deposition, with its maximum height at 88 m a.s.l., marking the marine limit (ML) at deglaciation. A whale vertebra (most probably from a bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus) was found embedded in the upper part of the littoral sediments at a height of 80 m a.s.l., thus only about 8 m below the ML, and dated to 10,762 ± 137 cal. BP. This age is just a few hundred years after the generally accepted deglaciation age of the coastal parts of Barentsøya at c. 11,000 yrs. BP and its age and altitudinal position fits well with the relative sea level curve constructed for the north-eastern tip of Edgeøya, some 29 km ESE from Iladalen.
Department/s
- Quaternary Sciences
Publishing year
2024-04-19
Language
English
Publication/Series
Polar Research
Volume
43
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Topic
- Geology
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0800-0395