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The maximum extent of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet during the Weichselian Glaciation at its south-western periphery – a multiphase act?

Applicant Professor Dr. Heiko Hüneke, since 4/2024
Subject Area Palaeontology
Physical Geography
Term from 2020 to 2024
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 448438003
 
Final Report Year 2025

Final Report Abstract

The dynamics of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet (FIS) during its advance and retreat phases throughout the Weichselian Glaciation (115-12 ka) played a crucial role in shaping the landscape of the southwestern Baltic Sea region. The glacial processes left behind a complex array of deposits, such as subglacial tills and glacifluvial sands, which not only serve as indicators of past climatic conditions but also influence present-day socio-economic factors. Understanding the interactions between glacial ice dynamics and climate signals enhances our ability to predict future climate scenarios. The dating of glacial deposits, using methods such as luminescence dating, and the analysis of stratigraphic sequences, provides key insights into the timing of the advance and retreat phases of the FIS. This allow the reconstruction of the temporal relationship between climatic events and glacial movements, shedding light on the interactions between ice sheets and the environment. The aim of the project was to develop a clearer understanding of the ice sheet dynamics and the corresponding depositional environments in the southwestern Baltic Sea region during the last glacial cycle (Weichselian Glaciation). The primary focus was on the timing and dynamic of the local Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ice extent across northeastern Germany. Additionally, the study investigated evidence of a pre-LGM ice advance that may have reached the study area. To achieve this, fieldwork, sedimentological analyses, and geochronological studies were conducted at several key sites along the Baltic Sea coast, as well as sections in sand pits of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. These efforts provided valuable insights into the depositional processes and palaeogeographic developments over the last 115,000 years. The results significantly contribute to regional stratigraphic models and offer new perspectives on the timing and dynamics of glacial advance and retreat phases in northern Central Europe. Based on our investigations, we were able to demonstrate that the local maximum ice extent in the western part of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (MWP) was reached between 24 and 22 ka. This finding aligns with furthermore results from the Jasmund Peninsula. In contrast, we found no direct evidence of an ice advance that reached MWP at the end of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (late MIS 3) in the studied outcrops. However, further south in Brandenburg, there are indications that the local LGM ice extent was reached during late MIS 3. This suggests a timetransgressive formation of the maximum ice extent during the last glaciation in Germany: two distinct ice lobes or ice advances — one during late MIS 3 (35-30 ka) and another during MIS 2 (24-22 ka) — formed the contiguous terminal moraine complex that exists today, which had previously been interpreted as the result of the main ice advance during MIS 2.

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