Studies of Lake Sediments and Deglaciation on Prins Oscars Land, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard

On Prins Oscars Land, situated in the northern part of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard, the diatom flora and chemical conditions in lake sediments have been studied. The aim of the investigation was to achieve information about the Late Weichselian history of the peninsula and the Holocene shore displacement.In the majority of the investigated lakes the thickness of the Holocene deposits is less than 100 cm. In the obtained cores there is evidence of an ice cover on Prins Oscars Land in the Late Weichselian. However, only in the southern part of the peninsula the sediments are resting on a bed of till. Regarding the other lakes, the influence of the last glaciation is restricted to a compaction of Weichselian sediments. Prior to 11 000 years B.P. there were ice-free coastal fringes, and about 10 000 years B.P. the ice had escaped from the inland areas in the northern part of the peninsula. The deglaciation of the southern section is not dated.In the northern part of Prins Oscars Land, a lake at 32 m a.s.l. was isolated from the sea slightly prior to 10 000 years B.P. In this area the probably more than 11 000 years old Holocene marine limit is at an altitude of 48m. The relative small rate ofthe emergence indicates a rather thin ice cover over the peninsula in the Late Weichselian.