An interglacial polar bear and an earlyWeichselian glaciation atPoolepynten, westernSvalbard

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The recent discovery of a subfossil polar bear ( U rsus maritimus ) jawbone in the P oolepynten coastal cliff sequence, western S valbard, and its implications for the natural history of the polar bear motivated an effort to better constrain the environmental history and age envelope of the P oolepynten sediment sequence. The focus of the present study is on the lithostratigraphy of the coastal cliffs and on re‐dating the sequence using the Optically Stimulated Luminescence ( OSL ) dating technique. We report a revised lithostratigraphy and nine new OSL ages. It is concluded that the P oolepynten sequence contains evidence of four regional glaciation events, recorded in the strata as erosional unconformities or glacial deposits followed by shallow‐marine deposition signifying transgressions and subsequent glacio‐isostatic rebound and regression. Our OSL ages refine previous age determinations ( 14 C and IRSL ) and support the interpretation that the subfossil polar bear jawbone is probably of last interglacial ( E emian) age.