Holocene history of the eastern side of Novaya Zemlya from glaciomarine sediment records in the Tsivol’ki Fjord

Abstract

For the first time, the Holocene history of the Serp-i-Molot tidewater glacier at the eastern side of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, Kara Sea, has been reconstructed based on AMS ¹⁴C dating and multiproxy analyses (lithology, mineralogy, geochemistry and microfossils) of glaciomarine sediments from the Tsivol’ki Fjord. Three main phases of the Holocene evolution of the fjord environment are identified. During the early phase, c. 10.6 to 4.6 cal. ka BP, the glacier front was located close to the fjord mouth. The middle phase, c. 4.6 to 0.9 cal. ka BP, was characterized by frontal glacier retreat and shallowing of the fjord owing to glacio-isostatic uplift of the North Island of Novaya Zemlya. The late phase, from 0.9±0.1 cal. ka BP until present, reflects the stabilization of the glacier front in the inner fjord. The absence of major Neoglacial advances of the Serp-i-Molot glacier is explained by the local climate of the Kara Sea and Novaya Zemlya, which prevents the penetration of moist air flow from the North Atlantic.