Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Minimal erosion of Arctic alpine topography during late Quaternary glaciation

Nature Geoscience volume 8, pages 789–792 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

The alpine topography observed in many mountainous regions is thought to have formed during repeated glaciations of the Quaternary period1,2. Before this time, landscapes had much less relief1,2,3. However, the spatial patterns and rates of Quaternary exhumation at high latitudes—where cold-based glaciers may protect rather than erode landscapes—are not fully quantified. Here we determine the exposure and burial histories of rock samples from eight summits of steep alpine peaks in northwestern Svalbard (79.5° N) using analyses of 10Be and 26Al concentrations4,5. We find that the summits have been preserved for at least the past one million years. The antiquity of Svalbard’s alpine landscape is supported by the preservation of sediments older than one million years along a fjord valley6, which suggests that both mountain summits and low-elevation landscapes experienced very low erosion rates over the past million years. Our findings support the establishment of northwestern Svalbard’s alpine topography during the early Quaternary. We suggest that, as the Quaternary ice age progressed, glacial erosion in the Arctic became inefficient and confined to ice streams, and high-relief alpine landscapes were preserved by minimally erosive glacier armour.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Setting of northwestern Svalbard.
Figure 2: Sample locations and northwestern Svalbard landscape.
Figure 3: Plot of 26A/10Be ratios.
Figure 4: Conceptual model of transition to glacial armouring.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Montgomery, D. R. Valley formation by fluvial and glacial erosion. Geology 30, 1047–1050 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Norton, K. P., Abbuehl, L. M. & Schlunegger, F. Glacial conditioning as an erosional driving force in the Central Alps. Geology 38, 655–658 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kleman, J. & Stroeven, A. P. Preglacial surface remnants and Quaternary glacial regimes in northwestern Sweden. Geomorphology 19, 35–54 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Balco, G., Stone, J. O., Lifton, N. A. & Dunai, T. J. A complete and easily accessible means of calculating surface exposure ages or erosion rates from 10Be and 26Al measurements. Quat. Geochronol. 3, 174–195 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Bierman, P. R., Marsella, K. A., Patterson, C., Davis, P. T. & Caffee, M. Mid-Pleistocene cosmogenic minimum-age limits for pre-Wisconsinan glacial surfaces in southwestern Minnesota and southern Baffin island: A multiple nuclide approach. Geomorphology 27, 25–39 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Houmark-Nielsen, M. & Funder, S. Pleistocene stratigraphy of Kongsfjordhallet, Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Polar Res. 18, 39–49 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hallet, B., Hunter, L. & Bogen, J. Rates of erosion and sediment evacuation by glaciers: A review of field data and their implications. Glob. Planet. Change 12, 213–235 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Mitchell, S. G. & Montgomery, D. R. Influence of a glacial buzzsaw on the height and morphology of the Cascade Range in central Washington State, USA. Quat. Res. 65, 96–107 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Egholm, D. L., Nielsen, S. B., Pedersen, V. K. & Lesemann, J. E. Glacial effects limiting mountain height. Nature 460, 884–887 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Mills, J. E. Stratigraphy and succession of the rocks of the Sierra Nevada of California. Geol. Soc. Am. 3, 413–444 (1892).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hall, A. M. & Kleman, J. Glacial and periglacial buzzsaws: Fitting mechanisms to metaphors. Quat. Res. 81, 189–192 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hall, A. M. & Sugden, D. E. Limited modification of mid-latitude landscapes by ice sheets: The case of northeast Scotland. Earth Surf. Process. Landf. 12, 531–542 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Kleman, J. Preservation of landforms under ice-sheets and ice caps. Geomorphology 9, 19–32 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Thomson, S. N. et al. Glaciation as a destructive and constructive control on mountain building. Nature 467, 313–317 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Jakobsson, M. et al. Arctic Ocean glacial history. Quat. Sci. Rev. 92, 40–67 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Landvik, J. Y. et al. Landscape imprints of changing glacial regimes during ice-sheet build-up and decay: A conceptual model from Svalbard. Quat. Sci. Rev. 92, 258–268 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Gjermundsen, E. F. et al. Late Weichselian local ice dome configuration and chronology in Northwestern Svalbard: Early thinning, late retreat. Quat. Sci. Rev. 72, 112–127 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Landvik, J. Y. et al. Northwest Svalbard during the last glaciation: Ice-free areas existed. Geology 31, 905–908 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Fabel, D. et al. Landscape preservations under Fennoscandian ice sheets determined from in situ produced 10Be and 26Al. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 201, 397–406 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Glasser, N. F., Hughes, P. D., Fenton, C., Schnabel, C. & Rother, H. 10Be and 26Al exposure-age dating of bedrock surfaces on the Aran ridge, Wales: Evidence for a thick Welsh Ice Cap at the Last Glacial Maximum. J. Quat. Sci. 27, 97–104 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Stroeven, A. P., Fabel, D., Hattestrand, C. & Harbor, J. A relict landscape in the centre of Fennoscandian glaciation: Cosmogenic radionuclide evidence of tors preserved through multiple glacial cycles. Geomorphology 44, 145–154 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Nansen, F. The Strandflat and Isostasy (Vitenskapsselskapets Skrifter I. Matematisk-Naturvitenskapelig Klasse No. II) 1–313 (A. W. Brøggers Boktrykkeri, 1922).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Sugden, D. E. Glacier erosion by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. J. Glaciol. 20, 367–391 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Solheim, A., Andersen, E. S., Elverhøi, A. & Fiedler, A. Late Cenozoic depositional history of the western Svalbard continental shelf, controlled by subsidence and climate. Glob. Planet. Change 12, 135–148 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Etzelmüller, B. & Frauenfelder, R. Factors controlling the distribution of mountain permafrost in the northern hemisphere and their influence on sediment transfer. Arctic Antarct. Alpine Res. 41, 48–58 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Raymo, M. E., Lisiecki, L. E. & Nisancioglu, K. H. Plio-Pleistocene ice volume, Antarctic climate, and the global δ18O record. Science 313, 492–495 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Brook, E. J., Nesje, A., Lehman, S., Raisbeck, G. & Yiou, F. Cosmogenic nuclide exposure ages along a vertical transect in western Norway: Implications for the height of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Geology 24, 207–210 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Darmody, R. G. et al. Age and weathering status of granite tors in Arctic Finland (similar to 68 degrees N). Geomorphology 94, 10–23 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Fabel, D. et al. Landscape preservations under Fennoscandian ice sheets determined from in situ produced 10Be and 26Al. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 201, 397–406 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Harbor, J. et al. Cosmogenic nuclide evidence for minimal erosion across two subglacial sliding boundaries of the late glacial Fennoscandian ice sheet. Geomorphology 75, 90–99 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Håkansson, L. et al. Late Pleistocene glacial history of Jameson Land, central East Greenland, derived from cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al exposure dating. Boreas 38, 244–260 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Li, Y., Fabel, D., Stroeven, A. P. & Harbor, J. Unraveling complex exposure-burial histories of bedrock surfaces under ice sheets by integrating cosmogenic nuclide concentrations with climate proxy records. Geomorphology 99, 139–149 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Roberts, D. H., Long, A. J., Schnabel, C., Freeman, S. & Simpson, M. J. R. The deglacial history of southeast sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum. Quat. Sci. Rev. 27, 1505–1516 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Stone, J. O., Ballantyne, C. K. & Fifield, L. K. Exposure dating and validation of periglacial weathering limits, northwest Scotland. Geology 26, 587–590 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Stroeven, A. P. et al. Importance of sampling across an assemblage of glacial landforms for interpreting cosmogenic ages of deglaciation. Quat. Res. 76, 148–156 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Phillips, W. M., Hall, A. M., Mottram, R., Fifield, L. K. & Sugden, D. E. Cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al exposure ages of tors and erratics, Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland: Timescales for the development of a classic landscape of selective linear glacial erosion. Geomorphology 73, 222–245 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Dunne, J., Elmore, D. & Muzikar, P. Scaling factors for the rates of production of cosmogenic nuclides for geometric shielding and attenuation at depth on slope surfaces. Geomorphology 27, 3–11 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Codilean, A. T. Calculation of the cosmogenic nuclide production topographic shielding scaling factor for large areas using DEMs. Earth Surf. Process. Landf. 31, 785–794 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Fenton, C. R. et al. Regional 10Be production rate calibration for the past 12 ka deduced from the radiocarbon-dated Grøtlandsura and Russenes rock avalanches at 69° N, Norway. Quat. Geochronol. 6, 437–452 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Vermeesch, P. CosmoCalc: An Excel add-in for cosmogenic nuclide calculations. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 8, Q08003 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided by internal UNIS funding to E.F.G., the ConocoPhillips/Lundin Northern Area Program and internal UNIS funding to A.H. and Arctic Field Grants from Svalbard Science Forum/Norwegian Research Council (ris ID 2801/364). Logistical support was provided by UNIS and the AWIPEV base run by the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and the Institut Polaire Français Paul Emile Victor (IPEV). We sincerely thank our field assistants H. Dannevig, J. Fjellanger, T. Hipp, H. Kaasin, C. P. Nielsen, B. A. Skjæret and T. Snøtun. We thank our sponsors (see http://www.icebound.no). We acknowledge comments on earlier drafts from D. Benn, B. Etzelmüller, Ó. Ingólfsson, J. O. Hagen, M. Kelly and J. Mangerud.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Anne Hormes

    Present address: Present address: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Arctic Geology, The University Centre in Svalbard, PO Box 156 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway,

    Endre F. Gjermundsen & Anne Hormes

  2. Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA

    Jason P. Briner

  3. Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, 3102 Bern, Switzerland

    Naki Akçar

  4. Charlotte Voigts veg 50, 7053 Ranheim, Norway

    Jørn Foros

  5. Institute of Particle Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland

    Peter W. Kubik

  6. Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, 0371 Oslo, Norway

    Otto Salvigsen

Authors
  1. Endre F. Gjermundsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jason P. Briner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Naki Akçar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jørn Foros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Peter W. Kubik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Otto Salvigsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Anne Hormes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

A.H. initiated this research. E.F.G. and A.H. collected the field data and prepared rocks for cosmogenic radionuclide dating. N.A. chemically prepared the samples for 10Be and 26Al measurements. P.W.K. performed AMS measurements. E.F.G., J.P.B., A.H. and O.S. interpreted the data. J.F. assisted with the calculations. E.F.G., J.P.B. and A.H. wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Endre F. Gjermundsen.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 3315 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gjermundsen, E., Briner, J., Akçar, N. et al. Minimal erosion of Arctic alpine topography during late Quaternary glaciation. Nature Geosci 8, 789–792 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2524

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2524

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing