Mapping and dating Holocene advances of Nansenbreen on Erdmannflya, Svalbard RiS ID 11556

A complex of paleo-glacial moraines located on the northern part of Erdmannflya (Svalbard) was formed by Nansenbreen, a surging glacier located to the north-west. The data provided by this moraine complex can be linked to the stratigraphy of the immediately adjacent lake, Straumsjøen, which is the largest lake found on Erdmannflya. Its bottom sediments can be studied to observe if its isolation is due to a sea-level change or to the earlier Nansenbreen glacial advances. Therefore, six days of fieldwork will be conducted in April 2021 on the study area for lake coring. This study aims to answer several questions. What can we learn from those records about glacial and sea-level variations during the Holocene? How was Straumsjøen isolated? Can litho- and bio-stratigraphic markers reveal how this lake system was formed? What information would early pre-Little Ice Age glacial advances of Nansenbreen provide for the reconstruction of paleoclimate and glacial dynamics?