Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE-CHRONO reconstruction

The BRITICE-CHRONO consortium of researchers undertook a dating programme to constrain the timing of advance, maximum extent and retreat of the British?Irish Ice Sheet between 31?000 and 15?000?years before present. The dating campaign across Ireland and Britain and their continental shelves, and across the North Sea included 1500?days of field investigation yielding 18?000?km of marine geophysical data, 377 cores of sea floor sediments, and geomorphological and stratigraphical information at 121 sites on land; generating 690 new geochronometric ages. These findings are reported in 28 publications including synthesis into eight transect reconstructions. Here we build ice sheet-wide reconstructions consistent with these findings and using retreat patterns and dates for the inter-transect areas. Two reconstructions are presented, a wholly empirical version and a version that combines modelling with the new empirical evidence. Palaeoglaciological maps of ice extent, thickness, velocity, and flow geometry at thousand-year timesteps are presented. The maximum ice volume of 1.8?m sea level equivalent occurred at 23?ka. A larger extent than previously defined is found and widespread advance of ice to the continental shelf break is confirmed during the last glacial. Asynchrony occurred in the timing of maximum extent and onset of retreat, ranging from 30 to 22?ka. The tipping point of deglaciation at 22?ka was triggered by ice stream retreat and saddle collapses. Analysis of retreat rates leads us to accept our hypothesis that the marine-influenced sectors collapsed rapidly. First order controls on ice-sheet demise were glacio-isostatic loading triggering retreat of marine sectors, aided by glaciological instabilities and then climate warming finished off the smaller, terrestrial ice sheet. Overprinted on this signal were second order controls arising from variations in trough topographies and with sector-scale ice geometric readjustments arising from dispositions in the geography of the landscape. These second order controls produced a stepped deglaciation. The retreat of the British?Irish Ice Sheet is now the world?s most well-constrained and a valuable data-rich environment for improving ice-sheet modelling

The vegetation and climate during the Last Glacial Cold Period, northern South Island, New Zealand

Pollen assemblages from Howard Valley, South Island, New Zealand, were used to reconstruct the palaeovegetation and infer past climate during the period ca 38-21 cal. ka, which encompasses the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3/2 transition and Last Glacial Cold Period (LGCP). A glacier occupied the upper Howard Valley during the Last Glacial, whilst extensive glaciofluvial outwash surfaces were constructed in the lower valley. Episodic periods of fluvial aggradation and incision have produced a complex sequence of terraces flanking the main Howard River and its tributaries. Sedimentary sequences from three exposed valley fills, sampled for palynological analysis and radiocarbon dating, consist of a complex vertical and lateral arrangement of coarse textured cobbly sandy gravels interbedded with organic-rich silt deposits. Palynology of these organic-rich horizons was directly compared to an existing beetle record from these same horizons. During late MIS 3 the site was dominated by marshy shrubland vegetation interspersed with mixed beech forest, indicating temperatures ~2-3 °C cooler than present. Climate cooling began as early as 35.7 cal. ka and coincides with evidence of cooling from other sites in New Zealand, South America and with an Antarctic cooling signature. A three phase vegetation and inferred climate pattern occurs at the site during the LGCP beginning with a transition to an alpine/sub-alpine grassland comparable to communities growing near treeline today marking the change to glacial conditions before 31 cal. ka. A small increase in tree abundance between ca 25.8 and 22.7 cal. ka suggests minor climate amelioration during the mid-LGCP. During this phase, a possible volcanically induced vegetation disruption caused by the deposition of the Kawakawa Tephra at 25 cal. ka is evident in the pollen record. This is followed by a further decline in tree pollen and increase in alpine grassland and herb pollen indicating further deterioration of conditions and a period of maximum cooling (~4.5 °C) ca 22.5-20.9 cal. ka. This corresponds with the timing of greatest ice advance based on the geomorphic evidence in the region. Contrary to previous studies in New Zealand, the pollen and beetle records are in close agreement. Both indicate the site was forested during late MIS 3, with progressive reduction of trees during the LGCP. The consistent presence of beech pollen nevertheless confirms small refugia of trees persisted in the region

Timing, pace and controls on ice sheet retreat: an introduction to the BRITICE‐CHRONO transect reconstructions of the British–Irish Ice Sheet

Motivated to help improve the robustness of predictions of sea level rise, the BRITICE-CHRONO project advanced knowledge of the former British–Irish Ice Sheet, from 31 to 15 ka, so that it can be used as a data-rich environment to improve ice sheet modelling. The project comprised over 40 palaeoglaciologists, covering expertise in terrestrial and marine geology and geomorphology, geochronometric dating and the modelling of ice sheets and oceans. A systematic and directed campaign, organised across eight transects from the continental shelf edge to a short distance (10s of kilometres) onshore, was used to collect 914 samples which yielded 639 new ages, tripling the number of dated sites constraining the timing and rates of change of the collapsing ice sheet. This special issue synthesises these findings of ice advancing to the maximum extent and its subsequent retreat for each of the eight transects to produce definitive palaeogeographic reconstructions of ice margin positions across the marine to terrestrial transition. These results are used to understand the controls that drove or modulated ice sheet retreat. A further paper reports on how ice sheet modelling experiments and empirical data can be used in combination, and another probes the glaciological meaning of ice-rafted debris