Benetti, S.

Dunlop, P

O'Cofaigh, Colm

Peters, Jared

English

Recently interpreted marine geophysical data from the western Irish shelf has provided the first direct evidence that the last British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) extended westwards onto the Irish continental shelf as a grounded icemass composed of several lobes with marine-terminating margins. Marine terminating ice margins are known to be sensitive to external forcing mechanisms and currently there is concern regarding the future stability of marine based ice sheets, such as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, in a warming world. Given its position, the glaciated western Irish continental shelf is a prime location to investigate the processes of how marine-based ice sheets respondedto past climatic and oceanic events, which may in turn help us better predict the future trajectory of the marine sectors of modern Ice Sheets. However, despite the potential importance of the former Irish ice margin to our understanding of ice sheet behaviour, the timing and nature of its advance and retreat is currently poorly understood. This study aims to describe the depositional history of the last BIIS on the continental shelf west of Ireland and age-constrain the rate of retreat of two ice lobes that extended from Galway Bay and Clew Bay. This isbeing accomplished through a multifaceted analysis of at least 29 sediment cores gathered across the continental shelf offshore of counties Galway and Mayo, Ireland. This poster shows results from initial sedimentological descriptionsof cores from the mid to outer shelf, which support previous geomorphic interpretations of BIIS history. Preliminary palaeoenvironmental results from ongoing micropaleontological analyses are also discussed and providenew data that verifies sedimentary interpretations on ice proximity. Finally, results from several radiocarbon dates are discussed, which limit these deposits to the last glacial maximum and constrain the timings of ice advanceand retreat on the continental shelf west of Ireland

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Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 16, EGU2014-16930, 2014EGU General Assembly 2014© Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License.The extent and timing of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet offshore of westIreland—preliminary findingsJared Peters (1), Sara Benetti (1), Paul Dunlop (1), and Colm Ó Cofaigh (2)(1) School of Environmental Sciences, University of Ulster, Cromore Road, Coleraine, BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK, (2)Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UKRecently interpreted marine geophysical data from the western Irish shelf has provided the first direct evidencethat the last British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) extended westwards onto the Irish continental shelf as a grounded icemass composed of several lobes with marine-terminating margins. Marine terminating ice margins are known tobe sensitive to external forcing mechanisms and currently there is concern regarding the future stability of ma-rine based ice sheets, such as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, in a warming world. Given its position, the glaciatedwestern Irish continental shelf is a prime location to investigate the processes of how marine-based ice sheets re-sponded to past climatic and oceanic events, which may in turn help us better predict the future trajectory of themarine sectors of modern Ice Sheets. However, despite the potential importance of the former Irish ice marginto our understanding of ice sheet behaviour, the timing and nature of its advance and retreat is currently poorlyunderstood. This study aims to describe the depositional history of the last BIIS on the continental shelf west ofIreland and age-constrain the rate of retreat of two ice lobes that extended from Galway Bay and Clew Bay. This isbeing accomplished through a multifaceted analysis of at least 29 sediment cores gathered across the continentalshelf offshore of counties Galway and Mayo, Ireland. This poster shows results from initial sedimentological de-scriptions of cores from the mid to outer shelf, which support previous geomorphic interpretations of BIIS history.Preliminary palaeoenvironmental results from ongoing micropaleontological analyses are also discussed and pro-vide new data that verifies sedimentary interpretations on ice proximity. Finally, results from several radiocarbondates are discussed, which limit these deposits to the last glacial maximum and constrain the timings of ice advanceand retreat on the continental shelf west of Ireland.

The extent and timing of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet offshore of west Ireland-preliminary findings (Invited):Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 16, EGU2014-16930, 2014

https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/ws/files/77561553/EGU2014_16930.pdf

The extent and timing of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet offshore of west Ireland-preliminary findings (Invited):Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 16, EGU2014-16930, 2014

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