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ABSTRACT
Seventeen 14C age determinations by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) have been carried out on individual fragments of marine shells from Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Aside from a Holocene control sample only six of the shells, mainly from moraine ridges associated with present-day glaciers, are of Holocene age. The most interesting results are dates of 9180 ± 130 years BP (Ua-672), 9525 ± 130 years BP (Ua-905) and 9675 ± 140 years BP (Ua-1058) on shell fragments from an interbobate moraine between Vestfonna and Sere Franklin- breen. The site is 6 km behind the calving front of Søre Franklinbreen.
Six of the remaining eleven samples are >40 000 years old. A date from the same interlobate moraine between Søre Franklinbreen and Vestfonna gave 34 700 ± 810 years (Ua-345), but it seems safest to regard this value as a minimum age also. The same is true of dates of 35 230 ± 790 years (Ua-670) from till-like material within an area of raised beaches in Jäderinfjorden and 38 100 ± 1070 years (Ua-673) from till-like material underlying beaches on Wargentinflya southwest of Lady Franklinfjorden. The dates indicate that several anomalous ages determined previously, six in the 13 000 to 23 000 year-range and one close to 30 000 years, are the result of mixing of Holocene-aged shells with old' shells. The results also show that at least two of the main outlet glaciers from Vestfonna were much reduced in size in early Holocene time.
