A reconstruction of Pleistocene ice sheet limits in Slieve Bloom using heavy minerals

Abstract

The results of a regional study of alluvial heavy minerals are presented. From them the pattern of incursion of lowland ice into Slieve Bloom is reconstructed. The distribution of alluvial heavy minerals, used in conjunction with the previously reported characteristics of both tills and glaciofluvial sediments, allows both a detailed reconstruction of glacial deposition and insights into the effects of changing subglacial topography on the thermal regime of the ice that crossed the central midlands to be made.

Keywords:

• heavy minerals
• ice limits
• reconstruction