Sedimentology and stable isotope ratios of cores from the East Greenland continental margin

During the last 190 ka, a number of IRD peaks appear to be correlated with cooling cycles observed in the GRIP Greenland Ice Core. Drastic events in iceberg discharge along the East Greenland continental margin recurred at very short intervals of 100-300 years (i.e. much more frequently than the about 10 000 years associated with Heinrich events), suggesting short-term collapses of the Greenland Ice Sheet on these time-scales.

These late Weichselian Greenland Ice Sheet oscillations appear to be in phase with those in the Barents Sea area. Maximum flux rates of terrigenous (ice-rafted) material were recorded at the continental slope between about 21 and 16 ka, which may correspond to the maximum (stage 2) extension of glaciers on Greenland. The beginning ot Termination I is documented by a distinct shift in the oxygen isotopes and a most prominent decrease in flux of IRD at the continental slope caused by the retreat of continental ice masses.