Widespread glacial erosion on the Scandinavian passive margin

Abstract

Pedersen et al. (2021) calculated the sediment volumes produced by the glacial erosion of the Scandes. They compared offshore sediment volumes along the Norwegian margin with estimates of late Pliocene–Quaternary erosion in onshore valleys and fjords and a marginal wedge of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments present on the inner shelf. They defined the inner margin of the wedge by the intersection of the reconstructed, pre-glacial topography with a maximum paleo-sea level 100–150 m higher than today as they assumed that the elevation of the Scandes had not changed relative to present-day sea level. Pedersen et al. found that the sediment volume in the sink exceeds, by far, the volume of rock that could have been eroded from the source area. Therefore, they suggested that a significant contribution from glacial erosion from above the present-day plateaus was needed to establish balance in the source-to-sink budget, implying that the plateaus are glacial features. Pedersen et al. did not, however, consider the possibility that the missing volume in their source-to-sink budget came from a sedimentary cover present onshore prior to the glaciations