Sea level change in Vestfirdir, north west Iceland

Abstract

Recent observations in the Vestfirdir area of Iceland have revealed a wealth of raised marine features from ca 70m a.s.l. to 1m a.s.l. that may reveal a different isostatic uplift pattern from that of the rest of Iceland. At 8.5 m a.s.l. at Hvitahlid, microplankton-rich marine silts are capped by a peat layer with a radiocarbon age of 6910 BP. At Smahamrar nearby, a suite of raised beaches between ca 70m a.s.l. and present sea level are older than 8875 BP. It appears that sea-level dropped rapidly from 70m to 1m some time before ca 10 000 BP. However, a rise of sea-level to 8.5m occurred at about 9000 BP and peat began to accumulate on beaches at about 8800 BP. The ensuing regression was temporarily halted at 6900 BP by a high energy marine event, possibly caused by waves from the 7000 BP Storegga landslide, which deposited a beach ridge full of marine taxa on top of freshwater peats at ca 6m a.s.l. -from Authors