Ice-sheet and paleoenvironment reconstructions at the Kara Sea continental margin during the Last Glacial Maximum to deglacial time interval

There are still ongoing discussions about the late Quaternary history and extent of the Kara Sea Ice Sheet at the Eurasian continental margin. Especially for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), open questions concerning the maximum extent and the deglaciation history exist. In order to get a better understanding of the paleoenvironmental conditions and to solve some of the open questions, we performed a multi-proxy-analysis of five sediment cores from the Kara Sea continental margin. By correlating these cores with already 14C-dated sediment cores we could develop a new age model and interpret our data in terms of paleoenvironmental change. Based on these data, the deglaciation phase has been proceed in the eastern part of the Kara Sea continental margin much more rapidly than in the western part. Furthermore, there seems to be no clear evidence for any major LGM ice sheet proximal to the position the studied sediment cores.