Late Quaternary Ice Cap Extent and Deglaciation, Húnaflóaáll, Northwest Iceland: Evidence from Marine Cores

Abstract The extent of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the timing of deglaciation around the Northwest Peninsula of Iceland are poorly understood. To provide information on these issues, we report sedimentological, foraminiferal, isotopic, and chronological data from marine piston cores B997-322PC, -323PC, -326PC1, and -326PC2 from a transect along Reykjafjardaall/Hunafloaall, a large trough that extends from the north Iceland coast toward the shelf break, ca. 66.8°N and 20°W. Cores B997-322PC, -323PC, and -326PC1 recovered diamictons (stiff, pebbly muds) overlain by fine-grained, postglacial muds, with intermittent occurrences of iceberg-rafted clasts and volcanic shards. No glacial con-structional features (moraines) were noted on the seismic profiles. In the outermost cores (B997-322PC and 323PC) the diamictons contained small but persistent numbers of foraminifera which gave dates between 25 and 44 ka B.P.; foraminifera are absent in the diamicton at the base of core B997-326PC1. 14C dates immediat...