Eemian estuarine record forced by glacio-isostasy (S Iceland) - link with Greenland and deep sea records

Central southern Iceland is one of the main outlets of the Icelandic Ice Sheet where a MIS 5e sedimentary complex, the Ranga Formation, is extensively observed below the last deglaciation terminal moraines. Sedimentary facies demonstrate that the Ranga Formation is mostly tidal, up to 215 m (transgression I) and 168 m (transgression II) in altitude. The first highstand reworks a thick tephra from the Grimsvotn volcano, known in marine cores as 5e low/Bas-IV and positioned at ca. 127 Ka BP, the Eemian thermal optimum. This formation is related to a rapid deglaciation followed by two marine transgressions marked by the development of extended mud flats, which were separated by a complex regression phase, associated with loess deposition, ca. 9 Ka in duration. Palaeo jokulhlaups, basaltic flows, and tephra fallouts from the Hekla and Grimsvotn volcanoes affected the sedimentation. The Ranga Formation yields one of the first continuous and complete estuarine records of the Eemian interglacial in Iceland and p...