In collaboration with the Murmansk Institute of Marine Biology and Geology, USSR, this project will initiate basic glacial geologic, stratigraphic and geochronologic studies to provide new field data to independently evaluate the extent and timing of Late Weischselian and older glaciations. Field research will focus on the western part of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, where ice-free forelands contain abundant raised marine and glacial features. High resolution SPOT satellite imagery will be used as a mapping base to determine the distribution of raised beaches, moraines and other glacial features. Geomorphic and pedologic studies will provide relative ages for a previously isostatic response will be documented by radiocarbon dating of fossils included in raised beaches of known elevation. Particular attention will be given to the recognition of glacial-diamicts and uncomformitites, the collection of micro and macro-fauna for paleenvironmental assessment, and radiocarbon dating and amino acid racemization analyses. These studies will provide new insight into the history and extent of Late Weichselian glaciations on Franz Josef Land and will provide needed data to evaluate conflicting hypotheses regarding Late Weichselian ice volumes in northern Eurasia.
