This award supports a multi-disciplinary study (sedimentology, paleontology, and oxygen-isotope stratigraphy) of glacial sediments in the Kara and Barents Seas. At present, melting of ice sheets that are known to have existed cannot explain completely the well documented post-glacial rise in sea-level. An ice sheet in the Kara and Barents Seas region could have contributed substantially to post-glacial sea-level rise. The goal of this study is to determine the extent of an ice sheet that is thought to have existed in this region during the last glacial maxima, the timing of its disintegration or retreat, and its potential for contributing to post-glacial sea-level rise.
