Volume 16 (2010): Issue 4 (December 2010)

Volcanism in eastern Iceland has controlled the changes in glacier- and river-drainage patterns and the sedimentary budget, particularly during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. The glacial extent in NE Iceland appears to be related to the impact of volcanic activity, not only on the ice-stream dynamics, but also on the sedimentary successions. Analysis of the Jökuldalur and Jökulsa á Brù records results in a new interpretation of the changes in ice extent and flow direction for at least the last two glaciations. From MIS 8 onward, the development of the Snæfell volcano apparently forced the ice stream that derived from the Vatnajökull ice cap to take another course; it also affected the offshore sedimentary budgets at the new outlet at Vopnafjördur. The MIS 6 ice sheet was thick and extensive, and associated with an ice-stream diversion to the North. The thick sedimentary complex of palaeolake Halslón was formed close to an outlet of the Vatnajökull, the Brùarjökull, during Termination II and a part of the MIS 5e interglacial.

The deposits formed during MIS 5e record two climate optima interrupted by two successive glacial advances correlated with the mid-Eemian cooling. The deposits of the Weichselian deglaciation (Termination I) are much more limited in thickness. During the Last Glacial Maximum and the Late Glacial, glaciers also seem to have been restricted in the Jökulsa á Brù area. Valley glaciers issued from the Brùarjökull re-advanced several times in the Jökuldalur only during at least the Older Dryas, the Younger Dryas and the Preboreal. NE Iceland has undergone considerable deglaciation since the Bølling. In contrast to the conclusions of previous studies, the results presented here are consistent with data on the glaciations in other Nordic regions and can increase the understanding of the mid-Eemian cooling.

Lake Eğirdir is one of the most important fresh-water lakes of Turkey. It has a tectonics-related origin. The area formed under a roughly N-S compressional tectonic regime during the Middle Miocene. The stresses caused slip faults west and east of Isparta Angle, and the lake formed at the junction of these faults. The area subsided between normal faults, thus creating the topographic condition required for a lake. The lacustrine sediments have fundamentally different lithologies. After the Late Miocene, central Anatolia started to move westwards, but western Anatolia moved in a SW direction along the South-western Anatolian Fault, which we suggest to have a left lateral slip, which caused that the Hoyran Basin moved t7 km towards the SW and rotated 40° counterclockwise relative to Lake Eğirdir.

The relationships between the interior dynamics of our planet and global sea level can be unravelled when plate-tectonic reconstructions are available for the entire Earth. A review of global tectonics reveals significant deficiencies in our understanding of the geodynamic evolution of the Pacific (Panthalassa or Proto-Pacific) during the Cambrian-Jurassic time-span. This particular, but major, shortcoming presents a true challenge for modern geoscientists, who are encouraged to produce a detailed plate-tectonic reconstruction of the Pacific for the pre-Cretaceous in order to advance our understanding of Phanerozoic sea-level change. A set of approaches, including geological/geophysical modelling, investigation of accretionary prisms, palaeobiogeographical studies, and careful examination of eustatic sea-level changes, are proposed that will help geoscientists tackle the challenge of understanding how Pacific geodynamics affected global sea level during the Phanerozoic.