Abstract

An understanding of the configuration and dynamics of ice sheets during the Quaternary Period (last c.2.6 million years) is essential to constrain numerical models of past environmental conditions and to predict the likely future responses of ice sheets to climatic change. Whereas subaerial erosion and human activity have produced a fragmented glacial record in many terrestrial environments, evidence of past ice-sheet activity is often well-preserved on and beneath the seafloor of deglaciated continental shelves. Marine geophysical data can be used to analyse glacial landforms and sediments at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. 2D and 3D seismic data show how mid- and high-latitude continental margins have been shaped by the repeated advance and retreat of ice sheets during the last few million years. Bathymetric data enable the interpretation of glacial landforms preserved on the seafloor, revealing the dynamic behaviour of ice masses during the last glacial cycle. The recent use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) to acquire high-resolution geophysical data provides a step-change in our ability to image submarine landforms and facilitates new interpretations about ice dynamics at a fine temporal scale. In this presentation, the use of marine geophysical data to investigate the climate and environment of the Quaternary will be demonstrated using examples from recent research into the past behaviour of ice sheets on mid- and high-latitude continental margins.