THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM BRITISH-IRISH ICE SHEET:
A RECONSTRUCTION USING DIGITAL TERRAIN MAPPING
Running Head: Digital Terrain Mapping of the LGM British-Irish ice sheet
P.T Fretwell, British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road,
Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
D.E.Smith, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, South Parks Road,
Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
S.Harrison, Department of Geography, University of Exeter in Cornwall,
Trenough Campus, Penrhyn TR10 9EZ, UK
Corresponding author: P.T.Fretwell, British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road,
Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
Telephone: 44 1223 221400
E-mail: ptf@bas.ac.uk
Sponsor: The Leverhulme Trust
Abstract
The use of Digital Terrain Mapping in determining the anatomy of the Late Devensian
British-Irish ice sheet at a resolution of 500m cell size is illustrated for Boulton et al.’s
1985 and 1991 models and Lambeck’s 1995 model of the ice sheet at its maximum extent
as an independent ice mass. Area and volume of the ice sheet are given for each model
and the spatial pattern of ice thickness shown in maps. The analyses show that if no
account is taken of topography beneath the ice surface, models will seriously
overestimate ice volume. It is suggested that as reconstructions of the ice sheet improve,
detailed models of ice thickness at the resolution given in this paper may be of value in
determining the contribution of the ice sheet to sea surface changes as well in
determining the effects of ice loading on glacio-isostasy, neotectonics and possibly on
paraglacial processes in areas of high relief.
Keywords: Late Devensian, British-Irish ice sheet, Digital Terrain Mapping.
1
Introduction
Most models of past Quaternary ice sheets are primarily concerned with the spatial extent
of the ice. Few consider ice thickness in any detail, and most interest in the nature of
these ice sheets concerns patterns of ice flow; location, age and behaviour of ice sheet
margins; and implications for the palaeoclimates of these areas. Yet in recent years,
interest in the thickness of Quaternary ice sheets has grown, following work in
Scandinavia (e.g. Nesje, 1990) and Scotland (e.g. Ballantyne et al., 1998). Indeed,
knowledge of the vertical dimensions of the ice sheets, with the implications this has
notably for ice loading and ice volume, is of particular interest in glaciology, geophysics
and geomorphology. This paper describes a method of determining the anatomy of a
Quaternary ice sheet using Digital Terrain Mapping. It takes three published models of
the Late Devensian British-Irish ice sheet (the BIIS) at its maximum extent as an
independent ice mass: the Boulton et al. 1985 “alternative” and 1991 models and the
Lambeck 1995 model, and considers the implications for estimates of global sea surface
levels, glacio-isostasy, neotectonics and paraglacial processes. Locations referred to in
this paper are shown in Figure 1.
Background
Extent of the Late Devensian ice sheet in Britain and Ireland. In recent years, much
empirically-based work has focussed on the likely extent and timing of the Late
Devensian ice sheet at its maximum (the LGM). Most authors now agree that the LGM of
the BIIS was probably reached sometime during the period 27 000 – 20 000 radiocarbon
years BP, but there is no consensus on other parameters of the ice sheet (e.g. see Hall et
2
al., 2002; Bowen et al., 2003). The view that a single maximum limit was reached, after
which deglaciation occurred without noticeable interruption (e.g. Clapperton and Sugden,
1972; Paterson, 1974; Sutherland, 1984), has been replaced by views that deglaciation
was interrupted by stillstands or by readvance episodes (e.g. Sissons, 1963; Sissons and
Dawson, 1981; Eyles et al., 1994; Bowen et al., 2002; McCabe and Clark, 2003; McCabe
et al., 2005; Carr et al., 2006; McCabe et al., 2007), although there is no consensus on the
events identified, as for example in the case of the Perth Readvance (e.g. McCabe et al.,
ibid.). In addition, opinion is divided on the maximum extent reached, with some authors
essaying a relatively limited extent (e.g. Sutherland, ibid.; Bowen et al., ibid.) and others
maintaining a more extensive limit (e.g. Hall and Bent, 1990; Hall, 1997; Hall et al.,
2002). There are also differing views on whether the BIIS at its Late Devensian
maximum was confluent with the Scandinavian ice sheet (the SIS) as exemplified in the
contrasting reconstructions of Sejrup et al. (1987; 2002).
Ice sheet topography and thickness. In contrast to published views on the extent of the
ice sheet, there appears to be little debate on its vertical dimensions, probably because
they have only been empirically examined in detail in a few areas. The most recent and
detailed studies are from NW Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Lake District, N England.
For NW Scotland, several papers have examined trimlines in local areas (e.g Ballantyne
and McCarroll, 1995; Dahl et al., 1996; Ballantyne 1999; Ballantyne and Hallam, 2001;
Stone and Ballantyne, 2006) and the surface altitude of the ice sheet has been inferred
across the area as a whole from this evidence (Ballantyne et al., 1998). In Ireland, Rae et
al. (2004) mapped the Late Devensian limit from trimlines in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks
3
in the SW, whilst Ballantyne et al. (2006) provide evidence for the ice sheet surface
altitude from trimlines around the Wicklow Mountains. In Wales, McCarroll and
Ballantyne (2000), using trimlines, reconstructed the ice surface at about 850m above
present sea level over Snowdonia. In the SW Lake District, N England, Lamb and
Ballantyne (1998) reconstructed the ice sheet surface from palaeonunataks to a maximum
of 870m. Elsewhere in Britain and Ireland, reconstructions of the ice sheet surface are
less detailed, for example Dury (1953) observed that watershed breaching in the NW
Highlands of Scotland indicated that as an ice sheet developed, an elongate dome was
formed in that area along a NE-SW axis, migrating eastwards towards the Great Glen.
Sissons (e.g. 1967) maintained from the evidence of erratics that most of the summits in
the Scottish Highlands were covered sometime in the Quaternary; suggesting that there
were local ice domes and that the highest parts of the ice sheet could have reached 4000 –
5000 feet (1200 – 1500m) above present sea level. In the Southern Uplands of Scotland,
Cornish (1982) maintained that the ice surface exceeded the highest hills in Galloway (to
the W), at over 840m, on the basis of erratics, while Sissons (ibid.) implied that the ice
surface declined towards the E. Well defined limits spatially are recognised in the Welsh
borderland and South Wales (e.g. Bowen et al., 2002), and in central and northern
England (e.g. Eyles et al., 1994), but few details are available on ice surface height in
these areas.
In a theoretical study, based largely upon considerations of ice sheet dynamics, Boulton
et al. (1977) sought to provide a generalised model of ice sheet limits and surface altitude
at the LGM, estimating the highest ice surface altitude at over 1800m above the ice sheet
4
margin in Scotland and up to 1700m in N England, with broad domes over the
Grampians, central Ireland and the Southern Uplands, but no ice over SW Ireland.
Denton and Hughes (1981) subsequently estimated that at the LGM the BIIS had a single
dome over Scotland with a maximum surface altitude of 1750m above its margin. Both
the Boulton et al. (ibid.) and Denton and Hughes (ibid.) models assumed that the BIIS
was confluent with the SIS at the LGM. Boulton et al. (1985) subsequently produced an
“alternative” model, with a maximum ice surface altitude above 1000m and domes over
central Scotland, central Ireland and Wales, for a time when there was no connection with
the SIS. Later, Boulton et al. (1991; 2003) produced another solution, with a third model,
described as relating to a period when the ice sheet had separated from the SIS, but which
had a smaller extent than their 1985 “alternative” model. In this third model, again no ice
cover was depicted over SW Ireland, but additionally NE Scotland, parts of Caithness,
Orkney and Shetland were either partially or completely devoid of ice, while nunataks
were identified in Scotland and W Ireland. Lambeck (1995) also produced a model of the
ice sheet at the LGM, in which the limits were very similar to those in the Boulton et al.
(1991, 2003) model, but the maximum altitude of the ice surface reached over 1400m in
Scotland, and a small ice centre was located over SW Ireland. The models of Boulton et
al. (1977; 1985; 1991; 2003), Denton and Hughes (1981) and Lambeck (1995) remain the
only published models of the BIIS as a whole which provide detailed estimates of ice
surface altitude. The models of Boulton et al. (1985, 1991) and Lambeck (1995) are
illustrated in Figure 2.
5
Notwithstanding the many uncertainties concerning the extent of ice at the LGM, the
1981 model of Denton and Hughes has formed the basis for subsequent estimates of ice
volume (e.g. Dawson, 1993), while the “alternative” model of Boulton et al. (1985) and
the 1995 model of Lambeck have been used in the development of glacio-hydro-isostatic
models of crustal movement and relative sea level change, firstly in the pioneering
studies of Lambeck (e.g. 1991; 1993a; 1993b; 1995; 1996) and later by Shennan et al.
(2000; 2002), Lambeck and Purcell (2001) and Peltier et al. (2002) Inevitably, the use of
these models involves uncertainty. In determining ice volume, the generalised nature of
the Denton and Hughes (1981) model can only provide a rough estimate. In the
development of glacio-hydro-isostatic models, most accounts do not explicitly refer to the
role of topographic variation beneath the ice sheets modelled. Early models (Lambeck,
1991; 1993a; 1993b) would appear to have taken the ice surface altitudes of the Boulton
et al. (1985) model as ice thicknesses at the LGM. Later models (Lambeck 1995; 1996;
Lambeck and Purcell, 2001) probably take account of ice thickness, although the
accounts refer to both ice thickness and ice height. However, all accounts imply that there
is no topography beneath the ice, as Shennan et al. (2002; 2006) and Milne et al. (2006)
recognise. Milne et al. (2006) therefore, modelled ice thickness above the underlying
topography (Milne et al., ibid., Figure 3, page 937). However, their resulting model of ice
thickness, based on a cell size of 0.7 degrees latitude by 0.7 degrees longitude, has a
resolution which is too coarse to take account of underlying topography in detail. A
potentially major step forward was provided by Shennan et al. (2006), who modelled the
extent and thickness of the ice sheet at different (and alternative) stages of its
development and decay from circa 32000 calibrated years BP in seeking to determine the
6
effect on isostatic movement, but the detail that Shennan et al. (ibid.) provide both of
extent and thickness involves the same scale as that of Milne et al. (2006).
Perspectives. There are many uncertainties arising from work on the age, extent and
thickness of the BIIS at the LGM. Indeed, these uncertainties and the approach of
different authors raise questions about the meaning of the term LGM itself, a topic which
will not be debated here. The excellent compendium of information provided by the
BRITICE project (Clark et al., 2005) may ultimately help to resolve some of these
problems, but progress will be enhanced with the development of improved numerical
methods of determining the anatomy of the ice sheet.
With the advent of digital terrain mapping, it is now possible to examine in much more
detail ice volumes and loading patterns from those ice sheet models for which ice surface
altitudes have been determined. Such an approach will be of value in future estimates of
the extent and surface altitude of ice during the Late Devensian. This paper examines the
likely ice thicknesses of the three broadly comparable models of the BIIS as an
independent ice sheet close to the LGM illustrated in Figure 2.
Methodology
The approach adopted in this paper was to take the models shown in Figure 2 and
estimate ice volume and ice loading. A GIS (Geographical Information System) was
compiled using the ARCGIS suite of programmes, (version 9 or 9.1: ARCMAP,
7
ARCSCENE, ARCCATALOGUE). The ice sheet models were projected on to the
Ordnance Survey National Grid.
The data The first step was to construct three-dimensional models of the original ice
surface altitude data. The three models showing ice surface altitude were scanned and
geo-rectified. The contours were digitised and then converted to a digital elevation model
with a 500 metre (horizontal) resolution, to give an initial representation of the ice height
models as in the original papers.
The second step was to construct a Digital Terrain Model of the present land surface of
the British Isles and surrounding areas. For the land, NASA SRTM (USGS EROS Data
Center) data was downloaded and mosaiced into a 90 metre (horizontal) resolution threedimensional grid. A comparison between the data and Ordnance Survey maps indicated
that the altitude values have a vertical accuracy of around 1-2m in most areas, the only
exception to this being in areas with steep slopes, where the discrepancy is greater. To
reduce the error where strong topographical variations occur locally with the very
detailed 90 metre cell size, the original grid was re-sampled to a 500 metre cell size by
taking the mean of each 500 metre square. Offshore, ETOPO (Eastern Topographics)
data, with a 1 minute grid cell size was acquired and these data were also re-sampled to a
500 metre grid. This offshore grid was then mosaiced with the SRTM data to give a
seamless dataset of the land and sea topography of the area of Britain and Ireland
overlain by ice at 500 metre resolution.
8
Before overlaying the original ice models upon the topography beneath, the ice edge
needed to be adjusted. In the original models the ice edge had a vertical level of zero
metres OD, but in overlaying the models over the topography, the vertical level of the ice
edge was sometimes offshore and below the sea level of the Digital Terrain maps, or
onshore and above. The models were therefore re-gridded to keep the ice edge consistent
with the underlying surface. The main outputs of the analysis were digital elevation
models of ice thickness with a cell size of 500 by 500 metres.
Data analysis
Extent and volume of the ice sheet. Ice thicknesses indicated by the three models
shown in Figure 2 are depicted in Figure 3. All the models show considerable variation in
the thickness of the ice over mountainous terrain, where in some areas thicknesses of
around 1000m change to zero in a few kilometres. There are variations between the
models in the broader distribution of ice thickness. Both the Boulton et al. (1985; 1991)
models show a broadly central area of locally very thick ice surrounded by extensive
areas of much thinner ice, whereas in the Lambeck (1995) model the area of thickest ice
is distributed eccentrically around the Scottish Highlands, with only a narrow area of
thinner ice to the north (the Lambeck model is assumed to be of ice surface altitude). The
basic parameters of the three models are given in Table 1.
Insert Table 1 here
9
The greatest area covered by ice is depicted in the Boulton et al. (1985) model, with the
other two models registering similar areas to each other. Ice thicknesses vary
considerably, both in value and location. In the Boulton et al (1985) model, the main
areas of ice thickness lie over the SE Grampians (where the greatest value of 946m is
achieved), the inner Solway Firth and N and central Ireland. In the Boulton et al. (1991)
model, the ice sheet is generally thicker, with the greatest thickness of 1192m achieved
over the North Channel, and with considerable thicknesses over Loch Lomond and the
inner Solway Firth. The Lambeck (1995) model identifies thickest ice along the western
seaboard of Scotland, notably the Firth of Lorn, where a value of 1631m (including 231m
of water depth in the cell concerned) is achieved. The ice cover over SW Ireland is
probably slightly misplaced in the small scale map of the published Lambeck (1995)
model, so the mean thickness indicated will be slightly less.
The ice volume statistics are derived by multiplying the area of each cell in the model by
its ice thickness value, then converting into cubic kilometres. Here, the Boulton et al.
(1985) model gives by far the lowest volume, despite exhibiting the greatest extent, while
the other two give surprisingly similar values, notwithstanding considerable variations in
thickness between each other locally.
Sources of error. The greatest potential error concerns whether the published ice surface
altitudes in the three models have taken account of glacio-isostasy, since if that is the case
then comparing those altitudes with a Digital Terrain Map of the land surface unadjusted
for isostasy would misinterpret ice thickness. However, none of the authors specifically
10
mention that glacio-isostasy has been taken into account, although Boulton et al. in an
earlier paper (1984) did refer to the problem. In seeking to evaluate the effects of glacioisostasy, it is noted that where the ice sheet surface modelled is intersected by nunataks,
in the nunatak area at least, the vertical distance between the trimline and nearby valley
floor will not have changed, even if the altitude of the trimline has. Thus, although there
may be an error attributable to glacio-isostasy in all models, it may not be as large as
might have been thought. As an estimate of the likely magnitude of this error, a broad
estimate of the amount of glacio-isostatic depression of the land surface at the ice sheet
maximum was made using the gradient of the earliest Angus-Kincardine shoreline of
Cullingford and Smith (1980), assuming an uplift pattern as demonstrated in the Main
Postglacial Shoreline of Smith et al. (2006) (see below, Figure 3A). The earliest AngusKincardine shoreline is believed to have been reached not long after ice began to recede
from the Wee Bankie moraine (Sissons, 1981), the maximal extent of the LGM ice sheet
off eastern Scotland. This provides a deepest ice value for the Boulton et al. (1985) model
of 1045m, a mean thickness of 264m and a volume of 106 187 km3 , not greatly different
to the figures for this model in Table1, above.
There may additionally have been some errors in interpreting the authors’ published
maps, particularly Lambeck’s (1995) map for SW Ireland, as indicated above. Further, a
relatively small error will have been due to the fact that the land surface in the Digital
Terrain maps includes sediments which accumulated during or following deglaciation.
These sediments may have exceeded 50m thick in some areas, but will have been highly
localised and are not considered here. Broadly, however, taking account of all possible
11
sources of error, it is maintained that the ice thickness estimates are probably close to
those implied by the surface altitudes of the three models in Figure 1, perhaps with an
error of up to 10%.
Implications of the thickness models
Sea surface change. The approach described here provides the basis for more accurate
estimates of sea surface lowering than has been available hitherto. The Denton and
Hughes (1981) model for the LGM yielded a volume of 801,000 km3, a sea level
equivalent of 1.9m (using the figures given by Denton and Hughes, ibid.), given the mass
of ice implied. The volumes of the Boulton et al. (1985), Boulton et al (1991) and
Lambeck (1995) models are respectively 13.5%, 22% and 21.4% of the Denton and
Hughes (1981) model, yielding sea level equivalents of 0.26m, 0.42m and 0.41m. Since
these models are for ice sheets of broadly similar extent to that of the Denton and Hughes
(1981) model (the main difference being that the Denton and Hughes model has a
connection with the SIS), the differences are striking.
Glacio-isostasy. The pattern and volume of crustal loading implied by the ice thickness
models here raise some interesting questions in terms of glacio-isostasy. Where glaciohydro-isostatic modelling is concerned, the early isobase models of Lambeck (1991;
1993a, 1993b, 1995), and the generalised relative sea level graphs of Lambeck (ibid.),
Shennan et al. (2000, 2002) and Peltier et al. (2002), which were all based upon “flat
bed” models, may require reconsideration.
12
Shoreline-based (“empirical”) isobase modelling is independent of ice sheet models, and
comparisons may therefore be made. In Figure 4, shoreline-based isobase models for two
Holocene shorelines in Britain, based upon Gaussian Trend Surface analysis, taken from
Smith et al. (2006), are shown. These are probably the most accurate isobase models
currently available for the periods concerned, and concur in identifying a centre of uplift
in the SE Grampians. These models will undoubtedly improve with more data, especially
from Ireland and northern England, but at present probably represent a general indication
of the pattern of uplift after the mid and late Holocene. The loading patterns that the
isobase models in Figure 4 imply are closest to the Boulton et al. (1985) ice sheet model,
but there are important differences between these isobase models and all ice thickness
models: thus the substantial ice thicknesses in SW Scotland shown in the Boulton et al
models compare poorly with the isobase models; while the concentration of high ice
thicknesses on the western seaboard of Scotland in the Lambeck (1995) model is at
variance with the isobase models. However, further detailed comparisons are of limited
value because, as Lambeck (e.g. 1995) has shown, patterns of uplift reflect water loading
and unloading on the Continental Shelf, together with the effects of glaciation elsewhere,
as well as the load imposed by the local ice sheet.
Neotectonics. The association of neotectonic activity with glaciation has been explored
in a number of accounts (e.g. Stewart et al., 2000) and it seems possible that the
considerable variations in loading identified for the upland areas of Britain and Ireland
may have implications for neotectonics. Available seismic maps (e.g. as shown in British
Geological Survey Earthquake Bulletins) show a concentration of instrumentally
13
recorded earthquakes in upland areas, and for the Scottish Highlands a number of authors
(e.g. Sissons, 1972; Sissons and Cornish, 1982; Ringrose, 1989; Firth, 1992; Firth and
Stewart, 2000; Stewart et al., 2001) have cited evidence for neotectonic activity during
the Late Devensian and Holocene. The correspondence between variable loading and
seismic activity may not be coincidental for many types of earthquakes. However, there
appear to be two types of movement recorded. The first occurred along faults which
define discrete areas of crust moving with respect to one another, as in the Forth valley,
where Sissons (1972) identified the dislocation of two shorelines in stratigraphical
succession, yet found no evidence of differential uplift between the two, implying that
uplift in the area had occurred as blocks. The second appear to be of movements along
individual faults not defining discrete blocks. The question therefore arises as to the
respective roles of isostasy and neotectonics in the area of the British-Irish LGM Ice
Sheet, and by implication the significance of the loading pattern shown in the ice
thickness models determined in this paper.
Paraglacial processes. The ice thickness models draw attention to considerable
variations in loading across glacial troughs, and where, as in the Boulton et al. (1985;
1991) models in particular, thick ice in troughs often contrasts with thin ice over adjacent
interfluves, such variations are particularly marked. These contrasts may be of relevance
in understanding paraglacial processes. With loading varying by over 1000m vertically in
a few hundred metres horizontally across glacial troughs, pressure release may have been
a factor during ice sheet decay, accelerating valley erosion and resulting in mass
movement and the accumulation of substantial areas of debris at the foot of slopes. In the
14
developing literature on this subject, Wilson (2005) has drawn attention to pressure
release taking place following ice sheet decay in the Lake District, for example. The
distribution and extent of pressure release effects will be determined by rock structure
and slope angle, but may locally have been considerable.
Conclusion
The application of Digital Terrain Mapping for the estimation of the thickness and
volume of past Quaternary ice sheets has been outlined for three versions of the Late
Devensian ice sheet at its maximum as an independent ice sheet in Britain and Ireland. It
has been shown that not only are there considerable variations between the ice thickneses
determined from the three ice sheet models, but that all models yield substantially lower
volumes and overall thicknesses than models which take no account of topography.
Where the latter models have been used in estimating sea surface change, such estimates
need reconsideration. There may be implications for estimates of glacio-isostasy and
neotectonics as well as the origins of paraglacial deposits.
The approach described in this paper is commended to the reader not so much for the
implications which can be drawn from specific, previously-published models, but rather
for its value in developing improved models for the BIIS through a better understanding
of the anatomy of the modelled ice sheet. More widely, application of Digital Terrain
Mapping to models of Quaternary ice sheets globally will assist in moving towards
greater detail in determining the nature and effects of their growth and decay.
Acknowledgements
15
DES acknowledges the award of a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship. The data used in the
construction of the Gaussian trend surfaces in Figure 4 may be found on the website
www.scottishsealevels.net. The referees are thanked for their helpful and constructive
comments. This paper is a contribution to IGCP 495: Quaternary Land-Ocean
Interactions.
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List of Tables
Table 1 Ice sheet parameters Table 1 Ice sheet parameters
Ice volume
Mean thickness
Ice covered area
Deepest ice
______________________________________________________________________________
Boulton et al
108 381 km3
270 m
400 679 km2
946 m
(1985)
Boulton et al
175 932 km3
520 m
338 181 km2
1192 m
(1991)
Lambeck
171 406 km3
519 m
330 442 km2
1631 m
(1995)
List of Figures
Figure 1. Places mentioned in the text.
Figure 2. The ice sheet models of Boulton et al. (1985) (A), Boulton et al. (1991) (B) and
Lambeck, 1995 (C).
Figure 3. Ice thicknesses derived from the ice sheet models in Figure 1 superimposed
upon a digital terrain model of the land surface beneath.
Figure 4.
Isobase models for (A), Main Postglacial Shoreline, of circa 6400-7700
sidereal years BP and (B), the Blairdrummond Shoreline, of circa 4500-5800 sidereal
years BP, after Smith et al. (2006).
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