Radiocarbon dated shell samples from Nordre Strømfjord, West Greenland, with comments on models of glacio-isostatic uplift

Abstract

Shell-bearing marine sediments in the Nordre Strømfjord area belong to two lithofacies, calcareous sandy gravels and calcareous muddy sands, and to four biofacies comparable to modem communities and related to the sediment lithology: epifaunal benthic and infaunal benthic facies, a current reworked 'mixed' facies and a Portlandia - Propeamussium fades. Radiocarbon dates on nine samples provide a poorly defined model of the glacio-isostatic emergence of the region. The implications of such models and their physical validity are considered in the context of these and other data, and it is suggested that curves for uplift deceleration are a useful means of obtaining the exponential constant k.