Researchers have uncovered huge landforms deep beneath the North Sea that suggest a single giant ice sheet covered present-day Norway and extended toward the British Isles 1 million years ago. The discovery was made using high-resolution sound wave data, which revealed patterns in the seabed consistent with the advance and retreat of a single, colossal ice sheet.
According to senior lecturer Christine Batchelor from Newcastle University, the images show that the region was “swallowed by a giant ice sheet” during the mid-Pleistocene transition period. The findings contradict previous theories that smaller ice sheets repeatedly expanded and retracted around this time.
The study’s authors used sound wave data to reveal landforms created by the grounded ice sheet, which moved sediment around as it grew and shrunk. These landforms include streamlined features that were sculpted in the direction of ice flow and transverse features that show the imprint of the ice margin as it retreated.
The giant ice sheet formed during a period of increased glacial activity between 1.3 million and 700,000 years ago. Understanding where the ice extended to during this time could help researchers build a picture of the conditions that led to global shifts in climate.
The discovery provides clues about how ice sheets grow and decay in response to climate and offers insights into feedback loops that are still relevant today. The study was published in the journal Science Advances on December 13, 2024.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/rivers-oceans/giant-ice-age-landforms-discovered-deep-beneath-north-sea-revealed-in-amazing-detail