Date of Award
Spring 4-29-2021
Thesis Access
Open Access Honors Thesis
Thesis Location
Departmental Honors Thesis
Degree Name
B.S.
Department
Geology
Faculty Advisor
Jeffrey Howard
Abstract
The British Irish Ice Sheet was a substantial ice mass covering the British Isles during the most recent glaciation that ended around 11,700 years ago. Oftentimes referred to as the BIIS, it is subdivided into two sections, a western and eastern side that covered Great Britain and Ireland, with the Irish basin in the middle. Some notable areas of study around Great Britain and Ireland include the ’Bizzle’ in Northern England, which was transformed by the effects of the eastern margin of the BIIS, the Carstair Kames in Scotland, a locality known internationally for its esker system, The Minch region northwest of Scotland, known for its remnants of an important paleo ice stream, and Ireland to the west along with the Irish basin that contains a lot of marine floor evidence and important islands such as the Isle of Man. Various studies over the years have aimed at mapping and recording the geomorphology and ages of the landscape in this area to piece together the dynamics of ice sheets and glaciers that were active during the Devensian and Younger Dryas glacial periods. One of the most important recent studies, was a movement by academic and research organizations to compile a GIS map of glacially related features in Britain, Scotland, and Ireland. This map is one of the most impressive and complete records of geomorphology in this section of the world, and it is a work in progress that seeks to clean up and verify old data as well as add newfound discoveries to the map. The aim of this paper is to examine some of the vast records collected over the span of glacial study in the United Kingdom and put together a brief summary of key areas and how they have been interpreted to have evolved when the BIIS was active, as well as what they may indicate in regard to ice sheet modeling and the dynamics of paleo-ice flow.
Recommended Citation
Gaskevicius, Benediktas, "BIIS: The Last British Ice Sheet, A Review of The Most Recent Major Glaciation of Great Britain and Ireland" (2021). Honors College Theses. 86.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/honorstheses/86