Circular moraine features on the Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway, and their possible relation to polythermal ice sheet coverage

This paper introduces a new hypothesis about the formation of circular moraine features (CMFs) on felsenmeer-covered plateaux of the Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway. CMFs and glacial lineations in the northwestern part of the Varanger Peninsula were mapped from aerial photographs. In two CMF-rich areas, Basečœrro-Plateau and Båtsfjordfjellet, the CMFs were investigated during fieldwork. The aim was to investigate possible entrainment, transport and deposition mechanisms of the CMFs in connection to ice sheet properties. Fs were deposited in connection with a polythermal ice cover. During glaciations, the ice sheet was cold-based on the boulder field plateaux and warm-based in valleys, especially in ice drainage pathways towards fjords. The CMF material was probably entrained en masse, on the Varanger Peninsula, in transition zones between warm- and cold-based ice. The debris transport took place close to the ice base. During deglaciation, the debris formed dirt cones, slowing down the melting of underlying dead-ice blocks. As material slid down the margins of the cones, the typical CMF shape was formed.