This paper provides a new deglacial chronology for retreat of the Irish Ice Sheet from the continental shelf of western Ireland to the adjoining coastline, a region where the timing and drivers of ice recession have never been fully constrained. Previous work suggests maximum ice‐sheet extent on the outer western continental shelf occurred at ~26–24 cal. ka BP with the initial retreat of the ice marked by the production of grounding‐zone wedges between 23–21.1 cal. ka BP . However, the timing and rate of ice‐sheet retreat from the inner continental shelf to the present coast are largely unknown. This paper reports 31 new terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN ) ages from erratics and ice‐moulded bedrock and three new optically stimulated luminescence (OSL ) ages on deglacial outwash. The TCN data constrain deglaciation of the near coast (Aran Islands) to ~19.5–18.5 ka. This infers ice retreated rapidly from the mid‐shelf after 21 ka, but the combined effects of bathymetric shallowing and pinning acted to stabilize the ice at the Aran Islands. However, marginal stability was short‐lived, with multiple coastal sites along the Connemara/Galway coasts demonstrating ice recession under terrestrial conditions by 18.2–17. ka. This pattern of retreat continued as ice retreated eastward through inner Galway Bay by 16.5 ka. South of Galway, the Kilkee–Kilrush Moraine Complex and Scattery Island moraines point to late stage re‐advances of the ice sheet into southern County Clare ~14.1–13.3 ka, but the large errors associated with the OSL ages make correlation with other regional re‐advances difficult. It seems more likely that these moraines are the product of regional ice lobes adjusting to internal ice‐sheet dynamics during deglaciation in the time window 17–16 ka.

中文翻译：

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爱尔兰冰盖西段从内陆架到陆地边缘的冰川消融

本文为爱尔兰冰盖从爱尔兰西部大陆架向毗邻海岸线退缩提供了一个新的冰消年代学，在该地区，冰退的时间和驱动因素从未完全受到限制。先前的工作表明，西部大陆架上的最大冰盖范围发生在~26-24 cal。ka BP 与冰的初始退缩以产生 23-21.1 cal 之间的接地区楔子为标志。卡 BP。然而，冰盖从内陆架撤退到现今海岸的时间和速度在很大程度上是未知的。本文报告了来自不稳定和冰模基岩的 31 个新的地球宇宙成因核素 (TCN) 年龄和三个新的冰消期冲刷光受激发光 (OSL) 年龄。TCN 数据将近海岸（阿兰群岛）的冰川消融限制在 ~19.5-18.5 ka。这推断冰在 21 ka 后迅速从中架撤退，但测深变浅和钉扎的综合作用起到了稳定阿兰群岛冰的作用。然而，边缘稳定性是短暂的，康尼马拉/戈尔韦海岸沿线的多个沿海地点在 18.2-17 年间在陆地条件下显示出冰退。K a。随着冰通过高威湾内层向东退缩 16.5 ka，这种退缩模式仍在继续。在戈尔韦以南，Kilkee-Kilrush Moraine Complex 和 Scattery Island 冰碛表明冰盖晚期重新进入克莱尔郡南部~14.1-13.3 ka，但与 OSL 年龄相关的大误差使与其他区域重新-进展困难。