Tilting of large lakes due to differential isostatic uplift in the glaciated regions of the Northern Hemisphere is a well-documented process. With the help of accurate digital elevation models and spatial GIS analysis techniques, the resulting hydrological changes, including shifts in the outlets and changes in the size and configuration of lakes, can now be mapped and calculated more precisely than before. As a case study to highlight the magnitude of such changes in Fennoscandia, we investigated and reinterpreted the Holocene palaeogeography and palaeohydrology of Lake Pielinen in eastern Finland. This lake is currently 99 km long and located parallel to the direction of land uplift, being thus particularly sensitive to the impacts of tilting. Our results show that the lake was formed at the end of the regional deglaciation, following drainage of a local ice-dammed lake. In its initial stage until 10 200 cal yr BP, the outlet of the newly-formed lake was located in its northwestern end, but the tilting led to a major water level transgression in the basin, eventually causing formation of a new outlet over the southeastern threshold. The lake area was 143 km long and its area was 1998 km2 at the time of formation of the southeastern outlet at 10 200 cal yr BP. The lake level has been regressive throughout the basin during the last 10 200 years. This regression will continue for approximately another 10 000 years until all the glacial isostatic adjustment has occurred, after which Lake Pielinen will be only 89 km long and 565 km2 in area.
Auer, V. 1924. Die postglaziale Geschichte des Vanajavesisees. Bulletin de la Commission Géologique de Finlande, 69, 1–132.
Donner, J. 2010. The Younger Dryas age of the Salpausselkä moraines in Finland. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland, 82, 69–80.
Ehlers, J. 1990. Reconstructing the dynamics of the North-west European Pleistocene ice sheets. Quaternary Science Reviews, 9, 71–83.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0277-3791(90)90005-U
Ekman, M. 1996. A consistent map of the postglacial uplift of Fennoscandia. Terra Nova, 8, 158–165.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3121.1996.tb00739.x
Ekman, M. & Mäkinen, J. 1996. Recent postglacial rebound, gravity change and mantle flow in Fennoscandia. Geophysical Journal International, 126, 229–234.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.1996.tb05281.x
Heikkinen, O. & Kurimo, H. 1977. The postglacial history of Kitkajärvi, North-eastern Finland, as indicated by trend-surface analysis and radiocarbon dating. Fennia, 153, 1–32.
Hyvärinen, H. 1966. Studies on the late-quaternary history of Pielis-Karelia, eastern Finland. Societas Scientiarum Fennica, Commentationes Biologicae, 29(4), 1–72.
Hyvärinen, H. & Rainio, H. 2000. Kallistuva Pielinen. In Kolin perintö – kaskisavusta kansallismaisemaan (Lovén, L. & Rainio, H., eds), pp. 48–53. Finnish Forest Research Institute and Geological survey of Finland. Gummerus, Jyväskylä [in Finnish].
Jowsey, P. C. 1966. An improved peat sampler. New Phytologist, 65, 245–248.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.1966.tb06356.x
Kakkuri, J. & Virkki, H. 2004. Maa nousee. In Jääkaudet (Koivisto, M., ed.), pp. 168–178. WSOY, Helsinki [in Finnish].
Kemiläinen, H. 1982. Oulujärven ympäristön deglasiaatiosta ja siihen liittyvästä hydrografiasta. Licentiate Thesis, University of Oulu, 68 pp. [in Finnish].
Kilpi, S. 1937. Das Sotkamo-Gebiet in spätglazialer Zeit. Bulletin de la Commission Géologique de Finlande, 117, 1–118.
Koutaniemi, L. & Keränen, R. 1983. Lake Oulujärvi, main-Holocene developmental phases and associated geomorphic events. Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae A III, 135, 1–48.
Lambeck, K. 1999. Post-glacial rebound and fault instability in Fennoscandia. Geophysical Journal International, 139, 657–670.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-246x.1999.00963.x
Lambert, A., James, T. S. & Thorleifson, L. H. 1998. Combining geomorphological and geodetic data to determine postglacial tilting in Manitoba. Journal of Paleolimnology, 19, 365–376.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1007950603456
Leverington, D. W., Teller, J. T. & Mann, J. D. 2002. A GIS method for reconstruction of late Quaternary landscapes from isobase data and modern topography. Computers & Geosciences, 28, 631–639.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0098-3004(01)00097-8
Lewis, C. F. M., Forbes, D. L., Todd, B. J., et al. 2001. Uplift-driven expansion delayed by middle Holocene desiccation in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Geology, 29, 743–746.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0743:UDEDBM>2.0.CO;2
Lindén, M., Möller, P., Björck, S. & Sandgren, P. 2006. Holocene shore displacement and deglaciation chronology in Norrbotten, Sweden. Boreas, 35, 1–22.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03009480500359160
Mäkiaho, J.-P. 2007. Estimation of ancient and future shoreline positions in the vicinity of Olkiluoto, an island on the western coast of Finland: the difference between Grid and TIN based GIS-approaches. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 252, 514–529.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.05.009
Mann, J. D., Leverington, D. W., Rayburn, J. & Teller, J. T. 1999. The volume and paleobathymetry of glacial Lake Agassiz. Journal of Paleolimnology, 22, 71–80.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1008090015161
Meyer, M. 2003. Modelling prognostic coastline scenarios for the southern Baltic Sea. Baltica, 16, 21–32.
Miettinen, A. 1996. Pielisen jääjärven kehityshistoria [The history of the Pielinen ice lake]. Terra, 108, 14–19 [in Finnish].
Miettinen, A. 2004. Holocene sea-level changes and glacio-isostasy in the Gulf of Finland. Quaternary International, 120, 91–104.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2004.01.009
Miettinen, A., Alenius, T., Jansson, H. & Haggrén, G. 2007. Late Holocene sea-level changes along the southern coast of Finland, Baltic Sea. Marine Geology, 242, 27–38.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2006.12.004
Milne, G., Davis, J., Mitrovica, J., Scherneck, H.-G., Johansson, J., Vermeer, M. & Koivula, H. 2001. Space-geodetic constraints on glacial isostatic adjustment in Fennoscandia. Science, 291, 2381–2385.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1057022
Nilsson, E. 1968. Södra Sveriges senkvartära historia. Geokronologi, issjöar och landhöjning. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar IV, 12, 1–117 [in Swedish].
Norrman, J. O. 1964. Vätterbäckenets senkvartära strandlinjer, en studie över relationen strandlinjegradient – ålder [Quaternary shorelines of the Vättern basin. A study of the relationship between gradients and ages of shorelines in an area of unequal uplift]. Geologiska Föreningens i Stockholm Förhandlingar, 85, 391–413 [in Swedish, with English summary].
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11035896409455485
Pajunen, H. 2005. Ala-Saimaan sedimentaatioympäristön muuttuminen jääkauden jälkeen [Early Holocene change in the sedimentation environment at lower Lake Saimaa]. Terra, 117, 33–46 [in Finnish, with English summary].
Pajunen, H. 2006. Juojärven jääkauden jälkeinen kehitys [Post-glacial history of Lake Juojärvi]. Terra, 118, 81–90 [in Finnish, with English summary].
Rainio, H. & Johansson, P. 2004. Jäätikkö sulaa. In Jääkaudet (Koivisto, M., ed.), pp. 69–86. WSOY, Helsinki [in Finnish].
Rasmussen, S. O., Andersen, K. K., Svensson, A. M., et al. 2006. A new Greenland ice core chronology for the last glacial termination. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111, 1–16.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006079
Rosentau, A., Hang, T. & Miidel, A. 2004. Simulation of the shorelines of glacial Lake Peipsi in Eastern Estonia during the Late Weichselian. Geological Quarterly, 4, 13–21.
Saarelainen, J. & Vanne, J. 1997. Sotkamon jääjärvi [Sotkamo Ice Lake]. Terra, 109, 25–38 [in Finnish, with English summary].
Saarnisto, M. 1970. The Late Weichselian and Flandrian history of the Saimaa lake complex. Commentationes Physico-Mathematicae, Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 37, 7–107.
Saarnisto, M. 1971. History of Finnish lakes and Lake Ladoga. Commentationes Physico-Mathematicae, Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 41, 371–388.
Saarnisto, M. 2000. Shoreline displacement and emergence of lake basins. Geological Survey of Finland, Special Paper, 29, 25–34.
Saarnisto, M. & Grönlund, T. 1996. Shoreline displacement of Lake Ladoga – new data from Kilpolansaari. Hydrobiologia, 322, 205–215.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00031829
Salonen, V.-P., Eronen, M. & Saarnisto, M. 2002. Käytännön maaperägeologia. Kirja-Aurora, Turku, 236 pp. [in Finnish].
Seppä, H. & Tikkanen, M. 2006. Land uplift-driven shift of the outlet of Lake Ähtärinjärvi, western Finland. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland, 78, 5–18.
Seppä, H., Tikkanen, M. & Shemeikka, P. 2000. Late-Holocene shore displacement of the Finnish south coast: diatom, litho- and chemostratigraphic evidence from three isolation basins. Boreas, 29, 219–231.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/030094800424240
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P. J. & Reimer, R. W. 2009. CALIB radiocarbon calibration, Execute version 5.5. [http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/calib.html; last accessed 10 April 2012].
Svendsen, J. I., Alexanderson, A., Astakhov, V. I., et al. 2004. Late Quaternary ice sheet history of northern Eurasia. Quaternary Science Rewiews, 23, 1229–1271.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.12.008
Tikkanen, M. 1990. Suomen vesistöjen jääkauden jälkeinen kehitys [Postglacial history of Finnish watercourses]. Terra, 102, 239–255 [in Finnish, with English summary].
Tikkanen, M. 1995. History of the Puula Lake Complex, Central Finland, and shifts in its outlet. Fennia, 173, 1–32.
Tikkanen, M. 2002. Long-term changes in lake and river systems in Finland. Fennia, 180, 31–42.
Tikkanen, M. 2006. Lake and river systems in Finland. The Finnish Environment, 23/2006, 49–58.
Tikkanen, M. & Oksanen, J. 2002. Late Weichselian and Holocene shore displacement history of the Baltic Sea in Finland. Fennia, 180, 9–20.
Tikkanen, M. & Seppä, H. 2001. Postglacial history of Lake Näsijärvi, Finland, and the origin of the Tammerkoski rapids. Fennia, 179, 129–141.
Yang, Z. & Teller, J. 2005. Modeling the history of Lake of the Woods since 11,000 cal yr B.P. using GIS. Journal of Paleolimnology, 33, 483–497.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-005-0813-1
