ICEland-1: A geochronological database for reconstructing Late Quaternary glacier, relative sea level, and paleoclimate patterns in Iceland

We present a detailed and quality-controlled chronological database for past glacier, relative sea level, and paleoclimate changes in Iceland during the Late Quaternary (~60 ka): ICEland-1. The curated database includes 1744 data points and metadata from 442 sites located in the marine and terrestrial realm, with dates derived from radiocarbon (14C), tephrochronology, and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCN). Each date’s reliability has been assessed using a three-tier ranking system, following explicitly defined criteria modified from other recent ice sheet chronology databases. This filtering approach reveals significant spatiotemporal gaps in our understanding of Late Quaternary ice sheet, relative sea level, and paleoclimate chronology in and around Iceland. We highlight several key avenues for future research that can help minimize existing spatiotemporal uncertainties and biases in the empirical data. The implementation of ICEland-1 for local ice sheet model calibrations and data-model comparisons will improve our understanding of past and future changes of ice sheets in the North Atlantic and Antarctica.

The curated dataset is provided as an .xslx file, with 4 individual tabs separating data types: marine radiocarbon, terrestrial radiocarbon, 36Cl TCN and 3He TCN. For each tab, we provide metadata on date location, sample characteristics, dated material, stratigraphic context and setting, quality control, all available data needed to recalculate ages pending new calibrations and calculators for different dating methods, and comments on additional information relevant for interpretation of the data. Each row in the data file is an individual data entry with the first column providing its ID number. See Harning et al. (2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-100) for more details. Please contact David Harning ([e-mail]) to submit new data or revisions for future database iterations.