A new site with a shell-bearing till is described from the outer part of Hardangerfjorden. Two shell fragments from the till were dated to 10,870 ± 90 and 11,000 ± 40 radiocarbon years BP. These dates support the established hypothesis of a major glacial re-advance and an ice-filled Hardangerfjorden during the Younger Dryas. An opposite hypothesis, that Hardangerfjorden remamed ice-free during the entire Younger Dryas, was proposed in a recent paper by Helle et al. (1997; Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 71, 101-117) and supported by several scientists during the Nordic Geological Winter Meeting in 2000. I argue in the present paper that the latter hypothesis is falsified, not only by the two new dates, but also by previously published sub-till sediments. In my opinion, the data presented by Helle et al. allow for alternative interpretations.

Jan Mangerud, University of Bergen, Department of Geology, Allé gt. 41, N-5007 Bergen, Norway ( e-mail: Jan.Mangerud@ geol.uib.no)