The History of Sedimentation on the Continental Rise West of the Antarctic Peninsula

Author(s):  
Michele Rebesco ◽  
Robert D. Larter ◽  
Peter F. Barker ◽  
Angelo Camerlenghi ◽  
Lieve E. Vanneste
1995 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon R. A. Kelly

New discoveries of trigonioid bivalves are documented from three areas in the Antartic Peninsula: the Fossil Bluff Group of Alexander Island, the Latady Formation of the Orville Coast, and the Byers Group of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. Eleven taxa are described, representing six genera or subgenera. The faunas are characterized by genera including Vaugonia (Vaugonia), the first Early Jurassic trigonioid recognized on the continent; Vaugonia (V.) and V. (Orthotrigonia?) in the Late Jurassic; and Iotrigonia (Iotrigonia), Myophorella (Scaphogonia), and Pterotrigonia (Pterotrigonia), which span the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary, reaching the Berriasian stage. The following species are new: Pterotrigonia (P.) cramei n. sp., Pterotrigonia (P.) thomsoni n. sp., Vaugonia (V.) orvillensis n. sp., and V. (Orthotrigonia?) quiltyi n. sp. The faunas show affinities with those of New Zealand and southern Africa. Trigonioids characterize the shallower marine biofacies in the Jurassic of the Antarctic and reflect the principal shallowing events in the history of the region.


1984 ◽  
Vol 30 (106) ◽  
pp. 289-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Reynolds ◽  
J. G. Paren

AbstractGeoresistivity soundings have been carried out at four sites in the Antarctic Peninsula. The objective of the work was to investigate the electrical behaviour of ice from an area where substantial melting occurs in summer and from contrasting thermal regimes. Electrical measurements made at three sites along a flow line within George VI Ice Shelf reveal that:(a)the resistivity of deep ice is similar to that of other Antarctic ice shelves,(b)the resistivity of the ice-shelf surface, which is affected by the percolation and refreezing of melt water, is similar to that of deep ice and hence the ice is polar in character.A compilation of published resistivities of deep ice from polar regions shows that the range of resistivities is very narrow (0.4 –2.0) x 105Ω m between –2 and – 29°C, irrespective of the physical setting and history of the ice. Typically, resistivity is within a factor of two of 80 kΩ m at –20° C with an activation energy of 0.22 eV. In contrast, the resistivity of surface ice at Wormald Ice Piedmont, where the ice is at 0°C throughout, is two orders of magnitude higher and falls at the lower end of the range of resistivities for temperate ice.


2001 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colm Ó Cofaigh ◽  
Julian A. Dowdeswell ◽  
Carol J. Pudsey

AbstractSediment cores from the continental rise west of the Antarctic Peninsula and the northern Weddell and Scotia Seas were investigated for their ice-rafted debris (IRD) content by lithofacies logging and counting of particles >0.2 cm from core x-radiographs. The objective of the study was to determine if there are iceberg-rafted units similar to the Heinrich layers of the North Atlantic that might record periodic, widespread catastrophic collapse of basins within the Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Quaternary. Cores from the Antarctic Peninsula margin contain prominent IRD-rich units, with maximum IRD concentrations in oxygen isotope stages 1, 5, and 7. However, the greater concentration of IRD in interglacial stages is the result of low sedimentation rates and current winnowing, rather than regional-scale episodes of increased iceberg rafting. This is also supported by markedly lower mass accumulation rates (MAR) during interglacial periods versus glacial periods. Furthermore, thinner IRD layers within isotope stages 2–4 and 6 cannot be correlated between individual cores along the margin. This implies that the ice sheet over the Antarctic Peninsula did not undergo widespread catastrophic collapse along its western margin during the late Quaternary (isotope stages 1–7). Sediment cores from the Weddell and Scotia Seas are characterized by low IRD concentrations throughout, and the IRD signal generally appears to be of limited regional significance with few strong peaks that can be correlated between cores. Tentatively, this argues against pervasive, rapid ice-sheet collapse around the Weddell embayment over the last few glacial cycles.


1982 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 345 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.M. Clapperton ◽  
D.E. Sugden

George VI Sound lies between Alexander Island and the Antarctic Peninsula and is over 20 km wide and 500 km long. At present an ice shelf fills the sound and is nourished largely by ice from the Antarctic Peninsula which flows across the sound to ground against the coast of Alexander Island. Ice-free areas, comprising small nunataks and larger massifs, fringe both sides of the sound and contain evidence of the former glacial history of the area. This paper describes the field evidence in detail and uses geomorphological and sedimentary analyses to put forward a relative glacial chronology, constrained by two absolute dates. The chronology distinguishes: (1) a maximum state during which all ice-free areas were submerged by ice flowing into George VI Sound from both the Antarctic Peninsula and Alexander Island and thence along the sound as an ice stream. This occurred in the late Wisconsin and followed an interstadial or interglacial when George VI Sound was free of an ice shelf. (2) a valley-based stadial during overall deglaciation represented by pronounced marginal moraines on Alexander Island. (3) deglaciation to a stage where there was less landbased ice on Alexander Island than today. At this stage isostatic recovery was incomplete, relative sealevel was higher, and George VI Ice Shelf penetrated further into embayments on Alexander Island than at present. (4) probable disappearance of George VI Ice Shelf by 6.5 14C ka BP. (5) neoglacial readvance of local glaciers on Alexander Island to form three closely spaced terminal moraines and the growth of a new George VI Ice Shelf which was again more extensive than at present. (6) subsequent oscillations of both smaller Alexander Island glaciers and George VI Ice Shelf probably during the Little Ice Age. These fluctuations are similar to those in other sub-Antarctic Islands in the Scotia Sea and also in southern Chile.


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