scholarly journals The East Antarctic Ice Sheet: The Problem of Palaeoglaciological Reconstruction (Abstract only)

1982 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 344 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.I. Bardin
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Glacial Deposits ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
East Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Comprehensive Studies

Palaeoglaciological studies, including glaciogeomorphological observations and comprehensive studies of the composition of glacial deposits, undertaken by scientists of a number of countries, enable the major stages in the evolution of glaciation of some regions of East Antarctica to be outlined. In this report, palaeoglaciological reconstructions for certain key territories: Queen Maud Land, Mac. Robertson Land, and Victoria Land are considered. The completeness and reliability of such reconstructions are also discussed. The region of Prince Charles Mountains (Mac. Robertson Land) turned out to be one of the most significant for palaeoglaciology. In this region, the author has discovered and studied glacial deposits of at least six age stages, their formation having taken place during approximately 20 Ma. An attempt is made to compare the results of regional studies and to present the evolution of the development of the whole East Antarctic ice sheet in space and time. Different examples of palaeoglaciological reconstructions of the ice sheet of East Antarctica are presented, the possibilities of different approaches are evaluated practically, and schematic maps of the change in glaciation of East Antarctic regions at different evolutional stages, compiled by the author, are presented for discussion.

scholarly journals The East Antarctic Ice Sheet: The Problem of Palaeoglaciological Reconstruction (Abstract only)

1982 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 344-344
Author(s):  
V.I. Bardin
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Glacial Deposits ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
East Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Comprehensive Studies

Palaeoglaciological studies, including glaciogeomorphological observations and comprehensive studies of the composition of glacial deposits, undertaken by scientists of a number of countries, enable the major stages in the evolution of glaciation of some regions of East Antarctica to be outlined.In this report, palaeoglaciological reconstructions for certain key territories: Queen Maud Land, Mac. Robertson Land, and Victoria Land are considered. The completeness and reliability of such reconstructions are also discussed.The region of Prince Charles Mountains (Mac. Robertson Land) turned out to be one of the most significant for palaeoglaciology. In this region, the author has discovered and studied glacial deposits of at least six age stages, their formation having taken place during approximately 20 Ma.An attempt is made to compare the results of regional studies and to present the evolution of the development of the whole East Antarctic ice sheet in space and time.Different examples of palaeoglaciological reconstructions of the ice sheet of East Antarctica are presented, the possibilities of different approaches are evaluated practically, and schematic maps of the change in glaciation of East Antarctic regions at different evolutional stages, compiled by the author, are presented for discussion.

Multiple cosmogenic nuclides document the stability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in northern Victoria Land since the Late Miocene (5–7 Ma)

2012 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 85-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigia Di Nicola ◽  
Carlo Baroni ◽  
Stefan Strasky ◽  
Maria Cristina Salvatore ◽  
Christian Schlüchter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Cosmogenic Nuclides ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
The Stability ◽  
East Antarctic Ice Sheet

Resolving views on Antarctic Neogene glacial history – the Sirius debate

2013 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacial Deposits ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Geological Evidence ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Denudation Rates ◽  
Transantarctic Mountains ◽  
High Level ◽  
East Antarctic Ice Sheet

ABSTRACTThe discovery of marine Pliocene diatoms in warm-based glacial deposits (now termed the Sirius Group) high in the Transantarctic Mountains in the 1980s began a three-decade-long controversy over the stability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Their presence implied that this ice sheet had collapsed as recently as three million years ago to allow their deposition in shallow interior seas, followed by transport and deposition from an expanded over-riding ice sheet. Though the glacial deposits included clasts with older diatoms, no evidence of clasts with Pliocene diatoms was published, but the hypothesis gained wide acceptance. Increasing knowledge of ice sheet behaviour and the antiquity and stability of the Transantarctic Mountains, along with new techniques for dating age and denudation rates for landscapes, has led to a more likely alternative hypothesis – that the high-level Sirius Group deposits pre-date Transantarctic Mountains uplift and their Pliocene diatoms are atmospheric contaminants. Surveys have shown that marine diatoms from the Antarctic margin and the Southern Ocean are indeed reaching the surface of the ice sheet and blowing through the mountains, with permafrost processes providing opportunities for contamination. Modelling and geological evidence is now consistent with a stable East Antarctic Ice Sheet in the interior for the last 14 Ma, with some retreat around the margins and periodic collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet in Pliocene times.

scholarly journals Crustal heat production and estimate of terrestrial heat flow in central East Antarctica, with implications for thermal input to the East Antarctic ice sheet

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 491-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Goodge
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Heat Flow ◽  
Terrestrial Heat Flow ◽  
Production Values ◽  
East Antarctic Ice Sheet

Abstract. Terrestrial heat flow is a critical first-order factor governing the thermal condition and, therefore, mechanical stability of Antarctic ice sheets, yet heat flow across Antarctica is poorly known. Previous estimates of terrestrial heat flow in East Antarctica come from inversion of seismic and magnetic geophysical data, by modeling temperature profiles in ice boreholes, and by calculation from heat production values reported for exposed bedrock. Although accurate estimates of surface heat flow are important as an input parameter for ice-sheet growth and stability models, there are no direct measurements of terrestrial heat flow in East Antarctica coupled to either subglacial sediment or bedrock. As has been done with bedrock exposed along coastal margins and in rare inland outcrops, valuable estimates of heat flow in central East Antarctica can be extrapolated from heat production determined by the geochemical composition of glacial rock clasts eroded from the continental interior. In this study, U, Th, and K concentrations in a suite of Proterozoic (1.2–2.0 Ga) granitoids sourced within the Byrd and Nimrod glacial drainages of central East Antarctica indicate average upper crustal heat production (Ho) of about 2.6  ±  1.9 µW m−3. Assuming typical mantle and lower crustal heat flux for stable continental shields, and a length scale for the distribution of heat production in the upper crust, the heat production values determined for individual samples yield estimates of surface heat flow (qo) ranging from 33 to 84 mW m−2 and an average of 48.0  ±  13.6 mW m−2. Estimates of heat production obtained for this suite of glacially sourced granitoids therefore indicate that the interior of the East Antarctic ice sheet is underlain in part by Proterozoic continental lithosphere with an average surface heat flow, providing constraints on both geodynamic history and ice-sheet stability. The ages and geothermal characteristics of the granites indicate that crust in central East Antarctica resembles that in the Proterozoic Arunta and Tennant Creek inliers of Australia but is dissimilar to other areas like the Central Australian Heat Flow Province that are characterized by anomalously high heat flow. Age variation within the sample suite indicates that central East Antarctic lithosphere is heterogeneous, yet the average heat production and heat flow of four age subgroups cluster around the group mean, indicating minor variation in the thermal contribution to the overlying ice sheet from upper crustal heat production. Despite these minor differences, ice-sheet models may favor a geologically realistic input of crustal heat flow represented by the distribution of ages and geothermal characteristics found in these glacial clasts.

scholarly journals Short Note: New marine core record of Late Pleistocene glaciation history, Rauer Group, East Antarctica

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Berg ◽  
Bernd Wagner ◽  
Duanne A. White ◽  
Holger Cremer ◽  
Ole Bennike ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Short Note ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Prydz Bay ◽  
Pleistocene Glaciation ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Significant Variability ◽  
East Antarctic Ice Sheet

The evolution of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) during the Late Quaternary is poorly known, partly because some regions, such as the Prydz Bay vicinity, indicate significant variability in the glaciation patterns (e.g. Domack et al. 1998, Zwartz et al. 1998, Hodgson et al. 2005).

scholarly journals Crustal heat production and estimate of terrestrial heat flow in central East Antarctica, with implications for thermal input to the East Antarctic ice sheet

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Goodge
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Heat Flow ◽  
Terrestrial Heat Flow ◽  
Production Values ◽  
East Antarctic Ice Sheet

Abstract. Terrestrial heat flow is a critical first-order factor governing the thermal condition and, therefore, mechanical stability of Antarctic ice sheets, yet heat flow across Antarctica is poorly known. Previous estimates of terrestrial heat flow come from inversion of seismic and magnetic geophysical data, by modeling temperature profiles in ice boreholes, and by calculation from heat production values reported for exposed bedrock. Although accurate estimates of surface heat flow are important as an input parameter for ice-sheet growth and stability models, there are no direct measurements of terrestrial heat flow in East Antarctica coupled to either subglacial sediment or bedrock. Bedrock outcrop is limited to coastal margins and rare inland exposures, yet valuable estimates of heat flow in central East Antarctica can be extrapolated from heat production determined by the geochemical composition of glacial rock clasts eroded from the continental interior. In this study, U, Th and K concentrations in a suite of Proterozoic (1.2–2.0 Ga) granitoids sourced within the Byrd and Nimrod glacial drainages of central East Antarctica indicate average upper crustal heat production (Ho) of about 2.6 ± 1.9 μW m-3. Assuming typical mantle and lower crustal heat flux for stable continental shields, and a length scale for the distribution of heat production in the upper crust, the heat production values determined for individual samples yield estimates of surface heat flow (qo) ranging from 33–84 mW m-2 and an average of 48.0 ± 13.6 mW m-2. Estimates of heat production obtained for this suite of glacially-sourced granitoids therefore indicate that the interior of the East Antarctic ice sheet is underlain in part by Proterozoic continental lithosphere with average surface heat flow, providing constraints on both geodynamic history and ice-sheet stability. The ages and geothermal characteristics of the granites indicate that crust in central East Antarctica resembles that in the Proterozoic Arunta and Tenant Creek inliers of Australia, but is dissimilar to other areas characterized by anomalously high heat flow in the Central Australian Heat Flow Province. Age variation within the sample suite indicates that central East Antarctic lithosphere is heterogeneous, yet the average heat production and heat flow of four age subgroups cluster around the group mean, indicating minor variation in thermal contribution to the overlying ice sheet from upper crustal heat production. Despite their minor differences, ice-sheet models may favor a geologically realistic model of crustal heat flow represented by such a distribution of ages and geothermal characteristics.

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