Glacial history of the Antarctic Peninsula since the Last Glacial Maximum?a synthesis

2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ólafur Ingólfsson ◽  
Christian Hjort
2014 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 87-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colm Ó Cofaigh ◽  
Bethan J. Davies ◽  
Stephen J. Livingstone ◽  
James A. Smith ◽  
Joanne S. Johnson ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne S. Johnson ◽  
Jeremy D. Everest ◽  
Philip T. Leat ◽  
Nicholas R. Golledge ◽  
Dylan H. Rood ◽  
...  

Recent changes along the margins of the Antarctic Peninsula, such as the collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, have highlighted the effects of climatic warming on the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS). However, such changes must be viewed in a long-term (millennial-scale) context if we are to understand their significance for future stability of the Antarctic ice sheets. To address this, we present nine new cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages from sites on NW Alexander Island and Rothschild Island (adjacent to the Wilkins Ice Shelf) that provide constraints on the timing of thinning of the Alexander Island ice cap since the last glacial maximum. All but one of the 10Be ages are in the range 10.2–21.7 ka, showing a general trend of progressive ice-sheet thinning since at least 22 ka until 10 ka. The data also provide a minimum estimate (490 m) for ice-cap thickness on NW Alexander Island at the last glacial maximum. Cosmogenic 3He ages from a rare occurrence of mantle xenoliths on Rothschild Island yield variable ages up to 46 ka, probably reflecting exhumation by periglacial processes.


2002 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Gualtieri

Abstract The glacial history of Darling Peninsula is recorded by meltwater channels and lateral moraines deposited by local ice that extended seaward of the present coast during the last glacial maximum. Above these moraines, shelly till and erratics of both Greenland and Ellesmere Island prove nance record more extensive ice of unknown age. At the time of this more extensive ice cover, Ellesmere Island ice displaced Greenland ice from many parts of this coastline, as shown by the widespread absence of Greenland erratics and shelly tills above Holocene marine limit. The chronology of deglaciation is based on 14 C dates obtained on marine shells collected from either ice-contact deltas or raised beaches close to marine limit (79-88 m asl). Deglaciation began at least 7.5 ka BP and the distribution of ice on the peninsula was similar to present conditions by 6.0 ka BP. The reconstruction of the sea level history of Darling Peninsula contributes to the reconstruction of regional isobases drawn on 7.5 ka BP shorelines which locally reach 80-90 m asl.


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