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Palaeoenvironmental implications derived from a piston core from east lobe Bonney, Taylor Valley, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2010

Bernd Wagner ,
Sabrina Ortlepp ,
Fabien Kenig ,
Peter T. Doran  and
Martin Melles
Bernd Wagner*
Affiliation:
University of Cologne, Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Zülpicher Str. 49a, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
Sabrina Ortlepp
Affiliation:
University of Cologne, Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Zülpicher Str. 49a, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
Fabien Kenig
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago, Earth and Environmental Sciences, M/C 186, 845 W. Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60607-7059, USA
Peter T. Doran
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago, Earth and Environmental Sciences, M/C 186, 845 W. Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60607-7059, USA
Martin Melles
Affiliation:
University of Cologne, Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Zülpicher Str. 49a, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
*
wagnerb@uni-koeln.de
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Abstract

A 270 cm long sediment sequence was recovered with a piston corer from east lobe Bonney, Taylor Valley, Antarctica, and characterized according to its sedimentological, mineralogical, and geochemical properties. It is the first record of such length recovered from east lobe Bonney. The sediment core is mainly composed of halite crystals of different sizes, water, and a relatively low and stable proportion of clastic particles. Although the sediment surface was probably disturbed by the coring process and absence or low contents of organic material or carbonates hampers the establishment of a robust chronology by radiocarbon dating, the core probably contains at least several hundred years of information about the history of the lake and the Bonney basin. Variations in halite crystal sizes and amount as well as variations in the composition of clastic material can be related to past lake level changes and evaporation cycles.

Keywords

evaporateshypersaline lakeslate Holocenepalaeolimnology
Type
Earth Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 22 , Issue 5 , October 2010 , pp. 522 - 530
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2010

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