Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T08:11:39.424Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Geological evidence for changes in the East Antarctica ice sheet (60°–120°E) during the last glaciation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Eric A. Colhoun
Eric A. Colhoun
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Newcastle, Rankin Drive, Newcastle NSW 2308Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The East Antarctica ice sheet advanced onto the continental shelf during the last glaciation but appears to have been thinner (<300 m) than previously hypothesised and probably did not everywhere extend to the edge of the continental shelf. Where the shelf is wide, the ice probably terminated against shallow banks on its outer edge. There may not have been time for the sheet to develop the maximum profile form and thickness predicted by Hollin (1962) and Hughes and others (1981) of about 1000–500 moverthe shelf. Large outlet glaciers occupied deep troughs that conveyed most of the ice towards the edge of the shelf: intervening areas were less intensely glaciated. Much of Prince Charles Mountains and Amery Oasis were not ice-covered: Vestfold, Bunger and Casey oases were glaciated. Vestfold and Bunger oases became ice-free after 10 ka BP under the influence of the Holocene marine transgression, which was complete by about 6 ka BP. During at least the last 5–6 ka these oases have been approximately their present size. Since then the margins of the Antarctic continental ice sheet have maintained almost steady state conditions against the landward edges of the hill masses.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 27 , Issue 163 , October 1991 , pp. 345 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adamson, D. A. and Colhoun, E. A. 1991. Late quaternary glaciation and deglaciation of the Bunger Hills, Antarctica. Antarctic Science. In pressGoogle Scholar
Adamson, D. A., Colhoun, E. A. and Ledingham, R. 1991. Geographic observations and glacial history in East Antarctica. In: Gibbons, G., Williams, K. L. and Branagan, D. F. (editors). Geological mapping of two southern continents: Australia and Antarctica. (Proceedings Edgeworth David Symposia Nos. 1 and 2). University of Sydney, Geology Department: 125–30.Google Scholar
Adamson, D. A. and Pickard, J. 1983. Late Quaternary ice movement across the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. In: Oliver, R. L., James, P. R. and Jago, J. B. (editors). Antarctic earth science. Canberra, Australian Academy of Sciences: 465–69.Google Scholar
Adamson, D. A. and Pickard, J. 1986. Cainozoic History of the Vestfold Hills. In: Pickard, J. (editor). Antarctic oasis. Sydney, Academic Press: 63–97.Google Scholar
Bardin, V. I. 1978. Problems of the paleoglaciology of Antarctica. In: Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., Soviet Committee on Antarctic Research, Antarctic Committee Report 17: 155–64.Google Scholar
Bardin, V.I. 1982. Composition of east Antarctic moraines and some problems of Cenozoic history. In: Craddock, C. (editor). Antarctic geoscience. Madison, University of Wisconsin Press: 1069–76.Google Scholar
Bardin, V. L. 1989. Periglacial of the Antarctic Continent as a source of paleoglacial information. Geodätische und Geophysikalische Veroffentlichungen 16: 313–24.Google Scholar
Barrett, P. J. 1989. Antarctic Cenozoic history from the CIROS-1 drillhole, McMurdo Sound. New Zealand DSIR Bulletin 245.Google Scholar
Cameron, R. L. and Goldthwait, R. P. 1961. The US-IGY contribution to Antarctic glaciology. Association Internationale d'hydrologie Scientifique 55: 7–13.Google Scholar
Campbell, I. B. and Claridge, G. G. C. 1987. Antarctica: soils, weathering processes and environment. Developments in soil science 15:Google Scholar
Chinn, T. J. H. 1985. Structure and equilibrium of the dry valley glaciers. New Zealand Antarctic Record 6: 73–88.Google Scholar
Denton, G. H., Bockheim, J. G., Wilson, S. C. and Stuiver, M. 1989. Late Wisconsin and early Holocene glacial history, inner Ross Embayment, Antarctica. Quaternary Research 31: 151–82.Google Scholar
Denton, G. H., Borns, H. W. Jr, Grosswald, M. G., Stuiver, M. and Nichols, R. L. 1975. Glacial history of the Ross Sea. Antarctic Journal of the United States 10: 160–64.Google Scholar
Denton, G. H., and Hughes, T.J. 1981. The last great ice sheets. New York, Wiley-lnterscience.Google Scholar
Dolgushin, L. D. 1966a. Atlas of Antarctica. Moscow.Google Scholar
Dolgushin, L. D. 1966b. New data on the rates of movement of Antarctic glaciers. Soviet Antarctic Expedition Information Bulletin 55: 41–42.Google Scholar
Domack, E. W., Jull, A. J. T. and Donahue, D. J. 1991a. Holocene chronology for the unconsolidated sediments at Hole 740A: Prydz Bay, East Antarctica. In: Barrow, J. and others (editors). Proceedings of Ocean Drilling Program Scientific Results 119B, 207: 1–7.Google Scholar
Domack, E. W., Jull, A. J. T.Anderson, J. B. and Linick, T. W. 1991b. Mid-Holocene ice sheet recession from the Wilkes Land continental shelf, East Antarctica. In: Thompson, J. W., Thompson, M. R. A. and Crame, A. (editors). Geological evolution of Antarctica. Fifth Antarctic Geoscience Symposium. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 693–98.Google Scholar
Donk, C. 1968. Glaciological Investigations near the ice sheet margin, Wilkes Station, Antarctica, PhD Thesis Ohio State University: abstract in Dissertation Abstracts, 29B (3) 1966B.Google Scholar
Drewry, D.J. 1979. Late Wisconsin reconstruction forthe Ross Sea region, Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology 24(90): 231–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GEBCO 1980. General bathymetric chart of the oceans, Antarctica. Ottawa, Canada, Canadian Hydrographic Service.Google Scholar
Goldthwait, R. P. 1959. Glacial geology, USNC-IGY glaciological data field work 1957 and 1958. In: Goldthwait, R. P. (editor). Report 825–1-Part 3 IGY Project 4(10). Ohio State University Research Foundation: 12–19.Google Scholar
Hambrey, M. J., Larsen, P., Ehrmann, W. U. and ODP Leg 119 Shipboard Scientific Party. 1989. Forty million years of Antarctic glacial history yielded by Leg 119 of the Ocean Drilling Program. Polar Record 25(153): 99–106.Google Scholar
Hambrey, M. J., Ehrmann, W. U. and Larsen, B. 1990. Cenozoic glacial record of the Prydz Bay Continental shelf, East Antarctica. Proceedings Ocean Drilling Program Scientific Results, College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program): 119:Google Scholar
Hirvas, H. and Nenonen, K. 1989. On till stratigraphy and glacial history of the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. Geologi 41(8): 151–56.Google Scholar
Hollin, J. T. 1962. On the glacial history of Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology 4(32): 173–96.Google Scholar
Hughes, T. J., Denton, G. H., Anderson, B. G., Schilling, D. H., Fastook, J.L. and Lingle, C.S. 1981. The last great ice sheets: a global view. In: Denton, G. H. and Hughes, T. J. (editors). The last great ice sheets. New York, Wiley-lnterscience 6: 263–317.Google Scholar
Kellogg, T. B., Truesdale, R. S. and Osterman, L. E. 1979. Later Quaternary extent of the West Antarctic ice sheet: new evidence from Ross Seacores. Geology 7: 249–53.Google Scholar
Lazarev, G. E., Stroyev, P. A., Ushakov, S. A. and Frolov, A. I. 1965. The subglacial relief of the Shackleton Ice Shelf from geophysical data. In: Bulletin, Earth Physics Series 9: 44–53.Google Scholar
Løken, O. 1959. Raised beaches, USNC-IGY Antarctic geological data field work 1957 and 1958. In: Goldthwait, R. P. (editor). Report 825–1–Part 3 IGY Project 4(10). Ohio State University Research Foundation: 28–32.Google Scholar
Mayewski, P.A. 1975. Glacial geology and late Cenozoic history of the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica. Institute of Polar Studies, Ohio State University Report 56Google Scholar
McKelvey, B. C. 1990. Research supports ice sheet history theory. ANARE Newsletter 61: 12.Google Scholar
McKelvey, B. C. and Stephenson, N. C. N. 1990. A geological reconnaissance of the Radok Lake area, Amery Oasis, Prince Charles Mountains. Antarctic Science 2(1): 53–66.Google Scholar
Mercer, J. H. 1968. Glacial geology of the Reedy Glacier area, Antarctica. Geological Society of America Bulletin 79: 471–86.Google Scholar
Mercer, J. H. 1972. Some observations on the glacial geology of the Beardmore Glacier area. In: Adie, R. J. (editor). Antarctic geology and geophysics. Oslo, Universitetsforlaget: 427–33.Google Scholar
Omoto, K. 1977. Geomorphic development of the Sôya Coast, East Antarctica. Science Reports of Tohoku University 7th Series (Geography) 17(2): 95–148.Google Scholar
Omoto, K. 1983. The problem and significance of radiocarbon geochronology in Antarctica. In: Oliver, R. L., James, P. R. and Jago, J. B. (editors). Antarctic Earth Science. Canberra, Australian Academy of Sciences: 450–52.Google Scholar
Péwé, T. L. 1960. Multiple glaciation in the McMurdo Sound region, Antarctica, a progress report. Journal of Geology 68: 489–514.Google Scholar
Pickard, J., Adamson, D. A., Harwood, D. M., Miller, G. H., Quilty, P. G. and Dell, R. K. 1988. Early Pliocene marine sediments, coastline and climate of East Antarctica. Geology 16: 151–61.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rozycki, S. Z. 1961. Changements pleistocéne de l'extension de l'indlandis en Antarctide orientale d'aprês l'étude des anciennes plages élevées de l'oasis Bunger Queen Mary Land. Biuletyn Peryglacjalny 10: 257–83.Google Scholar
Sheraton, J. W. and Cundari, A. 1980. Leucitites from Gaussberg, Antarctica. Contributions to Minerology and Petrology 71(4): 417–27.Google Scholar
Shumskiy, P. A. 1957. Glaciological and geomorphological reconnaissance in the Antarctic in 1956. Journal of Glaciology 3: 56–61.Google Scholar
Shumskiy, P. A. 1969. Oledeneniye. Atlas of Antarctica. Vol. 2, Leningrad.Google Scholar
Stroyev, P.A., Frolov, A.I. and Tsukernik, V.B. 1966. Atlas of Antarctica, Vol. 1, Moscow.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Denton, G. H., Hughes, T.J. and Fastook, J.L. 1981. History of the marine ice sheet in West Antarctica during the last glaciation: a working hypothesis. In: Denton, G.H., and Hughes, T.J. (editors). Thelastgreat ice sheets. New York, Wiley-lnterscience, 7: 319–436.Google Scholar
Swithinbank, C. 1988. The Indian Ocean Sector B55–B82. In: Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world. United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper 1386–B.Google Scholar
Tingey, R. J. 1982. The development and fluctuation of Antarctica's Cainozoicglaciation—the terrestrial record. Australian Meteorological Magazine 30: 181–89.Google Scholar
Tingey, R. J. and Sheraton, J. W. 1981. Geological investigations in Antarctica 1973—the southern Prince Charles Mountains. Bureau of Mineral Resources Geology and Geophysics Record 1981/43.Google Scholar
Trail, D. S. 1964. Glacial geology of the Prince Charles Mountains. In: Adie, R. J. (editor). Antarctic geology. Amsterdam, North Holland: 143–51.Google Scholar
Tsukernik, V. B., Frolov, I.V. and Stroyev, P. A. 1963. Study of the subglacial relief of the West Ice Shelf by seismic and gravimetric methods. Soviet Antarctic Exploration Information Bulletin 4(5): 295–98.Google Scholar
Voronov, P. S. 1959. Geologicheskoye stroyeniye rayona rabot ekspeditsii. In: Somov, M. M. (editor). Pervaya kontinental'naya ekspeditsiya 1955–1957 gg. Nauchnyye rezul'taty 2: 19–38.Google Scholar
Webb, P. N., McKelvey, B. C., Harwood, D. M. and Mabin, M. C. G. 1987. Sirius Formation of the Beardmore Glacier region. Antarctic Journal of the United States 22(1): 8–13.Google Scholar
Wellman, P. 1982. Surging of Fisher Glacier, eastern Antarctica: evidence from geomorphology. Journal of Glaciology 28(98): 23–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wellman, P. and Tingey, R. J. 1981. Glaciation, erosion and uplift in East Antarctica. Nature 291(5811): 142–44.Google Scholar
Whillans, I. M. 1976. Radio-echo layers and the recent stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Nature 264(5582): 152–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wisniewski, E. 1983. Bunger Oasis: the largest ice-free area in the Antarctic. Terra 95: 178–87.Google Scholar
Yoshida, Y. 1989. Japanese Antarctic earth science programs: past and future with emphasis on geomorphology. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Antarctic Science, November 4–5, 1988, Seoul, Korea. Seoul, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute: 137–52.Google Scholar
Zhang, Q. and Peterson, J. A. 1984. Ageomorphology and late Quaternary geology of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. ANARE Report 133.Google Scholar