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Forty million years of Antarctic glacial history yielded by Leg 119 of the Ocean Drilling Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Michael J. Hambrey ,
Birger Larsen  and
Werner U. Ehrmann
Michael J. Hambrey
Affiliation:
Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER
Birger Larsen
Affiliation:
Instituttet for Teknisk Geologi, Danmarks Tekniske Hojskole, Bygn. 204, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
Werner U. Ehrmann
Affiliation:
Alfred-Wegener-Institutfür Polar- und Meeresforschung, Postfach 120161, D-2850 Bremerhaven, Federal Republic of Germany
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Abstract

During Leg 119 of the Ocean Drilling Program, between December 1987 and February 1988, six holes were drilled in the Kerguelen Plateau, southern Indian Ocean, and five in Prydz Bay at the mouth of the Amery Ice Shelf, on the East Antarctic continental shelf. The Prydz Bay holes, reported here, form a transect from the inner shelf to the continental slope, recording a prograding sequence of possible Late Paleozoic to Eocene continental sediments of fluvial aspect, followed by several hundred metres of Early Oligocene (possibly Middle Eocene) to Quaternary glaciallydominated sediments. This extends the known onset of large-scale glaciation of Antarctica back to about 36–40 million years ago, the sedimentary record suggesting that a fully developed East Antarctic Ice Sheet reached the coast at Prydz Bay at this time, and was more extensive than the present sheet. Subsequent glacial history is complex, with the bulk of sedimentation in the outer shelf taking place close to the grounding line of an extended Amery Ice S helf. However, breaks in the record and intervals of no recovery may hide evidence of periods of glacial retreat.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 25 , Issue 153 , April 1989 , pp. 99 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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