Holocene raised beaches at Terra Nova Bay, Victoria Land, Antarctica

• Published in: Quaternary Research
• Main Authors: Baroni, Carlo, Orombelli, Giuseppe
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1991
• Subjects: Victoria Land; Terra Nova Bay; Guano; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(91)90023-x; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:003358949190023X?httpAccept=text/xml; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:003358949190023X?httpAccept=text/plain; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400033305

Abstract More than 40 14 C dates for raised beaches at Terra Nova Bay ranging from the present to 7505 ± 230 yr B.P. supply minimum or maximum limiting ages that bracket a relative sea-level curve for this part of Victoria Land. Most samples consist of guano and penguin remains collected from abandoned nesting sites on beach deposits. Up to four 14 C dates in stratigraphic sequence have been obtained in two soil profiles. Other samples consist of marine shells collected both within and on the surface of raised beaches. All 14 C ages for organisms that lived or fed in circumantarctic waters were corrected for a large reservoir effect. The calibrated ages delimit a first relative sea-level curve for Victoria Land. Rates of uplift ranged from about 10 mm/yr following deglaciation to about 2 mm/yr in the last 3 millennia. Widespread presence of Adélie penguin nesting sites suggests that Terra Nova Bay was deglaciated before 7065 ± 250 yr B.P. (7059/6439 cal yr B.P.), when environmental conditions in the coastal area were similar to the present ones.