Holocene deglaciation of the Bunger Hills revealed by 14 C measurements on stomach oil deposits in snow petrel colonies

Solidified stomach oil deposits in snow petrel colonies in the Antarctic proved to be suitable for 14 C dating and provide important palaeobiogeographical and palaeoenvironmental information. Following earlier studies in the Untersee oasis (Central Dronning Maud Land) we present here 14 C measuremen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Antarctic Science
Main Authors: Verkulich, Sergey R., Hiller, Achim
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1994
Subjects:
Geology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Oceanography
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Dronning Maud Land
Untersee
Bunger Hills
Antarc*
Antarctic Science
Snow Petrel
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102094000593
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102094000593
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Summary:Solidified stomach oil deposits in snow petrel colonies in the Antarctic proved to be suitable for 14 C dating and provide important palaeobiogeographical and palaeoenvironmental information. Following earlier studies in the Untersee oasis (Central Dronning Maud Land) we present here 14 C measurements on comparable deposits from the Bunger Hills (66°10′S, 101°E). The conventional 14 C age of the basal layer reflects the occupation age of any particular nesting site and therefore a minimum age for the time when this area became ice-free. According to the 14 C results the occupation of the southern part of the Bunger Hills by petrels started about 10000yr ago. The breeding colonies expanded continuously following local ice retreat. The most intensive phases of colonization seem to have been from 8–6 kyr BP and during the past 2 kyr.

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