Contrasting Sub-ice Shelf, Subglacial and Glaciomarine Deposition at the Ross Ice Shelf Edge: Implications for the Glacial History of the Ross Sea Region, Antarctica

• Main Author: Boyd, Lauren Winifred Emily
• Other Authors: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Geological Sciences, Bartek, Louis Robert
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Ross Ice Shelf; Ross Sea; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Shelf
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.17615/3sag-3818; https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/d217qq32v?file=thumbnail; https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/d217qq32v

Data from cores collected at sites located in front of and beneath the Ross Ice Shelf (prior to 2000 and 2002 calving events) indicate that sub-ice shelf facies are characterized by silty, fine-grained sediment with reworked diatom species among modern assemblages. The presence of coarse material and higher total abundances in sub-ice shelf facies is attributed to proximity to the ice shelf edge or grounding line. According to this research advection and mixing by currents plays a significant role in deposition in the Ross Sea sub-ice shelf region. Facies successions and geomorphic features in the western Ross Sea indicate a slow, punctuated retreat in which the grounding line passed southeast over the NBP03-01 site by 6,600 yrs B.P. Facies from the eastern Ross Sea cores suggest cyclicity in the movement of the grounding line prior to 10,100 yrs B.P. when it was located near the NBP03-06 site.