The influence of Totten Glacier on the Late Cenozoic sedimentary record

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Donda, F., Leitchenkov, G., Brancolini, G., Romeo, Roberto, De Santis, Laura, Escutia, Carlota, O'Brien, Philip
• Other Authors: Russian Science Foundation, Australian Research Council
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2020
• Subjects: East Antarctica; Multichannel seismic; Seismostratigraphy; Cenozoic; Coastal zones; Continental shelf; Continental slope; Deep drilling; Ice sheet; Antarctic; East Antarctic Ice Sheet; Sabrina Coast; Totten Glacier; Antarc*; Antarctic Science; Antarctica; Antartide; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/228206; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102020000188; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000923; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100006769

Analysis of multichannel seismic profiles collected on the continental rise off the Sabrina Coast, East Antarctica, has allowed the determination of the acoustic features that are indicative of major evolution steps of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) and highlights the role of meltwater that originated from Totten Glacier in shaping the margin architecture. The arrival of marine-terminating glaciers into the coastal region was recorded by an enhanced sediment input on the continental rise and the nucleation of channel-levees. Downslope sedimentary processes were dominant throughout the Late Cenozoic, testifying to the progressive growth of a highly dynamic, temperate ice sheet on the continent. The last evolutionary step marks the transition to when a full polar glacial regime occurred. The development of a prograding wedge with steeply dipping foresets on the continental shelf and slope exemplifies sedimentation at this time. Other sub-sea-floor observations indicate that downslope fluxes, triggered by glacial meltwater, were still able to deeply erode and deliver sediments to the rise area. This study's findings have led to the identification of expanded and well-preserved sedimentary successions, which we suggest should be considered as priority targets for future International Ocean Discovery Program deep drilling due to the sensitivity of the ice sheet in this area. This study is funded by Italian Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide (PNRA) under the TYTAN Project. The Marine National Facility Survey IN2017-V01 survey was supported by the Australian Government through Australian Antarctic Science grant AAS#4333 and Australian Research Council grant DP170100557. G. Leitchenkov acknowledges the Russian Science Foundation grant 16-17-10139.