Sedimentological, mineralogical, biogeochemical and micropaleontological parameters on sediment core PS69/849-2, Burton Basin, MacRobertson Shelf, East Antarctica ...

• Main Authors: Borchers, Andreas, Dietze, Elisabeth, Kuhn, Gerhard, Esper, Oliver, Voigt, Ines, Hartmann, Kai, Diekmann, Bernhard
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2015
• Subjects: Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions from Marine Sediments @ AWI AWI_Paleo; Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas SPP1158; Antarctic; Arctic; Burton; Cape Darnley; Darnley; East Antarctica; MacRobertson Land; Prydz Bay; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.848478; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.848478

A multi-proxy study including sedimentological, mineralogical, biogeochemical and micropaleontological methods was conducted on sediment core PS69/849-2 retrieved from Burton Basin, MacRobertson Shelf, East Antarctica. The goal of this study was to depict the deglacial and Holocene environmental history of the MacRobertson Land-Prydz Bay region. A special focus was put on the timing of ice-sheet retreat and the variability of bottom-water formation due to sea ice formation through the Holocene. Results from site PS69/849-2 provide the first paleo-environmental record of Holocene variations in bottom-water production probably associated to the Cape Darnley polynya, which is the second largest polynya in the Antarctic. Methods included end-member modeling of laser-derived high-resolution grain size data to reconstruct the depositional regimes and bottom-water activity. The provenance of current-derived and ice-transported material was reconstructed using clay-mineral and heavy-mineral analysis. Conclusions on ... : This investigation was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft priority program SPP 1158 through grant DI 655/3-1/-2. ...