Radar profiles from South Shetland Islands/Western Antarctic Peninsula ...

• Main Authors: Lindhorst, Sebastian, Schutter, Ilona
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2014
• Subjects: Radar profile; Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas SPP1158; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Arctic; King George Island; Potter Peninsula; South Shetland Islands; Swash; Antarc*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.848803; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.848803

The sedimentary architecture of polar gravel-beach ridges is presented and it is shown that ridge internal geometries reflect past wave-climate conditions. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data obtained along the coasts of Potter Peninsula (King George Island) show that beach ridges unconformably overlie the prograding strand plain. Development of individual ridges is seen to result from multiple storms in periods of increased storm-wave impact on the coast. Strand-plain progradation, by contrast, is the result of swash sedimentation at the beach-face under persistent calm conditions. The sedimentary architecture of beach ridges in sheltered parts of the coast is characterized by seaward-dipping prograding beds, being the result of swash deposition under stormy conditions, or aggrading beds formed by wave overtopping. By contrast, ridges exposed to high-energy waves are composed of seaward- as well as landward-dipping strata, bundled by numerous erosional unconformities. These erosional unconformities are the ... : Supplement to: Lindhorst, Sebastian; Schutter, Ilona (2014): Polar gravel beach-ridge systems: Sedimentary architecture, genesis, and implications for climate reconstructions (South Shetland Islands/Western Antarctic Peninsula). Geomorphology, 221, 187-203 ...