Stratigraphy of Antarctic late Cenozoic pectinid-bearing deposits

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Author: Jonkers, H.A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Cambridge University Press 1998
• Subjects: Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; East Antarctica; McMurdo Sound; Marine Plain; Antarc*; Antarctic Science; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/504115/; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102098000212

Antarctic late Cenozoic pectinid-bearing sedimentary strata are chiefly confined to localities in the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula, in the McMurdo Sound area, and Marine Plain, East Antarctica. Ages of these deposits range from Oligocene to Holocene. Chlamys-like scallops, which are absent from today's Southern Ocean, thrived in Antarctic waters during both glacial and interglacial episodes, but disappeared during the Late Pliocene. Their extinction is believed to result from the combined effects of increased carbonate solubility, habitat loss and limitations in food availability, associated with major cooling.