Oligocene and Pliocene interglacial events in the Antarctic Peninsula dated using strontium isotope stratigraphy

• Published in: Journal of the Geological Society
• Main Authors: Dingle, R. V., McArthur, J. M., Vroon, P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Geological Society of London 1997
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; King George Island; Cockburn; Low Head; Cockburn Island; Polonez Cove; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/514456/; https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.154.2.0257

Strontium isotope stratigraphy is used to date two interglacial-marine deposits in the Antarctic Peninsula region. On King George Island, interglacial pectinid-rich sediments in the Low Head Member of the Polonez Cove Formation give a strontium isotope stratigraphy age of 29.0+0.7−0.6 to 29.8+0.8−0.7 Ma (mid-Oligocene), which, in conjunction with previous K–Ar dating of volcanic rocks, indicates a glacial episode in the Antarctic Peninsula between middle Eocene (42.0 ±1.0 Ma) and mid-Oligocene time. In addition, an inter-glacial deposit (Pecten Conglomerate) from tectonically-elevated exposures on Cockburn Island is dated as Pliocene (3.5–5.3 Ma). Published data suggest these latter sediments were deposited under shallow marine conditions, which were warmer than those of present-day Antarctica.