Build-up and chronology of blue ice moraines in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica

• Published in: Quaternary Science Advances
• Main Authors: Akcar, Naki, Yesilyurt, Serdar, Hippe, Kristina, Christl, Marcus, Vockenhuber, Christof, Yavuz, Vural, Ozsoy, Burcu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020
• Subjects: Blue ice moraine; Surface exposure dating; Cosmogenic nuclide; Inheritance; Sor rondane; Antarctic; Queen Maud Land; Sor-Rondane; Sor Rondane Mountains; Antarc*; Antarctica; Swiss Polar Institute
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12846/1635; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2020.100012

Blue ice moraines are common supraglacial landforms in Antarctica and they are considered to record the ice volume fluctuations. In this study, we use photogrammetry and the analysis of multiple cosmogenic nuclides (Be-10, Al-26, and in-situ C-14) in boulders on three blue ice moraines to explore the timing of ice volume fluctuations in the Sor Rondane Mountains, Queen Maud Land, and provide insights into the role of sediment sources in the reconstruction of their chronology. In the field, we observe that the blue ice moraines are composed of subglacially and supraglacially transported sediments. Cosmogenic Be-10 and Al-26 exposure ages of 14 surface samples, collected from boulders on three blue ice moraines, range from 15.4 +/- 1.1 to 659.5 +/- 33.9 ka. Al-26/Be-10 ratios vary between 3.53 +/- 0.20 and 7.01 +/- 0.32, and many of these ratios indicate complex exposure histories. In contrast, among nine in-situ C-14 exposure ages, five vary between 4.2 +/- 0.1 and 22.0 +/- 1.3 ka, and four are saturated. We conclude that the accumulation of these blue ice moraines commenced before or during the global Last Glacial Maximum. Our results indicate that surficial sediment sources can yield exposure ages that are older than real exposure age, and exhibit a wider scatter. This can alter the reconstructed chronology of these landforms. The analysis of in-situ C-14 has a high potential in tracking the pace of their evolution, especially since the Last Glacial Maximum. Turkish Republic Presidency - Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology; ITU PolRec; Swiss National Science Foundation [200021-172475]; Swiss Polar Institute; University of Bern; Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [200021_172475] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) We would like to thank Polar Research Center team at the Istanbul Technical University for organizing our participation in the BELARE 2017-2018 Expedition within the bilateral scientific collaboration program of the second Turkish Antarctic Expedition, TAE-II ...