Evidences of carbonate preservation on the outer continental slope in the Western Ross Sea (Hallett Ridge and Central Basin, Antarctica)

• Main Authors: Geniram A., Melis R., Capotondi L., Ferretti P., Kuhn G., Torricella F., Yoo K. C., Khim B. -K., Colizza E.
• Other Authors: Geniram, A., Melis, R., Capotondi, L., Ferretti, P., Kuhn, G., Torricella, F., Yoo, K. C., Khim, B. -K., Colizza, E.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: BeGeo Scientists 2021
• Subjects: Antarctica; Ross Sea; foraminifera; carbonate preservation; sedimentology; Antarctic; Central Basin; Hallett; Hallett Ridge; Antarc*; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11368/3023657

Late Quaternary Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) changes can be investigated by analyzing marine sediments (gravity and box cores) collected on the continental shelves and along the continental margins of Antarctica. These sites are strongly influenced by the ice sheet/shelf sediment drainage and inflow/outflow of polar water masses. In this respect, the continental slope of the Western Ross Sea (WRS) is still poorly studied, in particular its history is affected by uncertainties due to the scarcity of well-preserved calcareous foraminifera preventing the production of reliable age models. We present the results of a study made on one gravity core (KI13-C2; Melis et al., 2021) and three box-cores (KI13-bc2, bc3 and bc4; Torricella et al., 2021) located on the Hallett Ridge and in the Central Basin where the presence of carbonate-rich intervals offers the opportunity, to time-reconstruct the AIS evolving changes since the Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 2. These intervals correlated with other carbonate layers identified in cores collected along the WRS continental slope provide important insights about a large-scale break-up of the ice shelf/sea ice system. This study has been conducted in the framework of the STREAM Project (Late Quaternary evolution of the ocean-ice sheet interactions: the record from the Ross Sea continental margin, Antarctica; period 2019-2021), funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the National Research Foundation of Korea, and thanks to a grant approved by the Department of Mathematics and Geoscience, University of Trieste. Bibliographic references Melis R., Capotondi L., Torricella F., Ferretti P., Geniram A., Hong J.K., Kuhn G., Khim B.-K., Kim S., Malinverno E., Yoo K.C. and Colizza E. (2021) - Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene: paleoceanography of the northwestern Ross Sea inferred from sediment core geochemistry and micropaleontology at Hallett Ridge. J. of Micropal., 40, 15-35. Torricella F., Melis R., Malinverno E., Fontolan G., Bussi M., Capotondi ...