Evidence for the continued existence of Abraxas Lake, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica during the Last Glacial Maximum

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Gibson, JAE, Paterson, KS, White, CA, Swadling, KM
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Univ Press 2009
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Zoology; Zoology not elsewhere classified; East Antarctica; Vestfold Hills; Vestfold; Abraxas Lake; Antarc*; Antarctic Science; Antarctica; Ice cap; Ice Sheet; Polar Ice Cap
• Online Access: http://www.cambridge.org/online/; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102009001801; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/54444

Evidence is provided from a sediment core from saline Abraxas Lake, Vestfold Hills, that indicatesthat the lake existed through the Last Glacial Maximum. It can therefore be concluded that at least part of theVestfold Hills also remained ice-free through the Last Glacial Maximum, or at most was covered by a thin,non-erosive cold-based ice sheet. The evidence for the continued existence of Abraxas Lake includes a 14Cdate that significantly predates the Last Glacial Maximum (though this cannot be considered direct proof ofthe existence of the lake prior to the Last Glacial Maximum); the presence of saline porewater throughoutthe core, including in compacted sediments deposited during the glacial period, which implies that the lakeobtained its salt prior to any Holocene marine highstand; and the occurrence of marine-derived fauna fromthe onset of significant biological activity late in the Pleistocene. The occurrence of ice-free land in theVestfold Hills and similar oases suggests that the margin of the polar ice cap did not reach far beyond itscurrent position at the Last Glacial Maximum, at least in regions now occupied by these oases.