This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Cunningham, W. L. Articles by Licht, K. J. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Late Pleistocene-Holocene marine conditions in the Ross Sea, Antarctica: evidence from the diatom record

Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA

Amy Leventer

Department of Geology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY 13346, USA

John T. Andrews

Anne E. Jennings

Kathy J. Licht

Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA

Statistical analyses of diatom assemblages from radiocarbon-dated sediment cores were used to reconstruct changing palaeoceanographic conditions in the western and west-central Ross Sea, Antarctica, from. c.12 ¹⁴C kyr BP to the present. Data from three Kasten cores support a north-to-south time-transgressive glacial/interglacial transition. Assemblages at the base of each core suggest that glacial processes affecting frustule preservation were significant during the late Pleistocene. Increasing biogenic silic and decreasing per centages of reworked species suggest that upper water-column productivity, instead of preservational processes, increasingly dominates diatom assemblages during grounding-line recession (c.12to c.6 ¹⁴C kyr BP). A warm ing during the middle to late Holocene (c.6to c.3 ¹⁴C kyr BP) may have resulted in: (a) spring sea ice melting prior to the annual inception of the Ross Sea polynya in the west-central Ross Sea, and (b) increased plateletice delivery due to increased melting beneath the ice sheet in coastal areas. An increasingly cooler late Holocene (c.3 ¹⁴C kyr BP to the present) may have resulted in: (a) decreased sea-ice melting prior to physical disinte gration of the annual sea-ice cover by spring inception of Ross-Sea-polynya winds in the west-central Ross Sea, and (b) decreased platelet-ice delivery in coastal areas.

Key Words: Diatoms • palaeoceanography • sea ice • radiocarbon dating • Ross Sea • Antarctica • Holocene

The Holocene, Vol. 9, No. 2, 129-139 (1999)
DOI: 10.1191/095968399675624796


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. D. Emslie, L. Coats, and K. Licht A 45,000 yr record of Adelie penguins and climate change in the Ross Sea, Antarctica Geology, January 1, 2007; 35(1): 61 - 64. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Verleyen, D. A. Hodgson, K. Sabbe, K. Vanhoutte, and W. Vyverman Coastal oceanographic conditions in the Prydz Bay region (East Antarctica) during the Holocene recorded in an isolation basin The Holocene, February 1, 2004; 14(2): 246 - 257. [Abstract] [PDF]

				F. Taylor, F. Taylor, and A. McMinn Evidence from diatoms for Holocene climate fluctuation along the East Antarctic margin The Holocene, May 1, 2001; 11(4): 455 - 466. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. Domack, E. Domack, A. Leventer, R. Dunbar, F. Taylor, S. Brachfeld, and C. Sjunneskog Chronology of the Palmer Deep site, Antarctic Peninsula: a Holocene palaeoenvironmental reference for the circum-Antarctic The Holocene, January 1, 2001; 11(1): 1 - 9. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Fabres, A. Calafat, M. Canals, M. A. Barcena, and J. A. Flores Bransfield Basin fine-grained sediments: late-Holocene sedimentary processes and Antarctic oceanographic conditions The Holocene, September 1, 2000; 10(6): 703 - 718. [Abstract] [PDF]