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Surface exposure ages imply multiple low-amplitude Pleistocene variations in East Antarctic Ice Sheet, Ricker Hills, Victoria Land

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2008

Stefan Strasky ,
Luigia Di Nicola ,
Carlo Baroni ,
Maria Cristina Salvatore ,
Heinrich Baur ,
Peter W. Kubik ,
Christian Schlüchter  and
Rainer Wieler
Stefan Strasky*
Affiliation:
Institute of Isotope Geochemistry and Mineral Resources, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Luigia Di Nicola
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Carlo Baroni
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, e Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse CNR, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Maria Cristina Salvatore
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Roma ‘La Sapienza’, 00185 Rome, Italy
Heinrich Baur
Affiliation:
Institute of Isotope Geochemistry and Mineral Resources, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Peter W. Kubik
Affiliation:
Paul Scherrer Institute, c/o Institute for Particle Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Christian Schlüchter
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Rainer Wieler
Affiliation:
Institute of Isotope Geochemistry and Mineral Resources, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
*
*stefan.strasky@gmail.com
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Abstract

One of the major issues in (palaeo-) climatology is the response of Antarctic ice sheets to global climate changes. Antarctic ice volume has varied in the past but the extent and timing of these fluctuations are not well known. In this study, we address the question of amplitude and timing of past Antarctic ice level changes by surface exposure dating using in situ produced cosmogenic nuclides (10Be and 21Ne). The study area lies in the Ricker Hills, a nunatak at the boundary of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in southern Victoria Land. By determining exposure ages of erratic boulders from glacial drifts we directly date East Antarctic Ice Sheet variations. Erosion-corrected neon and beryllium exposure ages indicate that a major ice advance reaching elevations of about 500 m above present ice levels occurred between 1.125 and 1.375 million years before present. Subsequent ice fluctuations were of lesser extent but timing is difficult as all erratic boulders from related deposits show complex exposure histories. Sample-specific erosion rates were on the order of 20–45 cm Ma-1 for a quartzite and 10–65 cm Ma-1 for a sandstone boulder and imply that the modern cold, arid climate has persisted since at least the early Pleistocene.

Keywords

cosmogenic nuclideserosion ratesglacial driftslandscape evolutionsurface exposure dating
Type
Earth Science
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 59 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2009

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