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A geochemical record of late Holocene palaeoenvironmental changes at King George Island (maritime Antarctica)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Patrick Monien ,
Bernhard Schnetger ,
Hans-Jürgen Brumsack ,
H. Christian Hass  and
Gerhard Kuhn
Patrick Monien*
Affiliation:
Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), PO Box 2503, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany
Bernhard Schnetger
Affiliation:
Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), PO Box 2503, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany
Hans-Jürgen Brumsack
Affiliation:
Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), PO Box 2503, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany
H. Christian Hass
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Wadden Sea Research Station, Hafenstrasse 43, D-25992 List, Germany
Gerhard Kuhn
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen 26, D-27568 Bremerhaven, Germany
*
monien@icbm.de
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Abstract

During RV Polarstern cruise ANT-XXIII/4 in 2006, a gravity core (PS 69/335-2) and a giant box core (PS 69/335-1) were retrieved from Maxwell Bay off King George Island (KGI). Comprehensive geochemical (bulk parameters, quantitative XRF, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) and radiometric dating analyses (14C, 210Pb) were performed on both cores. A comparison with geochemical data from local bedrock demonstrates a mostly detrital origin for the sediments, but also points to an overprint from changing bioproductivity in the overlying water column in addition to early diagenetic processes. Furthermore, ten tephra layers that were most probably derived from volcanic activity on Deception Island were identified. Variations in the vertical distribution of selected elements in Maxwell Bay sediments further indicate a shift in source rock provenance as a result of changing glacier extents during the past c. 1750 years that may be linked to the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period. Whereas no evidence for a significant increase in chemical weathering rates was found, 210Pb data revealed that mass accumulation rates in Maxwell Bay have almost tripled since the 1940s (0.66 g cm-2 yr-1 in ad 2006), which is probably linked to rapid glacier retreat in this region due to recent warming.

Keywords

early diagenesisgeochemistryglacier retreatLittle Ice Agesedimentswestern Antarctic Peninsula
Type
Earth Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , June 2011 , pp. 255 - 267
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2011

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