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Cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating of glacial erratics on Horseshoe Island in western Antarctic Peninsula confirms rapid deglaciation in the Early Holocene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2019

Attila Çiner Open the ORCID record for Attila Çiner [Opens in a new window] ,
Cengiz Yildirim Open the ORCID record for Cengiz Yildirim [Opens in a new window] ,
M. Akif Sarikaya Open the ORCID record for M. Akif Sarikaya [Opens in a new window] ,
Yeong Bae Seong Open the ORCID record for Yeong Bae Seong [Opens in a new window]  and
Byung Yong Yu Open the ORCID record for Byung Yong Yu [Opens in a new window]
Attila Çiner*
Affiliation:
Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak-Istanbul 34469, Turkey
Cengiz Yildirim
Affiliation:
Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak-Istanbul 34469, Turkey
M. Akif Sarikaya
Affiliation:
Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak-Istanbul 34469, Turkey
Yeong Bae Seong
Affiliation:
Department of Geography Education, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
Byung Yong Yu
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 02792, Korea
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

The rapid warming observed in the western Antarctic Peninsula gives rise to a fast disintegration of ice shelves and thinning and retreat of marine-terminating continental glaciers, which is likely to raise global sea levels in the near future. In order to understand the contemporary changes in context and to provide constraints for hindcasting models, it is important to understand the Late Quaternary history of the region. Here, we build on previous work on the deglacial history of the western Antarctic Peninsula and we present four new cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages from Horseshoe Island in Marguerite Bay, which has been suggested as a former location of very fast ice stream retreat. Four samples collected from erratic pink granite boulders at an altitude of ~80 m above sea level yielded ages that range between 12.9 ± 1.1 ka and 9.4 ± 0.8 ka. As in other studies on Antarctic erratics, we have chosen to report the youngest erratic age (9.4 ± 0.8 ka) as the true age of deglaciation, which confirms a rapid thinning of the Marguerite Trough Ice Stream at the onset of Holocene. This result is consistent with other cosmogenic age data and other proxies (marine and lacustrine 14C and optically stimulated luminescence) reported from nearby areas.

Keywords

cosmogenic surface datingice sheetMarguerite Baypalaeoclimate
Type
Earth Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 31 , Issue 6 , December 2019 , pp. 319 - 331
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2019 

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