Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-lvwk9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-12T11:42:54.287Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Direct evidence of aeolian deposition of marine diatoms to an ice sheet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2012

A.L. Budgeon ,
D. Roberts ,
M. Gasparon  and
N. Adams
A.L. Budgeon*
Affiliation:
School of Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
D. Roberts
Affiliation:
Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
M. Gasparon
Affiliation:
School of Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
N. Adams
Affiliation:
Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, Bureau of Meteorology, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Antarctic snow samples collected from the Wilkins Runway, c. 50 km inland from the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica, contain aeolian-derived diatoms. The diatom assemblage preserved is exclusively of marine origin. As diatoms are excellent indicators of source conditions, we are able to confirm that an unusual weather event, with anomalous north-westerly winds blowing at around 10 m s-1, resulted in the deposition of coastal marine species at the Wilkins Runway. The composition of the floral assemblage collected indicate that the parent water mass was from a coastal marine region undergoing typical Antarctic summer conditions with periods of both consolidated sea ice and open water. On inspection of available satellite imagery, these conditions were found upwind of the deposition site. This study provides a methodology for diatoms found within ice cores to be identified and the source region to be determined. It also provides evidence for a large-scale aeolian deposition of marine diatoms to an ice sheet, which may have implications for the interpretation of controversial marine diatoms found in sediments that have been used as evidence for the retreat of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Keywords

aeolian transportice coresnowsourceWindmill Islands
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 24 , Issue 5 , 13 September 2012 , pp. 527 - 535
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

deceased 23 March 2012

References

Armand, L.K.Zielinski, U. 2001. Diatom species of the genus Rhisosolenia from Southern Ocean sediments: distribution and taxonomic notes. Diatom Research, 16, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armand, L.K., Crosta, X., Romero, O.Pichon, J.J. 2005. The biogeography of major diatom taxa in Southern Ocean sediments: 1. Sea ice related species. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology & Palaeoecology, 223, 93–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burckle, L.H., Gayley, R.I., Ram, M.Petit, J.R. 1988. Diatoms in Antarctic ice cores: some implications for the glacial history of Antarctica. Geology, 16, 326–329.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cremer, H., Gore, D., Melles, M.Roberts, D. 2003a. Palaeoclimatic significance of late Quaternary diatom assemblages from southern Windmill Islands, East Antarctica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology & Palaeoecology, 195, 261–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cremer, H., Roberts, D., McMinn, A., Gore, D.Melles, M. 2003b. The Holocene diatom flora of marine bays in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica. Botanica Marina, 46, 82–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crosta, X., Romero, O., Armand, L.K.Pichon, J.J. 2005. The biogeography of major diatom taxa in Southern Ocean sediments: 2. Open ocean related species. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology & Palaeoecology, 223, 66–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunningham, W.L.Leventer, A. 1998. Diatom assemblages in surface sediments of the Ross Sea: relationship to present oceanographic conditions. Antarctic Science, 10, 134–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gayley, R.I.Ram, M. 1984. Observation of diatoms in Greenland ice. Arctic, 37, 172–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gayley, R.I., Ram, M.Stoermer, E.F. 1989. Seasonal-variations in diatom abundance and provenance in Greenland ice. Journal of Glaciology, 35, 290–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gersonde, R.Zielinski, U. 2000. The reconstruction of late Quaternary Antarctic sea ice distribution - the use of diatoms as proxy for sea ice. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology & Palaeoecology, 162, 263–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Günther, S.Dieckmann, G.S. 1999. Seasonal development of algal biomass in snow-covered fast ice and the underlying platelet layer in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 11, 305–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodgson, D.A., Doran, P.T., Roberts, D.McMinn, A. 2004. Paleolimnological studies from the Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic islands. In Pienitz, R., Douglas, M.S.V. & Smol, J.P., eds. Long-term environmental change in Arctic and Antarctic lakes. Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research Series, Vol. 8. Dordrecht: Springer Academic Publishers, 419–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kang, S.H.Fryxell, G.A. 1992. Fragilariopsis cylindrus (Grunow) Krieger - the most abundant diatom in water column assemblages of Antarctic marginal ice-edge zones. Polar Biology, 12, 609–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kang, S.H.Fryxell, G.A. 1993. Phytoplankton in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica - composition, abundance and distribution in water-column assemblages of the marginal ice-edge zone during austral autumn. Marine Biology, 116, 335–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellogg, D.E.Kellogg, T.B. 1996. Diatoms in South Pole ice: implications for eolian contamination of Sirius Group deposits. Geology, 24, 115–118.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maggi, V.Petit, J.R. 1998. Atmospheric dust concentration record from the Hercules Neve firn core, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 27, 355–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKay, R.M., Barrett, P.J., Harper, M.A.Hannah, M.J. 2008. Atmospheric transport and concentration of diatoms in surficical and glacial sediments of the Allan Hills, Transantarctic Mountains. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology & Palaeoecology, 260, 168–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMinn, A. 1996. Preliminary investigation of the contribution of fast-ice algae to the spring phytoplankton blooms in Ellis Fjord, eastern Antarctica. Polar Biology, 16, 301–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medlin, L.K.Priddle, J. 1990. Polar marine diatoms. Cambridge: British Antarctic Survey, 214 pp.Google Scholar
Ram, M., Gayley, R.I.Petit, J.R. 1988. Insoluble particles in Antarctic ice: background aerosol size distribution and diatom concentration. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93, 8378–8382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, D., McMinn, A., Johnston, N., Gore, D.B., Melles, M.Cremer, H. 2001. An analysis of the limnology and sedimentary diatom flora of fourteen lakes and ponds from the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 13, 410–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sala, M., Delmonte, B., Frezzotti, M., Proposito, M., Scarchilli, C., Maggi, V., Artioli, G., Dapiaggi, M., Marino, F., Ricci, P.C.De Giudici, G. 2008. Evidence of calcium carbonates in coastal (Talos Dome and Ross Sea area) East Antarctic snow and firn: environmental and climatic implications. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 271, 43–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, F.J.Thomas, D.P. 2005. Diatoms. In Scott, F.J. & Marchant, H.J., eds. Antarctic marine protists. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study & Hobart: Australian Antarctic Division, 13–201.Google Scholar
Smol, J.P.Douglas, M.S.V. 1996. Environmental monitoring in Arctic lakes and ponds using diatoms and other biological indicators. Geoscience Canada, 23, 225–230.Google Scholar
Spaulding, G.McKnight, D. 1999. Diatoms as indicators of environmental change in Antarctic freshwaters. In Stoermer, F.&Smolj, P.,eds. The diatoms: applications to the environmental and earth sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 245–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sugden, D.E., Denton, G.H.Marchant, D.R. 1993. The case for a stable Antarctic ice sheet evolution. Geografiska Annaler, 75, 151–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, P.N., Harwood, D.M., McKelvey, B.C., Mercer, J.H.Stott, L.D. 1984. Cenozoic marine sedimentation and ice-volume variation on the East Antarctic craton. Geology, 12, 287–291.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, G.S. 1995. The Neogene East Antarctic Ice Sheet: a dynamic or stable feature. Quaternary Science Reviews, 14, 101–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zielinski, U.Gersonde, R. 1997. Diatom distribution in Southern Ocean surface sediments (Atlantic sector): implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology & Palaeoecology, 129, 213–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar