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Holocene and pre-Holocene temporary disappearance of the George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2004

C. Hjort ,
M.J. Bentley  and
Ó. Ingólfsson
C. Hjort
Affiliation:
Department of Quaternary Geology, University of Lund, Sölvegatan 13, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
M.J. Bentley
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Durham, South Rd, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Ó. Ingólfsson
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Göteborg University, Box 460, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden, and UNIS, Postboks 156, N-9170 Longyearbyen, Norway
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Abstract

We present evidence for the absence of the George VI Ice Shelf during a brief period in the mid-Holocene and during one or more earlier interstadials or interglacials. Barnacle Bathylasma corolliforme shells sampled from ice shelf moraines at Two Step Cliffs on Alexander Island have been dated to c, 5750–6000 14C yr BP(c. 6550–6850 cal yr BP) and imply seasonally open water in the George VI Sound during this period. Other shells are beyond the range of radiocarbon dating and imply open water during one or more previous interglacial or interstadial period, prior to 40 000 14C yr BP. Our results show that the ongoing collapse of some Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves is not unprecedented.

Keywords

Antarctic PeninsulaAlexander Islandglacial chronologyice shelf
Type
Papers—Earth Sciences and Glaciology
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , September 2001 , pp. 296 - 301
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2001

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