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The deglaciation of Barton Peninsula (King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) based on geomorphological evidence and lacustrine records

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2019

Marc Oliva Open the ORCID record for Marc Oliva [Opens in a new window] ,
Dermot Antoniades ,
Enrique Serrano ,
Santiago Giralt ,
Emma J. Liu ,
Ignacio Granados ,
Sergi Pla-Rabes ,
Manuel Toro ,
Soon Gyu Hong  and
Gonçalo Vieira
Marc Oliva*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Barcelona, Spain
Dermot Antoniades
Affiliation:
Department of Géographie & Centre d’Études Nordiques, Université Laval, Canada
Enrique Serrano
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Valladolid, Spain
Santiago Giralt
Affiliation:
Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, CSIC, Spain
Emma J. Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK
Ignacio Granados
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigación, Seguimiento y Evaluación,, Spain
Sergi Pla-Rabes
Affiliation:
Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), Spain
Manuel Toro
Affiliation:
Centre for Hydrographic Studies (CEDEX), Spain
Soon Gyu Hong
Affiliation:
Korea Polar Research Institute, South Korea
Gonçalo Vieira
Affiliation:
Centre for Geographical Studies – IGOT, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
*
Author for correspondence: Marc Oliva, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Barton Peninsula is an ice-free area located in the southwest corner of King George Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Following the Last Glacial Maximum, several geomorphological features developed in newly exposed ice-free terrain and their distribution provide insights about past environmental evolution of the area. Three moraine systems are indicative of three main glacial phases within the long-term glacial retreat, which also favoured the development of numerous lakes. Five of these lakes were cored to understand in greater detail the pattern of deglaciation through the study of lacustrine records. Radiocarbon dates from basal lacustrine sediments enabled the reconstruction of the chronology of Holocene glacial retreat. Tephra layers present in lake sediments provided additional independent age constraints on environmental changes based on geochemical and geochronological correlation with Deception Island-derived tephra. Shrinking of the Collins Glacier exposed the southern coastal fringe of Barton Peninsula at 8 cal ky BP. After a period of relative stability during the mid-Holocene, the ice cap started retreating northwards after 3.7 cal ky BP, confining some glaciers within valleys as shown by moraine systems. Lake sediments confirm a period of relative glacial stability during the last 2.4 cal ky BP.

Keywords

Barton PeninsulaGeomorphologyLake recordsDeglaciationTephrostratigraphy
Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 55 , Issue 3 , May 2019 , pp. 177 - 188
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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