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Relative sea-level history from the Lambert Glacier region, East Antarctica, and its relation to deglaciation and Holocene glacier readvance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Elie Verleyen*
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Department of Biology, Section of Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
Dominic A. Hodgson
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Glenn A. Milne
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
Koen Sabbe
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Department of Biology, Section of Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
Wim Vyverman
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Department of Biology, Section of Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
*
*Corresponding author. Department of Biology, Section of Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Fax: +32 9 2648599. E-mail address:elie.verleyen@UGent.be (E. Verleyen).

Abstract

We present a relative sea-level (RSL) history, constrained by AMS radiocarbon-dated marine–freshwater transitions in isolation basins from a site adjacent to the Lambert Glacier, East Antarctica. The RSL data suggest an initial ice retreat between c. 15,370 and 12,660 cal yr B.P Within this period, meltwater pulse IA (mwp IA, between c. 14,600–14,200 and 14,100–13,700 cal yr B.P.) occurred; an exceptionally large ice melting event, inferred from far-field sea-level records. The RSL curve shows a pronounced highstand of approximately 8 m between c. 7570–7270 and 7250–6950 cal yr B.P. that is consistent with the timing of the RSL highstand in the nearby Vestfold Hills. This is followed by a fall in RSL to the present. In contrast to previous findings, the isolation of the lakes in the Larsemann Hills postdates the isolation of lakes with similar sill heights in the Vestfold Hills. An increase in RSL fall during the late Holocene may record a decline in the rate of isostatic uplift in the Larsemann Hills between c. 7250–6950 and 2847–2509 cal yr B.P., that occurred in response to a documented mid-Holocene glacier readvance followed by a late-Holocene retreat.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
University of Washington

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