Submarine landforms related to glacier retreat in a shallow Antarctic fjord. Issue 6 (13th July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wölfl, Anne-Cathrin; Wittenberg, Nina; Feldens, Peter; Hass, H. Christian; Betzler, Christian; Kuhn, Gerhard
• Is Part Of: Antarctic science. Volume 28:Issue 6(2016)
• Page Start: 475
• Page End: 486
• Publication Date: 2016-07-13
• Subjects: deglaciation, -- King George Island, -- multibeam sonar, -- Potter Cove, -- sea floor morphology, -- sediment echosounding; Science -- Antarctica -- Periodicals; 509.989
• DOI: 10.1017/S0954102016000262
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0954-1020

Abstract

Abstract: Since the Last Glacial Maximum, ice has retreated through the fjords of the South Shetland Islands leaving a valuable record of submarine landforms behind. In this study, glacial landforms and sub-bottom characteristics have been mapped to investigate the late Holocene retreat behaviour of the Fourcade Glacier and to delineate past environmental processes in Potter Cove, King George Island. The comprehensive datasets include high-resolution swath bathymetry, shallow seismic profiling and one sediment core. Moraines, moraine incisions and glacial lineations were mapped on the sea floor in the inner part of the cove, whereas pockmarks, ice scour marks and channel structures were identified in the outer part. Sub-bottom characteristics have been assigned to different acoustic facies types indicating different depositional settings. The results reveal glacial recessions as well as stillstands and potential readvances during the late Holocene. Furthermore, the sediment record indicates that the Fourcade Glacier was situated inside the inner cove during the Little Ice Age (500–100 cal yrbp ).