Publication Date:
2018-08-10
Description:
The history of glaciations on Southern Hemisphere sub-polar islands is unclear. Debate
surrounds the extent and timing of the last glacial advance and termination on sub-Antarctic
South Georgia in particular. Here, using sea-floor geophysical data and marine sediment
cores, we resolve the record of glaciation offshore of South Georgia through the transition
from the Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene. We show a sea-bed landform imprint of
a shelf-wide last glacial advance and progressive deglaciation. Renewed glacier resurgence in
the fjords between c. 15,170 and 13,340 yr ago coincided with a period of cooler, wetter
climate known as the Antarctic Cold Reversal, revealing a cryospheric response to an
Antarctic climate pattern extending into the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. We
conclude that the last glaciation of South Georgia was extensive, and the sensitivity of its
glaciers to climate variability during the last termination more significant than implied by
previous studies.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
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isiRev
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article