Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T15:23:53.593Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Soil preservation and ventifact recycling from dry-based glaciers in Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2010

James G. Bockheim*
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706-1299, USA

Abstract

Soil preservation from three glacial thermal regimes was examined in the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) using the University of Wisconsin Antarctic Soils Database (http://nsidc.org/data/ggd221). Glacial thermal regimes included temperate (wet-based) glaciers from overriding of the TAM prior to c. 15Ma bp and subsequent polar (dry-based) glaciers. The glacial thermal regimes were distinguished from landform, sediment and erosional features. Buried soils were most common from deposition by dry-based glaciers (44 of 51 pedons). Several of these buried soils had a desert pavement intact with in situ ventifacts. Fifteen percent of the pedons contained recycled ventifacts in relict and buried soils that ranged from late Quaternary to Miocene in age, particularly in drift from dry-based glaciers (56 of 77 pedons). Overall 84% of the buried soils and 78% of the pedons with recycled ventifacts originated from dry-based glaciers. The proportion of soils with recycled clasts on a particular drift was greatest where the ratio of drift thickness to soil thickness (“recycling ratio”) was the least. These data illustrate the effectiveness of Antarctic dry-based glaciers in preserving underlying landforms and deposits, including soils. Moreover, the data imply that Antarctic glaciers have been recycling clasts for the past c. 15Ma. These findings have important implications in selecting surface boulders for cosmogenic dating.

Type
Earth Sciences
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackert, R.P. JrKurz, M.D. 2004. Age and uplift rates of Sirius Group sediments in the Dominion Range, Antarctica, from surface exposure dating and geomorphology. Global and Planetary Change, 42, 207225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkins, C.B.Dickinson, W.W. 2007. Landscape modification by meltwater channels at margins of cold-based glacier, Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Boreas, 36, 4755.Google Scholar
Atkins, C.B., Barrett, P.J.Hicock, S.R. 2002. Cold glaciers erode and deposit: evidence from Allan Hills, Antarctica. Geology, 30, 659662.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bockheim, J.G. 1982. Properties of a chronosequence of ultraxerous soils in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. Geoderma, 28, 239255.Google Scholar
Bockheim, J.G. 1990. Soil development rates in the Transantarctic Mountains. Geoderma, 47, 5977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bockheim, J.G. 2007. Soil processes and development rates in the Quartermain Mountains, upper Taylor Glacier region, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler, 89A, 153165.Google Scholar
Bockheim, J.G. 2008. Functional diversity of soils along environmental gradients in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica. Geoderma, 144, 3242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bockheim, J.G.Ackert, R.P. 2007. Implications of soils on mid-Miocene-aged drifts in the McMurdo Dry Valleys for ice sheet history and paleoclimate reconstruction. Geomorphology, 92, 1224.Google Scholar
Bockheim, J.G.McLeod, M. 2006. Soil formation in Wright Valley, Antarctica since the late Neogene. Geoderma, 137, 109116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bockheim, J.G., Campbell, I.B.McLeod, M. 2008. Use of soil chronosequences for testing the existence of high-water-level lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Catena, 74, 144152.Google Scholar
Bockheim, J.G., Wilson, S.C., Denton, G.H., Andersen, B.G.Stuiver, M. 1989. Late Quaternary ice-surface fluctuations of Hatherton Glacier, Transantarctic Mountains. Quaternary Research, 31, 229254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brook, E.J., Kurz, M.D., Ackert, R. Jr, Denton, G.H., Brown, E.T., Raisbeck, G.M.Yiou, E. 1993. Chronology of Taylor Glacier advances in Arena Valley, Antarctica, using in-situ cosmogenic 3He and 10Be. Quaternary Research, 39, 1123.Google Scholar
Buntley, G.J.Westin, F.C. 1965. A comparative study of developmental color in a chestnut-chernozem-brunizem soil climosequence. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings, 29, 579582.Google Scholar
Cuffey, K.M., Conway, H., Gades, A.M., Hallet, B., Lorrain, R., Severinghaus, J.P., Steig, E.J., Vaughn, B.White, J.W.C. 2000. Entrainment at cold glacier beds. Geology, 28, 351354.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, M.L.Fitzsimons, S. 2004. Selected case studies of cold-based glaciers, south Victoria Land, Antarctica. Quaternary Newsletter, 104, 3044.Google Scholar
Denton, G.H.Sugden, D.E. 2005. Meltwater features that suggest Miocene ice-sheet overriding of the Transantarctic Mountains in Victoria Land, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler, 87A, 6785.Google Scholar
Denton, G.H., Bockheim, J.G., Wilson, S.C., Leide, J.E.Andersen, B.G. 1989. Late Quaternary ice-surface fluctuations Beardmore Glacier, Transantarctic Mountains. Quaternary Research, 31, 183209.Google Scholar
Denton, G.H., Sugden, D.E., Marchant, D.R., Hall, B.L.Wilch, T.I. 1993. East Antarctic ice sheet sensitivity to Pliocene climate change from a dry valleys perspective. Geografiska Annaler, 75A, 155204.Google Scholar
Hall, B.L.Denton, G.D. 2005. Surficial geology and geomorphology of eastern and central Wright Valley, Antarctica. Geomorphology, 64, 2565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, B.L., Denton, G.H.Hendy, C.H. 2000. Evidence from Taylor Valley for a grounded ice sheet in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler, 82A, 275303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, B.L., Hendy, C.H.Denton, G.H. 2006. Lake-ice conveyor deposits: geomorphology, sedimentology, and importance in reconstructing the glacial history of the Dry Valleys. Geomorphology, 75, 143156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, B.L., Denton, G.H., Lux, D.R.SchlŰchter, C. 1997. Pliocene paleoenvironment and Antarctica ice sheet behavior: evidence from Wright Valley. Journal of Geology, 105, 285294.Google Scholar
Hambrey, M.J. 1994. Glacial environments. London: University College Press, 296 pp.Google Scholar
Hooke, R.L. 1998. Principles of glacier mechanics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 248 pp.Google Scholar
Hendy, C.H., Sadler, A.J., Denton, G.H.Hall, B.L. 2000. Proglacial lake-ice conveyors: a new mechanism for deposition of drift in polar environments. Geografiska Annaler, 82A, 249270.Google Scholar
Higgins, S.M., Denton, G.H.Hendy, C.H. 2000a. Glacial geomorphology of Bonney drift, Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler, 82A, 365389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higgins, S.M., Hendy, C.H.Denton, G.H. 2000b. Geochronology of Bonney drift, Taylor Valley, Antarctica: evidence for interglacial expansions of Taylor Glacier. Geografiska Annaler, 82A, 391409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleman, J. 1994. Preservation of landforms under ice sheets and ice caps. Geomorphology, 9, 1932.Google Scholar
Lewis, A.R., Marchant, D.R., Ashworth, A.C., Hemming, S.R.Machlus, M.L. 2007. Major middle Miocene global climate change: evidence from East Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 119, 14491461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, A.R., Marchant, D.R., Ashworth, A.C., Hedenás, L., Hemming, S.R., Johnson, J.V., Leng, M.J., Machlus, M.L., Newton, A.E., Raine, J.I., Willenbring, J.K., Williams, M.Wolfe, A.P. 2008. Mid-Miocene cooling and the extinction of tundra in continental Antarctica. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 10.1073/pnas.0802501105.Google Scholar
Lorrain, R.D., Fitzsimons, S.J., Vandergoes, M.J.Stievenard, M. 1999. Ice composition evidence of basal ice from lake water beneath a cold-based Antarctic glacier. Annals of Glaciology, 28, 277281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchant, D.R.Head, J.W. 2007. Antarctic Dry Valleys: microclimate zonation, variable geomorphic processes, and implications for assessing climate change on Mars. Icarus, 192, 187222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchant, D.R., Denton, G.H.Swisher, C.C. Jr 1993b. Miocene–Pliocene–Pleistocene glacial history of Arena Valley, Quartermain Mountains, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler, 75A, 269302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchant, D.R., Denton, G.H., Sugden, D.E.Swisher, C.E. III 1993a. Miocene glacial stratigraphy and landscape evolution of the western Asgard Range, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler, 75A, 303330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Näslund, J.-O. 1997. Subglacial preservation of valley morphology at Amundsenisen, western Dronning Maud land, Antarctica. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 22, 441455.3.0.CO;2-4>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prentice, M.L.Krusic, A.G. 2005. Early Pliocene alpine glaciation in Antarctica: terrestrial versus tidewater glaciers in Wright Valley. Geografiska Annaler, 87A, 87109.Google Scholar
Prentice, M.L., Bockheim, J.G., Wilson, S.C., Burckle, L.H., Hodell, D.H., Schlüchter, C.Kellogg, D.E. 1993. Late Neogene Antarctic glacial history: evidence from central Wright Valley. Antarctic Research Series, 60, 207250.Google Scholar
Schoeneberger, P.J., Wysocki, D.A., Benham, E.C.Broderson, W.D. 2002. Field book for describing and sampling soils. Lincoln, NE: United States Department of Agriculture, 228 pp.Google Scholar
Sleewaegen, S., Samyn, D., Fitzsimons, S.J.Lorrain, R.D. 2003. Equifinality of basal ice facies from an Antarctic cold-based glacier. Annals of Glaciology, 37, 257262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staiger, J.W., Marchant, D.R., Schaefer, J.M., Oberholzer, P., Johnson, J.V., Lewis, A.R.Swanger, K.M. 2006. Plio–Pleistocene history of Ferrar Glacier, Antarctica: implications for climate and ice sheet stability. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 243, 489503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steig, E.J. 1996. Beryllium-10 in the Taylor Dome ice core: applications to Antarctic glaciology and paleoclimatology. PhD thesis, University of Washington, Seattle, 167 pp. [Unpublished].Google Scholar
Stroeven, A.P.Kleman, J. 1999. Age of Sirius Group on Mount Feather, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, based on glaciological inferences from the overridden mountain range of Scandinavia. Global and Planetary Change, 23, 231247.Google Scholar
Sugden, D.E., Denton, G.H.Marchant, D.R. 1991. Subglacial meltwater channel systems and ice sheet overriding, Asgard Range, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler, 73A, 109121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wadham, J.L., Hodson, A.J., Tranter, M.Dowdeswell, J.A. 1997. The rate of chemical weathering beneath a quiescent, surge-type, polythermal-based glacier, southern Spitzbergen, Svalbard. Annals of Glaciology, 24, 2731.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilch, T.I., Denton, G.H., Lux, D.R.McIntosh, W.C. 1993. Limited Pliocene glacier extent and surface uplift in middle Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler, 75A, 331351.Google Scholar