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Late Pleistocene Glacial Chronology of the Taylor Valley, Antarctica, and the Global Climate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

C. H. Hendy ,
T. R. Healy ,
E. M. Rayner ,
J. Shaw  and
A. T. Wilson
C. H. Hendy
Affiliation:
Antarctic Research Unit, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
T. R. Healy
Affiliation:
Antarctic Research Unit, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
E. M. Rayner
Affiliation:
Antarctic Research Unit, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
J. Shaw
Affiliation:
Antarctic Research Unit, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
A. T. Wilson
Affiliation:
Antarctic Research Unit, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
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Abstract

Carbonate-rich lacustrine and deltaic deposits, containing thin beds of finely laminated carbonates and thick beds of silt, crop out at several sites in the Taylor Valley and have been encountered in cores obtained by the Dry Valley Drilling Project (DVDP). Fragments of the more indurated carbonate beds have widespread occurrence as part of the desert “lag gravel” which covers much of the valley floor. Analysis of the carbonates suggests that they were deposited as algal limestones from waters derived from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet via the Taylor Glacier at times which correspond to the previous three global interglacial periods, as evidenced by the ice volumes deduced from oxygen-isotopic analysis of oceanic cores. The lacustrine carbonates have been found up to 30 km beyond the present terminus of the Taylor Glacier, and up to 100 m above the level of Lake Bonney, into which the Taylor Glacier at present discharges. It is concluded that the Taylor Glacier has advanced during each of the previous three interglaciations, and it is suggested that this has been caused by a thickening of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet during the interglaciations.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , March 1979 , pp. 172 - 184
Copyright
University of Washington

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