Beryllium Isotope Signatures of Antarctic Ice Shelf Sediments

Beryllium isotope measurements from sediment samples collected in Prydz Bay, Antarctica, across open marine, sub-ice shelf, and subglacial depositional environments. The data demonstrate that 10Be concentrations reflect sub-ice shelf circulation patterns, while HCl-extractable 10Be/9Be ratios can discriminate between open marine and sub-ice shelf settings. This dataset supports the use of Be isotopes as tracers for sediment source, transport pathways, and paleo-circulation strength in glacio-marine systems.

Use Cases

• Tracing sediment source and transport pathways in glacio-marine environments based on Be isotope signatures.
• Reconstructing past sub-ice shelf circulation strength using 10Be/9Be ratios as a paleo-proxy.
• Discriminating between open marine and sub-ice shelf depositional settings from HCl-extractable isotope data.
• Investigating sediment advection processes under ice shelves, such as the Amery Ice Shelf.

Strengths

• Data is directly linked to a peer-reviewed publication in Earth and Planetary Science Letters (Volume 505, 2019).
• Samples cover a range of specific Antarctic depositional environments: open marine, sub-ice shelf, and subglacial.
• Cross-platform presence on data.gov.au indicates formal curation and importance for the domain.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: column names, row count, file size, license, and specific authorship are not provided.
• The dataset description is repeated verbatim across multiple platform entries, suggesting limited independent documentation.
• The 'last updated' date (2026-04-20) is in the future relative to the publication (2019), indicating potential metadata system errors.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data, associated with research published by Duanne A. White et al.

Collection Method

Field measurements of Be isotopes in sediment samples from Prydz Bay.

Freshness

Last updated metadata indicates 2026-04-20, but the underlying research was published in 2019.

Geography

Prydz Bay and the Amery Ice Shelf region, Antarctica.