Seismic Stratigraphic Record of East Antarctic Ice Shelf Evolution

Late Quaternary data reconstructs ice sheet and ice shelf extent in the George V Basin of East Antarctica. The dataset integrates analyses from Chirp sub-bottom profiles, multi-channel seismic data, and sediment cores to distinguish four glacial facies and two sediment drift facies. It was contributed by the Australian Ocean Data Network and updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Classify glacial facies (e.g., Facies 1: rock outcrops and canyons; Facies 2: moraines) from seismic profile characteristics to map past ice grounding lines.
• Correlate sediment drift deposit facies (MD1: undisturbed; MD2: fluted) with water depth (<775m vs >775m) to infer ice shelf floating conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum.
• Use radiocarbon ages from sediment cores to date the glacial advance producing Facies MD2 and constrain the timing of older grounding events beneath the sediment drift.

Strengths

• Integrates three complementary data sources: Chirp sub-bottom profiles, multi-channel seismic data, and sediment cores for ground-truthing.
• Distinguishes four specific glacial facies and two sediment drift facies, providing a detailed paleoenvironmental framework.
• Provides temporal constraints via radiocarbon dating linking facies to the Last Glacial Maximum and older events.

Limitations

• Specific spatial extent, row counts, and sample sizes for the seismic profiles and cores are not provided.
• The primary data format is HTML, which may not be directly machine-readable for analysis without extraction and conversion.
• Geographic scope is limited to the George V Basin, a specific sector of the East Antarctic fringe.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Analysis of Chirp sub-bottom profiles integrated with multi-channel seismic data and sediment cores.

Time Range

Late Quaternary, specifically encompassing the Last Glacial Maximum.

Freshness

Updated April 2026.

Geography

George V Basin, East Antarctica.