Holocene Benthic Colonization History Beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

A 47 cm sediment core from beneath the Amery Ice Shelf reveals a diverse seabed community that developed over the Holocene. Fossil analysis shows a succession from no preserved fauna prior to ~9600 years BP to mobile benthic organisms and planktonic taxa, culminating in filter feeders and infauna. The dataset, hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network, provides evidence for ecological changes linked to ice shelf retreat and food supply.

Use Cases

• Modeling species succession timelines based on the described down-core assemblage changes.
• Analyzing the relationship between ice shelf retreat and benthic colonization based on the appearance of planktonic taxa.
• Studying filter feeder and infauna dependence on advected food supply as described in the sediment record.
• Assessing potential future changes to sub-ice shelf communities based on past responses to organic supply regime shifts.

Strengths

• Provides a detailed paleoecological record from a 47 cm long sediment core.
• Describes a clear temporal succession of fauna over the Holocene, with a key date at ~9600 years BP.
• Focuses on a specific and rare environment beneath an Antarctic ice shelf.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is presented in HTML format, which may require extraction for analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Fossil analysis of a sediment core.

Time Range

Holocene, with specific events dated to ~9600 years BP.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 07:03:39.388956; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, with connection to Prydz Bay.