Holocene Benthic Colonization Beneath Amery Ice Shelf

A 47-centimeter sediment core from beneath the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica documents the colonization history of a seabed community over the Holocene epoch. The data reveals a succession from no fauna to mobile organisms and later filter feeders, linked to ice shelf retreat and plankton availability. This evidence was collected and analyzed by researchers, likely affiliated with the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Analyze the temporal succession of benthic organisms (e.g., polychaetes, sponges, bryozoans) from sediment core depth layers to model colonization patterns.
• Correlate the first appearance of planktonic taxa with the retreat of the ice shelf around 9600 years BP using core chronology data.
• Investigate the relationship between filter feeder abundance and the peak abundance of planktonic organisms to understand food supply dependencies.
• Study the absence of preserved fauna in core sections prior to ~9600 yr BP to establish baseline conditions following the last glaciation.

Strengths

• Detailed paleoecological record from a 47 cm long sediment core.
• Analysis covers a key climatic transition period from the last glaciation through the Holocene.

Limitations

• Specific sample size (number of cores, rows of data) is not provided.
• The dataset description is textual; the underlying raw data files and their structure are not detailed.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN).

Collection Method

Fossil analysis of a sediment core retrieved from beneath the Amery Ice Shelf.

Time Range

Holocene epoch, with specific events dated to approximately 9600 years before present.

Freshness

Metadata was last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica (Prydz Bay region).