Excavations of active and abandoned Adelie penguin colonies in the Ross Sea region aim to reconstruct a 13,000-year occupation history. The dataset includes quantified organic remains such as penguin bones, tissue, eggshells, and prey remains like fish bones and squid beaks. The project was conducted by AMD_USAPDC, with data last updated in 2008.
Use Cases
- Model penguin colonization timing using radiocarbon dates from bones and eggshell fragments.
- Analyze dietary composition shifts over time by quantifying prey remains like fish bones and squid beaks.
- Correlate penguin occupation history with past climatic conditions from ice-core and marine-sediment records.
- Test hypotheses on diet alteration in response to sea-ice conditions using prey identification data from sediments.
Strengths
- Sites indicate an occupation history extending to 13,000 years before present.
- Material includes multiple evidence types: bones, tissue, eggshells, and prey remains.
Limitations
- Dataset size, row count, and specific column structure are unknown.
- Data recency is a limitation, with last update recorded in 2008.
- Sample size from specific colony excavations is not quantified.
Provenance
- Source
- nasa_earthdata, AMD_USAPDC
- Collection Method
- Excavations of penguin colonies with quantification and radiocarbon analysis of organic remains.
- Time Range
- Covers up to approximately 13,000 years before present.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Ross Sea region, Antarctica, specifically Victoria Land coast from Cape Adare to Marble Point.