Two sediment cores collected from beneath the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica describe physical sedimentation patterns. The cores, AM01b and AM02, comprise Holocene siliceous muddy ooze and were analyzed using lithology, 14C surface ages, absolute diatom abundance, and diatom assemblages. The data suggests overturning baroclinic circulation beneath the ice shelf is a more important influence on basal melt/freeze and sediment distributions than previously modeled barotropic circulation.
Use Cases
- Modeling sub-ice shelf sediment transport pathways based on lithology and diatom assemblage indicators.
- Comparing basal melt and freeze patterns beneath ice shelves based on sediment core contrasts.
- Analyzing the influence of baroclinic versus barotropic circulation on sediment distribution.
- Investigating the role of localized topographic variations on sub-ice shelf melt and sediment deposition.
Strengths
- Two distinct sediment cores collected from sites of basal freezing and melting provide comparative data.
- Analysis uses multiple indicators: lithology, 14C surface ages, absolute diatom abundance, and diatom assemblages.
- Cores describe sedimentation patterns beneath a major embayed ice shelf, a specific and valuable environment.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Freshness should be verified; last updated date is 2026-05-05.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Analysis of sediment cores collected from beneath the Amery Ice Shelf.
- Time Range
- Holocene period, with a basal age of 28250 ± 230 14C yr bp mentioned for one core.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-05 05:03:48.171671
- Geography
- Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, Prydz Bay region.