Two sediment cores from beneath the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica reveal contrasting physical sedimentation patterns linked to basal freezing and melting. The cores contain Holocene siliceous muddy ooze, with one core showing an older interval of strong current activity. 14C ages, diatom abundance, and lithology are used as indicators of sediment transport pathways that challenge previous circulation models.
Use Cases
- Modeling sub-ice shelf circulation patterns based on sediment transport pathway indicators.
- Contrasting sedimentation processes at sites of basal freezing versus basal melting.
- Dating Holocene marine sediments in Prydz Bay using corrected 14C surface ages.
- Investigating the influence of localized topography on ice shelf melt and sediment distribution.
Strengths
- Includes two distinct sediment cores from contrasting basal conditions (freezing vs. melting).
- Provides a basal age measurement of 28250 ± 230 14C yr bp for core AM01b.
- Uses multiple indicators (lithology, 14C ages, diatom data) to infer sediment transport.
Limitations
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- The basal age of one core is noted as likely contaminated by recycled organic matter.
Provenance
- Source
- Geoscience Australia Data
- Collection Method
- Analysis of two physically collected sediment cores.
- Time Range
- Holocene, with one core section dated to approximately 28,250 years BP.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-30 15:15:06.426354; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica.