Sediment Cores from Beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

Geoscience Australia Data provides two sediment cores collected from beneath the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica. The cores describe physical sedimentation patterns and contrast sites of basal freezing and melting. The dataset includes lithology, 14C surface ages, absolute diatom abundance, and diatom assemblage data used to infer sediment transport pathways.

Use Cases

• Contrasting sedimentation patterns based on the described sites of basal freezing versus basal melting.
• Analyzing episodes of strong current activity based on the described interbedded siliciclastic mud, sand, and gravel with inclined bedding.
• Modeling sub-ice shelf circulation pathways using the described indicators of lithology, diatom abundance, and assemblage.
• Investigating the influence of localized topographic variations on melt and sediment distribution as suggested in the description.

Strengths

• Includes data from two distinct core sites (AM01b and AM02) representing contrasting basal conditions.
• Provides 14C ages corrected for old surface ages, consistent with previous dating in Prydz Bay.
• Contains a detailed lithological description, including an interval indicating an episode of variable but strong current activity.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The basal age of core AM01b (28250 ± 230 14C yr bp) is noted as potentially contaminated by recycled organic matter.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Physical collection of sediment cores from beneath the Amery Ice Shelf.

Time Range

Holocene, with a basal age of approximately 28250 ± 230 14C yr bp for core AM01b.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 04:36:26.051174; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica.