Environmental history of the Prydz Bay region during the late Quaternary, reconstructed by a multidisciplinary study of lake, fjord, and continental shelf sediments
Final Report Abstract
The project “Environmental history of the Prydz Bay region during the late Quaternary, reconstructed by a multidisciplinary study of lake, fjord and continental shelf sediments” has substantially improved the present knowledge of the glacial and environmental history of coastal East Antarctica. It provided the first reconstruction of the glacial history of the ice-free islands of Rauer Group since the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3. Comparisons with the glacial histories of adjacent land areas suggest that changes in the ice-sheet configuration are influenced by local factors rather than regional ice-sheet responses to climate and sea-level fluctuations. Reconstruction of the relative sea-level history in Rauer Group, varying between at least 4 m below and 8.5 m above modern sea level, is consistent with the reconstructed glacial history, thus reflecting strong control by glacio-isostatic movements. The postglacial climate history of Rauer Group is influenced by both insolation changes and seasonality. It is characterized by an Early Holocene climate optimum (until 8200 cal yr BP) and a relatively warm stage during the Mid-Holocene (5700-3500 cal yr BP). The findings show similarities as well as discrepancies to the postglacial climate histories of other ice-free coastal areas of Antarctica, thus contributing to a circum-antarctic network of climate records that will eventually allow to better differentiate between local, regional, and global impact on the climate histories. Building on the project, we are currently working on a review of the existing information concerning the environmental history along the Antarctic coast since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), for the fist time considering both terrestrial and marine records. Besides, the outcome of the project has provided the basis for two consecutive projects, which continue to investigate the excellent sample material from Rauer Group: (i) a test of the potential of carbon, oxygen, and silicon isotope ratios in diatoms for paleoenvironmental reconstructions (Post-doc Research Fellowship of S. Berg at the NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, UK, funded by the DAAD), and (ii) an investigation of the potential of compound-specific radiocarbon dating for improving the chronologies of the sedimentary records (own position of S. Berg applied in the DFG Priority Program).
Publications
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2007. Environmental history of the Rauer Islands, East Antarctica, during the late Quaternary, reconstructed by a multidisciplinary study of lake and fjord sediments. Koordinationsworkshop im Rahmen des Schwerpunktprogramms (SPP 1158/6), Bremerhaven
Berg, S., Wagner, B., Melles, M.
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2007. Rauer Islands i Antarktis – I. - Naturens Verden 10, 2-13
Bennike, O., Wagner, B.
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2007. Rauer Islands i Antarktis – II. - Naturens Verden 11, 2-11
Bennike, O., Wagner, B.
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2007. The heterogeneity of Holocene climatic and environmental history along the East Antarctic coastal regions. X International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences, St. Barbara, USA
Wagner, B., Melles, M.
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2008. Die spätquartäre Umwelt- und Klimageschichte der Rauer Inseln (Ostantarktis) - Geochemische Untersuchungen an küstennahen marinen Sedimenten. 23. Internationale Polartagung, Münster, Germany
Berg, S., Wagner, B., Melles, M.
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2008. Late Quaternary environmental history of the Rauer Group (East Antarctica). 2008 EGU General Assembly in Vienna, Austria
Berg, S., Wagner, B., Ortlepp, S., Bennike, O., White, D.
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2008. Late Quaternary environmental history of the Rauer Group, Prydz Bay region, as deduced from lake and marine basin sediments. Reports on Polar and Marine Research 583, 80-94
Wagner, B., Bennike, O., Berg, S., Fritz, M., Klatt, O., Klug, M., Muhle, K., Ortlepp, S., Vogel, H., White, D.
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2008. The Late Quaternary environmental history of the Rauer Group (East Antarctica). SCAR/IASC IPY Open Science Conference, St. Petersburg, Russia
Berg S., Wagner B., Melles M.
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2009. Geomorphology and glacial history of Rauer Group, East Antarctica. - Quaternary Research 72, 80-90
White, D.A., Bennike, O., Berg, S., Harley, S.L., Fink, D., Kiernan, K., McConnell, A., Wagner, B.
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2009. Holocene environmental and climate history of Rauer Group, East Antarctica. 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA
Berg, S., Wagner, B., Melles, M.
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2009. New marine core record of Late Pleistocene glaciation history, Rauer Group, East Antarctica. - Antarctic Science 21, 299-300
Berg, S., Wagner, B., White, D.A., Cremer, H., Bennike, O., Melles, M.
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2009. Ostantarktische Oasen als Archive quartärer Umwelt- und Klimageschichte- die Rauer Gruppe. 31. Treffen des Arbeitskreises Geologie und Geophysik der Polargebiete der DGP
Berg, S.
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2010. Late Quaternary environmental and climate history of Rauer Group, East Antarctica. - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 297, 201-213
Berg, S., Wagner, B., Cremer, H., Leng, M.J., Melles, M.
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2010. Late Quaternary environmental history of Rauer Group, East Antarctica. - University of Cologne, PhD Thesis
Berg, S.
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2010. No significant ice-sheet expansion beyond present ice margins during the last 4500 years at Rauer Group, East Antarctica. - Quaternary Research 74, 23-25
Berg, S., Wagner, B., White, D., Melles, M.
