Bunger Hills, East Antarctica: Ice free at the Last Glacial Maximum
- 1Department of Physical Geography, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
- 2Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford University, 6 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3QJ, UK
- 3Departments of Geography and Geology, University of Auckland, Auckland 1030, New Zealand
- 4Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
- 5School of Geosciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales 2308, Australia
- 6Oxford Authentification Ltd., Boston House, Grove Technology Park, Wantage, Oxfordshire OX12 9FF, UK
Abstract
Optically stimulated luminescence dating of glaciofluvial and glacial-lake shoreline sediments indicates that the Bunger Hills area, in coastal East Antarctica, was largely ice free by the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Deglaciation commenced as early as 30 ka, and the southern hills were completely exposed by 20 ka. The sediments do not record evidence of an LGM readvance. Previous reconstructions of LGM ice limits for the area are incompatible with this new evidence.
Footnotes
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↵GSA Data Repository item 2001128, Appendix 1 and sedimentary logs for each dated sample, is available from the Documents Secretary, GSA, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140, editing@geosociety.org, or at www.geosociety.org/pubs/ ft2001.htm.
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- Accepted August 29, 2001.
- Received May 1, 2001.
- Revision received August 14, 2001.
- Geological Society of America
