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- Title
Assessing the link between coastal morphology, wave energy and sea ice throughout the Holocene from Antarctic raised beaches.
- Authors
SIMKINS, LAUREN MILLER; SIMMS, ALEXANDER RAY; DEWITT, REGINA
- Abstract
ABSTRACT Post-glacial rebound has preserved beaches across many ice-free parts of the Antarctic coastline. These beaches typically contain gravel- to boulder-sized deposits and are built by high-magnitude waves. Five new ages from the western Antarctic Peninsula were added to a compilation of 282 published ages from Antarctic beaches. A reduced compilation based solely on those ages that date beach formation is used to assess variations in beach formation throughout the Holocene around Antarctica. We suggest the clustering of beach ages - centered at 0.8 and 2.4 ka in the Antarctic Peninsula, 1.5, 3.6 and 6.0 ka in the Ross Sea, and a broad peak from 2.7 to 6.3 ka in East Antarctica - indicates periods of heightened wave exposure leading to increased beach formation. Measurements of clast roundness from raised beaches show more rounded material is coincident with periods of heightened beach formation, providing an independent means of assessing wave climate. A comparison of periods of increased beach formation with available sea-ice proxies suggests beach formation is synchronous with reduced sea-ice conditions and thus higher wave climate. As the presence or absence of sea ice determines open-water conditions, the factors that control sea ice directly influence Antarctic coastal evolution.
- Subjects
MARINE terraces; COASTS; WAVE energy; GLACIAL isostasy; BEACHES; HOLOCENE Epoch
- Publication
Journal of Quaternary Science, 2015, Vol 30, Issue 4, p335
- ISSN
0267-8179
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/jqs.2782