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Oceanographic and Physiographic Controls on Modern Sedimentation Within Antarctic Fjords

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Oceanographic and Physiographic Controls on Modern Sedimentation Within Antarctic Fjords Oceanographic and physiographic controls on modern sedimentation within Antarctic fjords EUGENE W. DOMACK Geology Department, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York 13323 SCOTT ISHMAN U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092 ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION biological facies distributions to observed oceanic and glaciologic regimes within bays Physical oceanographic data and modern When compared to investigations of other and fjords, and present a quantified treatment surface sediments were collected from eleven depositional systems, the study of glacial ma- of modern glacial marine sediments that were Qords along the western side of the Antarctic rine deposits and processes is still in its in- collected from the western side of the Ant- Peninsula and South Shetland Islands. Surface fancy (Reading, 1986, p. 522; Dowdeswell arctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands sediment samples (62) were analyzed for tex- and Scourse, 1990; Anderson and Ashley, (Fig. 1). The data presented within this paper ture and total organic carbon content. The dis- 1991). This is partly due to the difficulty in- will also serve as a guide to interpreting the tribution of biogenic and terrigenous facies volved in conducting field studies of modern depositional record of Pleistocene/Holocene within the Qords is controlled by bay geometry environments but is also due to the real com- sequences along the Peninsula. and oceanographic regime. Climate plays a sec- plexity of glacial marine deposystems. This ondary role but, along with ice drainage basin complexity arises because of the great diver- SETTING size, controls the rate of terrigenous supply to sity of sediment sources and processes that the glacial marine environment. Specifically, introduce and redistribute sediment compo- The western margin of the Antarctic Pe- Qords along the Danco Coast and Palmer Ar- nents in the glacial marine realm (Syvitski, ninsula represents an area where climatic chipelago with a high length to width ratio tend 1989). For instance, at least nine distinct conditions are transitional between polar and to have bottom sediments that are arenaceous mechanisms can be recognized for the re- subpolar. Mean summer temperatures are where ice-rafted sediment is released preferen- lease of terrigenous debris into the ocean just at, or slightly above, 0 °C (Fig. 2), result- tially at the head of the Qord. Biogenic facies (Anderson and others, 1983; Drewry, 1986; ing in limited surface melting and runoff. Late are favored where the bay geometry is com- Drewry and Cooper, 1981; and Kellogg and summer snow lines vary in elevation from plex. Where such complexity exists, separate Kellogg, 1988). Because of this complexity, —150 m (South Shetland Islands) to tens of oceanographic regimes develop that lead to few guiding principles have been established meters (Danco Coast and Palmer Archipela- separation of terrigenous and biogenic sedi- that can be used for the interpretation of strat- go). The adjacent land masses and islands are ments. Processes of interflow (mid- and deep- igraphic sequences, and hence our ability to all heavily glaciated. Seasonal sea ice cover water turbid cold tongues) and Coriolis deflec- link the depositional record of a glacimarine dominates most of the area while more per- tion produce terrigenous facies along the inner unit to climate variability is limited to the sim- sistent sea ice (land-fast ice) is found along Qord and western edges of a Qord system. ple inference of glaciation. Yet more precise the southern part of the study area. Hence, Warm outer bay waters tend to develop a sta- paleoclimatic inferences should be possible the area represents an ideal situation in which ble eddy circulation pattern that favors the because glaciation at sea level can occur un- to establish links between modern sediment productivity of phytoplankton in the surface der a variety of climatic settings from tem- facies and processes governed by climate, layers. Outer bays are therefore floored with perate oceanic, to subpolar, to polar (Ander- sea ice, glacial character, and oceanographic organic-rich siliceous muds and ice-rafted ma- son and Domack, 1991). One guiding regime. terial. Only in the South Shetland Islands is principle that has recently been put forward melt-water input significant enough to gener- by a number of authors is the role of melt- Ocean Circulation ate estuarine circulation within the Qord, but water sedimentation, as it may reflect con- here strong bottom currents result in arena- trasts between polar, subpolar, and temper- Circulation patterns along the western side ceous bottom sediments with no biogenic fa- ate climatic regimes (Eyles and others, 1985; of the Antarctic Peninsula are not well cies. Ice-rafted diamictons are produced prox- Domack, 1988a; Griffith and Anderson, known. So far, studies have concentrated in imal to the edges of small tide-water glaciers in 1989). In reality, the application of the prin- the Bransfield Strait and adjacent regions of the South Shetlands. The facies relationships ciple of varying melt-water sedimentation is the Orleans Strait (Gordon and Nowlin, 1978; established in this study provide a strong ref- dependent upon a thorough understanding of Tokarc2yk, 1987; Stein, 1982; Stein and Ra- erence for paleoclimatic studies that utilize oceanic circulation patterns and basin geom- kusa-Suszcswewski, 1982; Sarukhanyan and downcore measurements of texture and or- etry, which act together to redistribute and/or Tokarczyk, 1988; Niiler and others, 1991). ganic carbon. enhance sedimentation. The results dis- Waters from the Bellingshausen Sea flow to cussed in this paper are an attempt to test the northeast and penetrate southern regions further the hypothesis of Griffith and Ander- of the Bransfield Strait, just north of Trinity son (1989). We will relate the sediment and Island. These waters continue to flow along Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 105, p. 1175-1189, 13 figs., September 1993. 1175 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/105/9/1175/3381880/i0016-7606-105-9-1175.pdf by guest on 03 October 2021 STUDY 1 AREA South Shetland Islands **"fìq.i2 jS* Bellingshausen Sea Adelaide Island Figure 1. Location of Antarctic Peninsula and regions mentioned in text. Locations of Figures 3, 4, and 12 are also shown. 1176 Geological Society of America Bulletin, September 1993 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/105/9/1175/3381880/i0016-7606-105-9-1175.pdf by guest on 03 October 2021 CONTROLS ON SEDIMENTATION, ANTARCTIC FJORDS Ice Cover Individual ice drainage systems and their flow can be determined from LANDSAT O L- imagery, and these data are shown for two 3 portions of the Peninsula (Figs. 3 and 4). (0 Xm From these maps it is clear that there are sig- O a. —a— Arctowski nificant differences in the size of ice drainage E Primavera systems that enter into the bays and fjords a> Almirante Brown along the Peninsula. Such differences in ice c Palmer drainage size are likely to exert control upon (0 the delivery of terrigenous sediment to the a) Faraday ljord or bay environment, similar to the in- fluence that fluvial drainage basin size exerts upon sediment supply. Most of the bays and fjords along the west- ern side of the Antarctic Peninsula ex- perience seasoned changes in sea ice cover 5 6 7 (NAVAIR, 1985). During extremely cold Months years, land-fast ice persists throughout the Figure 2. Temperature variations along the Peninsula and South Shetland Islands during the summer in the inner reaches of ljords south of period from 1977 to 1981 (Arctowski represents 1978 to 1987). Data are taken from the following the Bismark Strait (Figs. 1 and 4). This sources: Faraday (courtesy of British Antarctic Survey), Palmer (Antarctic Journal of the United change appears to correspond to regional dif- States), Almirante Brown and Primavera (National Meteorological Service, Climatology Divi- ferences in winter/spring climates, as shown sion, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Arctowski (courtesy of Rukusa-Suszcswewski). Note north to by a comparison of meteorologic data along south gradient in mean summer temperatures, which controls the amount of ablation. Also note the peninsula (Fig. 2). Sea ice cover is impor- the general similarity in summer and fall climates and greater divergence of the winter and spring tant because it controls the amount of pri- regimes. Locations of stations are given in Figures 3, 4, and 15. mary production in the surface layer of the ocean by limiting light penetration and pro- ducing surface layer stability (enhanced pro- the southern edge of the South Shetland Is- Deep Water that is limited to areas south of ductivity) during spring melting. Temporary lands, while a strong component of the Ant- the Bismark Strait and west of the Palmer fast ice also serves as a rafting mechanism for arctic Circumpolar Current flows off their Archipelago (see Fig. 4 below). rockfall debris, which accumulates along the northern coasts. Waters from the Weddell base of the steep valley walls. Sea flow into the Bransfield Strait, from the Physiography northeast, and constitute a southwesterly Sediment Patterns flowing current as observed off the Davis The fjords and bays along the Danco Coast Coast. Interaction between the two water are bordered by precipitous cliffs, whereas Prior studies on surficial sediments in the types occurs at the juncture of the Bransfield farther north along the Davis Coast less steep area are presented by Anderson and others and Orleans Strait. Flow of water from the topography prevails (Figs. 3 and 4). This re- (1983), Griffith and Anderson (1989), Gruber Gerlache Strait into the Orleans Strait is in- sults in glaciers of varying longitudinal gradi- and others (1989), and Harden (1989). These dicated by minima in concentrations of ni- ent, so that systems to the south are small in studies show that the sediments distributed trate and phosphate, whereas the Weddell areal extent, steep, and drop dramatically along the Antarctic Peninsula margin vary Sea Water is marked by maxima in these nu- from the high regions of the plateau (Fig.
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