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ANALYSIS OF THE SEDIMENTARY AND GEOMORPHIC SIGNATURE OF RETREATING TIDEWATER GLACIERS IN WESTERN ANTARCTIC PENINSULA BAYS A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Houston In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Geology By Yuribia Patricia Muñoz May 2018 ANALYSIS OF THE SEDIMENTARY AND GEOMORPHIC SIGNATURE OF RETREATING TIDEWATER GLACIERS IN WESTERN ANTARCTIC PENINSULA BAYS _______________________________________________ Yuribia P. Muñoz APPROVED: _______________________________________________ Dr. Julia S. Wellner Chair of the Committee Dept. Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Houston _______________________________________________ Dr. Joel Saylor Dept. Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Houston _______________________________________________ Dr. Paul Mann Dept. Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Houston _______________________________________________ Dr. John B. Anderson Dept. Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences Rice University _______________________________________________ Dean College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics University of Houston ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful to have worked with Dr. Julia S. Wellner. Julia has been an advisor and a mentor since before starting my Ph.D. journey. This journey has been full of new and fulfilling experiences from a micropaleontology class in Italy to hiking in Svalbard and sailing in Antarctica. Julia has inspired me to not only be a better scientist but also to keep striving to become a better person. Thank you! I also want to thank my committee members, Dr. Joel Saylor, Dr. Paul Mann, and Dr. John Anderson for their advice and constructive feedback on this dissertation. I want to thank the crew and science parties of expeditions NBP0201, NBP0502, NBP0602A, NBP0703, NBP1001, NBP1203, and NBP1502 on board the RV/IB Nathaniel B. Palmer. In addition, expeditions ARA1304 and ANA07D on board the RV/IB Araon. Also, thanks to Dr. Kyu-Cheul Yoo, Dr. Min Kyung Lee, and Dr. Sung Han Kim that invited me to participate in the ANA07D expedition on the RV/IB Araon. The people in the LARISSA program with whom I first traveled to Antarctica: Dr. Eugene Domack, Dr. Amy Leventer, Dr. Maria Vernet, and specially Dr. Stefanie Brachfeld, were an inspiration to undertake and complete the research presented here. Dr. Charlotte Sjunneskog, Steven Petrushak, Dr. Vincent Salters, and the staff from the Antarctic Marine Research Facility at Florida State University were extremely helpful sampling cores and for that I am very thankful. I am very grateful to Dr. Claire Allen, Dr. Patricia Manley, Dr. Alastair Graham, and Dr. Stephen Livingstone for their helpful comments and suggestions that greatly improved my writing. iii My friends and lab mates with whom I have spent countless hours in the lab, in the field, and also having, much needed, fun away from my desk: Proma Bhattacharyya, Janet Kong, Delaney Robinson, Rachel Clark, Alicia Staszyc, Laurin Hardin Musso, Helena Manuel, and Reham Rafe. Jennifer Campo has been the most fun partner during fieldtrips and also a great help dealing with some stubborn software. Carolina Ramon- Dueñas has also been a dear partner in fieldtrips and in the lab, may we keep having ideas to publish! Colleagues from other labs have also inspired me through their hard work and dedication: Dr. Rebecca Minzoni, Dr. Rodrigo Fernandez, Dr. Lauren Simkins, Lindsay Prothro, Ruthie Halberstadt, and Dr. Veronica Sanchez. I am definitely forgetting to include some people, but I really appreciate all the help throughout my years at UH. And finally, my family that has supported me throughout the many years of school; mis queridas hermanas y por supuesto mi madre, porque gracias a ella todo esto ha sido posible. Funding for my research was provided by the National Science Foundation through a Graduate Research Fellowship and the Office of Polar Programs grant no. OPP0739596 to Julia S. Wellner and John B. Anderson. Additional funding was provided by the Merage Foundation for the American Dream Fellowship, the Association for Women Geoscientists, the British American Foundation of Texas, the Houston Geological Society, and several scholarships from UH and the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department. iv ANALYSIS OF THE SEDIMENTARY AND GEOMORPHIC SIGNATURE OF RETREATING TIDEWATER GLACIERS IN WESTERN ANTARCTIC PENINSULA BAYS An Abstract of a Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Houston In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Geology By Yuribia Patricia Muñoz May 2018 v ABSTRACT The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is the northernmost extent of the Antarctic continent. Due to the location of this small ice cap, it is being subjected to warming earlier than the Antarctic mainland and serves as a natural laboratory to study changes in glacial stability and the resulting sediment deposits. The AP is a rapidly changing area and assessing past responses to climate events in this region would enable us to predict more accurately future trends as climatic conditions fluctuate in the AP and in other areas in Antarctica. Sediment analysis coupled with 210Pb, 137Cs, and radiocarbon dating, as well as multibeam swath bathymetry and shallow seismic (CHIRP) were used to study the modern surface sediment distribution in Flandres Bay, the geomorphic seafloor features in bays throughout the AP, and Holocene sediment cores from Flandres, Collins, and Beascochea bays. In Flandres Bay, grain size coarsens from the inner to the outer bay. Discrete areas of the bay are affected differently by varying factors to distribute sediment; these factors include persistent fast sea ice, differential rates of primary productivity, and winnowing of fine grained sediments away from the bay. The geomorphology found in the seafloor of western AP bays indicates that bay geometry exerts a control on the number and type of landform features found in the bays. We identified networks of channels carved in bedrock, likely produced by subglacial meltwater channels, which highlights the presence of subglacial meltwater production in the northern AP region, possibly through several glacial cycles. vi Results from sediment core analysis from Collins Bay suggest deglaciation started before 9280 cal. yr B.P., while in Beascochea Bay deglaciation started much later, possibly around 5910 cal. yr B.P. A recent glacial advance was interpreted in the inner bay areas of Collins, Beascochea, and Flandres bays, roughly corresponding to the Little Ice Age. This conclusion is also supported by geomorphic features found in proximal bay areas which indicate a recent glacial advance. The modern glacial retreat is observed in most bays studied in the AP indicating a common forcing mechanism, likely the intrusion of warmer water melting the glacier fronts. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. xiii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 Tectonic setting of the Antarctic Peninsula ........................................................................... 4 Chapter 2 LOCAL CONTROLS ON SEDIMENT ACCUMULATION AND DISTRIBUTION IN FLANDRES BAY: IMPLICATIONS FOR PALEOENVIRONMENTAL INTERPRETATIONS ......................................................... 8 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 8 2. Study Area ........................................................................................................................... 12 2.1. Background.................................................................................................................. 12 2.2. Setting ........................................................................................................................... 13 3. Methods ............................................................................................................................... 16 3.1. Multibeam swath bathymetry .................................................................................. 16 3.2. Sediment cores ............................................................................................................ 17 4. Results .................................................................................................................................. 19 4.1. Bathymetry .................................................................................................................. 19 4.2. Surface sediment description .................................................................................... 21 4.2.1. Sediment texture and lithology........................................................................ 21 4.2.2. Sediment facies