The geochemical response of sedementary archives to rapid recent glacier retreat at WAP: from source to sink

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) belongs to those regions, which are characterized by rapid regional warming and concomitant glacier retreat, affecting the coastal ecosystem by turbid meltwaters and contributing to global sealevel rise. We intend to characterize the particulate (SPM) and dissolved load of glacial meltwaters draining into Potter Cove and Maxwell Bay on King George Island by inorganic geochemical methods (major and minor elements). The extent of meltwater drainage and SPM input will be investigated by analyzing surface sediments from Potter Cove and adjacent areas. Sediment cores from different locations will be used to assess whether the increase in SPM may be quantified by determining sediment accumulation rates with 210Pb. Sediment cores from Potter Cove and Maxwell Bay serve as archives for the climatic and paleoenvironmental development of this area during the Holocene - the last century in particular - and will be analyzed at high temporal resolution. The overarching goal of the proposed study is to assess, based on geochemical proxies, whether the effects of regional warming at WAP are reflected in the sediment geochemistry and if such episodes did occur during other intervals within the Holocene.