A mid to late Holocene readvance of the Law Dome ice margin, Budd Coast, East Antarctica

Abstract

Glacial geological studies on the Windmill Islands and along the Budd Coast at the margin of the Law Dome, East Antarctica, indicate that the glacial extent of Law Dome has fluctuated during the Holocene. The morphology and structural geology of the present ice margin and Løken Moraines indicate that Law Dome has readvanced over part of the Windmill Islands since the culmination of the post-glacial retreat. Sedimentological and geochemical analyses show that Løken Moraines comprise reworked proglacial and coastal marine sediments and ice, which supports the morphological and structural evidence for a readvance. A chronology for the readvance is produced from relative lichenometry of Løken Moraines and coastal nunataks in conjunction with 14C radiocarbon dates from the proglacial and coastal zones. The combined glaciological and geological evidence suggests that the readvance occurred after c. 4000 yr BP in response to a positive mass balance on Law Dome during the Holocene.