Holocene paleoclimate change in the Antarctic Peninsula: evidence from the diatom, sedimentary and geochemical record

Abstract

Holocene, marine deposition in Lallemand Fjord, Antarctic Peninsula, is reinterpreted using statistical analyses (cluster analysis, analysis of variance, nonmetric multidimensional scaling and multiple regression) to compare diatom assemblages and the primary sedimentological proxies. The assemblages have been deposited in a variable sea ice zone over the last ca. 10,500 yr BP in response to a climate change. In the Late Pleistocene/early Holocene (10,580–7890 yr BP), a sea ice diatom assemblage was deposited in the presence of a retreating ice shelf at the head of the fjord. In the mid Holocene (7890–3850 yr BP), an open water assemblage was deposited and sea ice cover was at a minimum. We associate the assemblage with climatic warming, which characterizes much of the Antarctic Peninsula during this time. A second sea ice assemblage, different from that deposited in the early Holocene, has been deposited in Lallemand Fjord since the late Holocene (<3850 yr BP). The assemblage reflects Neoglacial cooling, an increase in sea ice extent and/or an advance of the Müller Ice Shelf.