Abstract
Abstract. Glacial geomorphology is used in Antarctica to reconstruct ice advance during the Last Glacial Maximum and subsequent retreat across the continental shelf. Analogous geomorphic assemblages are found in glaciated fjords and are used to interpret the glacial history and glacial dynamics in those areas. In addition, understanding the distribution of submarine landforms in bays and the local controls exerted on ice flow can help improve numerical models by providing constraints through these drainage areas. We present multibeam swath bathymetry from several bays in the South Shetland Islands and the western Antarctic Peninsula. The submarine landforms are described and interpreted in detail. A schematic model was developed showing the features found in the bays: from glacial lineations and moraines in the inner bay to grounding zone wedges and drumlinoid features in the middle bay and streamlined features and meltwater channels in the outer bay areas. In addition, we analysed local variables in the bays and observed the following: (1) the number of landforms found in the bays scales to the size of the bay, but the geometry of the bays dictates the types of features that form; specifically, we observe a correlation between the bay width and the number of transverse features present in the bays. (2) The smaller seafloor features are present only in the smaller glacial systems, indicating that short-lived atmospheric and oceanographic fluctuations, responsible for the formation of these landforms, are only recorded in these smaller systems. (3) Meltwater channels are abundant on the seafloor, but some are subglacial, carved in bedrock, and some are modern erosional features, carved on soft sediment. Lastly, based on geomorphological evidence, we propose the features found in some of the proximal bay areas were formed during a recent glacial advance, likely the Little Ice Age.
Highlights
While warming temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) have resulted in the retreat of 90 % of the regional glaciers (Cook et al, 2014) and the collapse of ice shelves (Morris and Vaughan, 2003; Cook and Vaughan, 2010), recent studies have shown that since the late 1990s this region is currently experiencing a cooling trend (Turner et al, 2016)
We focus this study on four bays throughout the AP: Maxwell Bay, located on King George Island (KGI), north of the AP; Hope Bay, located on the northernmost tip of the AP known as the Trinity Peninsula; Lapeyrère Bay, on Anvers Island, west of the AP; and Beascochea Bay, located in the Graham Land Coast of the western AP (Fig. 1)
We present a generic model representative of the geomorphology in the western AP bays (Fig. 8), it is clear that not all the features are present in all the bays and we examined the local conditions in order to understand ice flow in the western AP
Summary
While warming temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) have resulted in the retreat of 90 % of the regional glaciers (Cook et al, 2014) and the collapse of ice shelves (Morris and Vaughan, 2003; Cook and Vaughan, 2010), recent studies have shown that since the late 1990s this region is currently experiencing a cooling trend (Turner et al, 2016). It leaves behind glacial geomorphic features on the seafloor; these submarine landforms have been mapped in glaciated environments in Antarctica (Anderson et al, 2001; Wellner et al, 2001, 2006; Evans et al, 2004; Heroy and Anderson, 2005; Larter et al, 2009; Livingstone et al, 2013; Hodgson et al, 2014), southern Chile (Dowdeswell and Vasquez, 2013), North America (Dowdeswell et al, 2016), and northern Europe (Ottesen et al, 2005; Ottesen and Dowdeswell, 2006, 2009; Dowdeswell et al, 2010), giving insight into the glacial history of each region.
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