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Holocene history of the Larsen-A Ice Shelf constrained by geomagnetic paleointensity dating

¹ Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
² Department of Geology, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York 13323, USA
³ Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environment, Unite mixte Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
⁴ Department of Geology, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York 13346, USA
⁵ Department of Geology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, USA
⁶ Department of Geography, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada
⁷ Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Trieste, Italy
⁸ Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA

A sedimentary record collected from beneath the former Larsen-A Ice Shelf reveals the Holocene history of the Larsen-A region. The record begins with the transition from grounded ice to a floating ice shelf, completed by 10.7 ± 0.5 ka, and ends with the modern recession. The record contains several late Holocene diatomaceous ooze layers that suggest proximity to productive open-water events. Radiocarbon ages obtained from these sediments were complicated by the presence of detrital and reworked carbon. We have eliminated these complications and constructed a chronology for the Larsen-A Ice Shelf history via tuning of the geomagnetic field paleointensity record with a reference curve. This approach provides chronological control to sediment sequences that lack appropriate material for radiocarbon dating. Geomagnetic paleointensity features with wavelengths of 2–3 k.y. can be recognized and interhemispherically correlated, illustrating the potential to use geomagnetic paleointensity variations as a global correlation and dating tool at sub-Milankovitch time scales.

Key Words: Larsen Ice Shelf • Antarctic Peninsula • geomagnetic paleointensity • Holocene

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