Quick
Search: 		  
advanced search
 GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help 
Geology Don't get GSW? Talk to your librarian.
JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Geology; February 2005; v. 33; no. 2; p. 121-124; DOI: 10.1130/G21064.1
© 2005 Geological Society of America
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ng, F.
Right arrow Articles by Stone, J. O.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation

Fast-growing till over ancient ice in Beacon Valley, Antarctica

Felix Ng1, Bernard Hallet2, Ronald S. Sletten2 and John O. Stone2

1 Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
2 Quaternary Research Center and Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA

We analyze published cosmogenic 3He depth profiles through the till that covers relict glacier ice in Beacon Valley, Antarctica, in order to derive rigorous constraints on the till thickness history, and on the amount and rate of ice loss by sublimation. The till is a residue of debris-laden ice that sublimed. The 3He profiles show that the lower 80% of the till formed in the past 310–43 k.y. under sublimation rates averaging >7 m·m.y.–1 (meters per million years). Such rapid recent growth of the till contradicts previous interpretations that it is older than 8.1 Ma at an adjacent site, where it encloses volcanic ash of this age. We question whether the ash provides a valid age constraint for the ice. Cosmogenic nuclide analysis of the till where the ash was collected for dating should resolve this question.

Key Words: Antarctica • Dry Valleys • glacial deposits • cosmogenic elements • sublimation




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Geological Society of America BulletinHome page
A.R. Lewis, D.R. Marchant, A.C. Ashworth, S.R. Hemming, and M.L. Machlus
Major middle Miocene global climate change: Evidence from East Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains
Geological Society of America Bulletin, November 1, 2007; 119(11-12): 1449 - 1461.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
S. S. Johnson, M. B. Hebsgaard, T. R. Christensen, M. Mastepanov, R. Nielsen, K. Munch, T. Brand, M. T. P. Gilbert, M. T. Zuber, M. Bunce, et al.
Ancient bacteria show evidence of DNA repair
PNAS, September 4, 2007; 104(36): 14401 - 14405.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Geological Society of America BulletinHome page
K. J. Harris, A. E. Carey, W.B. Lyons, K. A. Welch, and A. G. Fountain
Solute and isotope geochemistry of subsurface ice melt seeps in Taylor Valley, Antarctica
Geological Society of America Bulletin, May 1, 2007; 119(5-6): 548 - 555.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2009 by Geological Society of America