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A 45,000 yr record of Adélie penguins and climate change in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

¹ Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina, 601 S. College Road, Wilmington, North Carolina 28403, USA
² Department of Geography, University of Utah, 260 S. Central Campus Drive, Room 270, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
³ Geology Department, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 723 W. Michigan Street, Room SL118, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA

Well-preserved remains of bone, tissue, and eggshell of Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) have been recovered from numerous abandoned colonies in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica. Radiocarbon dates on these remains provide an occupation history for this species ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of years ago. We completed 62 new radiocarbon dates on these remains, which now indicate that an open-water marine environment existed in the Ross Sea from ca. 45,000 to 27,000 ¹⁴C yr before present (B.P.) and provide constraints for the timing of the last advance of the Ross Ice Sheet. Penguins did not recolonize the Ross Sea until ca. 8000 calendar years (cal yr) B.P., after the early Holocene retreat of the Ross Ice Sheet. Two subsequent periods of abandonment at 5000–4000 and 2000–1100 cal yr B.P. correlate with cooling episodes that caused unfavorable marine conditions for breeding penguins. Most modern colonies were established only within the past 2000 yr.

Key Words: Adélie Penguin • abandoned colonies • occupation history • Ross Sea • ice sheet

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. E. Whittaker, B. L. Hall, C. H. Hendy, and S. A. Spaulding Holocene depositional environments and surface-level changes at Lake Fryxell, Antarctica The Holocene, August 1, 2008; 18(5): 775 - 786. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. D. Emslie and W. P. Patterson From the Cover: Abrupt recent shift in {delta}13C and {delta}15N values in Adelie penguin eggshell in Antarctica PNAS, July 10, 2007; 104(28): 11666 - 11669. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]