Glaciation history of Queen Maud Land (Antarctica) reconstructed from in-situ produced cosmogenic 10Be, 26Al and 21Ne

Glaciation history of Queen Maud Land (Antarctica) – New exposure data from nunataks

“…In strong contrast to this view is the proposition of a temporary large-scale retreat of the East Antarctic ice sheet during the Pliocene as argued on the basis of fossil finds in the Beardmore Glacier area (Victoria Land) by Webb and Harwood [3]. A more detailed discussion of this controversy can be found in [4], which also contains the first terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide exposure age data from the Wohlthat Massif area in Queen Maud Land. The data presented in [4] do not provide any evidence for a large-scale retreat event during the Pliocene, but rather support the concept of an extremely stable ice sheet.…”

“…A more detailed discussion of this controversy can be found in [4], which also contains the first terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide exposure age data from the Wohlthat Massif area in Queen Maud Land. The data presented in [4] do not provide any evidence for a large-scale retreat event during the Pliocene, but rather support the concept of an extremely stable ice sheet. The dating was performed on quartz rich samples using well known AMS techniques, measuring cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al.…”

“…The dating was performed on quartz rich samples using well known AMS techniques, measuring cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al. The Wohlthat Massif became exposed above the ice surface at least 1-4 Ma ago [4]. This could be because the Antarctic Ice sheet was 200-400 m higher than today until %0.5 Ma ago [3].…”

“…This could be because the Antarctic Ice sheet was 200-400 m higher than today until %0.5 Ma ago [3]. Alternatively, we are dealing with an uplift of the Wohlthat Massif on a geological timescale, see [4].…”

“…The assumed erosion rate of e = 0.01 m/Ma is typical for Antarctica near the sample location (see [4,22,23]). The input parameters for CRONUS-Earth are listed in Table 2.…”