Sources and abundance of volcanogenic sediment in piston cores from the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Abstract

The 87Srj86Sr ratios and Sr concentrations of detrital silicate fractions of sediment of late Pliocene to Holocene age in the Ross Sea are controlled by the presence of varying proportions of volcanogenic detritus. A quantitative interpretation of the data in terms of a two-component mixing model leads to the conclusion that Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanics of West Antarctica were the principal source of volcanogenic detritus in sediments of late Pliocene age. A thin and discontinuous layer of Holocene sediment contains much lower concentrations of volcanic detritus of basaltic composition.