Site 1098 in Palmer Deep recovered the first ultra high resolution Holocene to late Pleistocene time series from the Antarctic continental margin. The sedimentary record is similar to others obtained by the Ocean Drilling Program in the Cariaco Basin, Saanich Inlet, and Santa Barbara Basin. Whereas Palmer Deep is a deep enclosed basin in an area of high seasonal productivity, anoxic bottom-water conditions have never developed. Rather, the preservation of laminated sediments is a product of sediment focusing and high but short-lived productivity that overwhelms bioturbation. A complementary data set including diatoms, foraminifers, physical properties, grain size, trace elements, organic geochemistry, and sediment color is controlled by a detailed radiocarbon chronology from the composite core stratigraphy. Results indicate a climate record characterized by climate oscillations during the late Pleistocene to Holocene transition, a middle Holocene climatic optimum, and a late Holocene neoglacial. The neoglacial paleooceanographic setting was characterized by alternating Circumpolar Deep Water and saline shelf water at the bottom of the basin. All studies performed to date are in agreement in recognizing the Little Ice Age as a prominent episode in the latest Holocene from 0.7 to 0.2 ka. Detailed studies of laminated intervals indicate that a significant number of productivity events (seasons) are missing; hence, the record is not a complete continuous time series but is nevertheless extremely useful in establishing a paleoenvironmental reference for the circum-Antarctic.
1 Domack, E.W., 2002. A synthesis for Site 1098: Palmer Deep. In Barker, P.F., Camerlenghi, A., Acton, G.D., and Ramsay, A.T.S. (Eds.), Proc. ODP, Sci. Results,178 [Online]. Available from World Wide Web:
<http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/178_SR/chap_34/chap_34.htm>.
[Cited YYYY-MM-DD]
2 Geology Department, Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton NY 13323, USA. edomack@hamilton.edu
Initial receipt: 6 December 2001
Acceptance: 17 June 2002
Web publication:
24 September 2002
Ms 178SR-237