Sediments in palaeo-notches: potential proxy records for palaeoclimatic changes in Antarctica

Many climatic proxy materials, such as ice cores, coastal and lacustrine sediments, and abandoned penguin rookeries, have been used to study palaeoclimatic changes and the palaeoenvironmental evolution of Antarctica. In this paper, we report another geological record-well preserved sedimentary sequences in the palaeo-notches in marine terraces of Fildes Peninsula, King George Island. Based upon grain size distribution and microtexture, geochemical element compositions, and radiocarbon dating, we identified the sediments in one palaeo-notch as lacustrine sediments, most likely deposited in a small palaeo-lake. From these data, we inferred that between 4000 and 3000 yr B.P. a moderate chemical weathering occurred and the climate was warmer and more humid than present, in good agreement with the findings from other climatic proxy materials. We believe that the sediments in palaeo-notches provide another reliable proxy material for studying the palaeoclimate and the palaeoenvironment in Antarctica. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.