• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.41 no.5 s.116
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• pp.513-526
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• 2006

The timing and extent of glaciations during the Late Quaternary in the South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica were defined using field mapping, geomorphic analysis and radiocarbon dating. Landforms of glacial erosion and deposition, in particular subglacial meltwater channel erosion, suggest that at least three glaciations occurred during the late Quaternary within the study region. During the global LGM, glacial troughs (such as Maxwell Bay and Admiralty Bay) were overdeepened by an ice stream moving south from $an\sim1000m-thick$ ice cap centered on the present-day continental shelf to the north. This ice was responsible for the subglacial meltwater channel erosion, and glacial polished and striated bedrock on the Fildes Peninsula. The recent local glaciations occurred about 2,000 years ago and during Little Ice Age (LIA). During these glaciations, glaciers were less extensive than the previous one and less erosive as a cold-based ice

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2004

Sedimentary facies and high-resolution echo facies were analyzed to elucidate sedimentation pattern of the late Quaternary glacial-marine deposits in the northern continental margin of the South Shetland Islands. Six sedimentary facies are classified, based on grain texture and sedimentary structures in gravity cores. The high-resolution (3.5 ㎑) echo characters are classified into 6 echo facies on the basis of clarity, continuity, and shape of bottom and subbottom echoes together with seafloor topography. Distribution of the echo and sedimentary facies suggest that there was a significant change in sedimentation pattern between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and subsequent glacier-retreating period. When the grounded glaciers extended to the present shelfbreak during LGM, coarse-grained subglacial tills were widespread in the shelf area, and deep troughs in the shelf were carved beneath the fast-flowing ice steam. As the glacial margin retreated landward after LGM, dense meltwater plumes released from the retreating ice-front were funneled along the glacier-carved troughs, and accumulated channel- or cannyon-fill deposits in the shelf and the upper to mid slope. At that time, slope sediments seem to have been reworked by slope failures and unsteady contour currents, and further transported by fine-grained turbidity currents along the South Shetland Trench. After the glacial retreat, sediments in the shelf and slope areas have been mainly introduced by persistent (hemi) pelagic settling, and fine-grained turbidity currents frequently occur along the axis of the South Shetland Trench.