Glacial lakes and geomorphological evolution of Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica, during Late Quaternary

Large former glacial lakes and their sediments are described from the Schirmacher Oasis region of East Antarctica. The water bodies were present during the Late Quaternary (∼10–3 ka BP) and have reduced in size by negative water balance. This desiccation can possibly be attributed to the combined effect of recession of glaciers feeding them, low melt water, low precipitation and strong winds. Seven representative sections from five dry lake beds have been studied using loss-on-ignition (LOI) and Magnetic Susceptibility (MS). The LOI indicates a very low organic content, while MS enables assumptions to be made about the reconstruction of changing detrital input. Detailed study of sediment profiles was used to reconstruct the evolution of the Schirmacher Oasis from 13 ka BP to the present. These lacustrine sediments are a very important source of information on the Quaternary geological history of the Schirmacher Oasis.