Antarctic erosion history reconstructed by Terre Adélie moraine geochronology

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>We report apatite fission-track and <jats:sup>10</jats:sup>Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) dating of 14 moraine boulders originating from inland Terre Adélie, East Antarctica. These data show cooling of the Proterozoic Terre Adélie craton at &lt; ~120°C between 350 and 300 Ma, suggesting &gt; 4 km temperate glacial erosion during the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age, followed by nearly null Mesozoic erosion and low glacial erosion (&lt; 2 km) in the Cenozoic. Based on glacial flux maps, the origin of the boulders may be located ~400 km upstream. Preliminary TCN (<jats:sup>10</jats:sup>Be) datings of moraine boulders cluster within the last 30 ka. Cosmogenic ages from the Lacroix Nunatak suggest a main deglaciation after the Younger Dryas at <jats:italic>c.</jats:italic> 10 ka, while those of Cap Prud'homme mostly cluster at 0.6 ka, in agreement with an exhumation of boulders during the Little Ice Age.</jats:p>