Evaluation of Mumiyo Deposits From East Antarctica as Archives for the Late Quaternary Environmental and Climatic History

Abstract

Mumiyo deposits form in the vicinity of snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) nesting sites and consist of fossil stomach oil (mumiyo), guano, and minerogenic material. Here we evaluate mumiyo deposits from the inland mountain ranges of central Dronning Maud Land as high‐resolution archives for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in Antarctica. Investigation of internal structures and chemical composition shows that the lamination reflects progressive sedimentation, despite the irregular outer morphology of the deposits. Detailed radiocarbon analysis demonstrates that stratigraphies are intact: 14C ages become successively younger upwards in the deposits. Fatty acid and n‐alcohol composition was determined on samples from eight mumiyo deposits. Dominance of low molecular weight compounds (C14 to C18) points to a dietary signal; however, the relatively low proportions of unsaturated compounds compared to fresh stomach oils indicates some postdepositional degradation. We found marine diatoms in the mumiyo, which potentially provide a proxy for sea ice conditions in the foraging habitat of the petrels. Age ranges of the investigated deposits suggest occupation of the analyzed sites by snow petrels from 17 ka to >58 ka. Changes in deposition rates point to higher occupation frequency in Petermann Range from 46 to 42 ka compared to the late marine isotope stage 3 and the Last Glacial Maximum.

Summer sea-ice variability on the Antarctic margin during the last glacial period reconstructed from snow petrel (<i>Pagodroma nivea</i>) stomach-oil deposits

“…1) there is fragmentary empirical evidence for polynyas during and before the LGM, as detailed by intervals of high productivity or bottom-current activity in marine sediment cores, and occupation of nesting sites by seabirds that require open water within their foraging range (e.g. Smith et al, 2010;Sprenk et al, 2014;Mackensen et al, 1989;Thatje et al, 2008;Berg et al, 2019;Weber et al, 1994). Millennial-scale variability in the extent of the seasonal sea-ice zone has also been described (Collins et al, 2012;Gersonde et al, 2003;Rae et al, 2018), but large (10 %-20 %) uncertainties remain in both models and geological datasets (Collins et al, 2012;Roche et al, 2012;Gersonde et al, 2003).…”

“…Although sometimes referred to as "Antarctic mumiyo" (e.g. Berg et al, 2019;Thor and Low, 2011), this is a misnomer because its biological origin is so different from the original use of "mumiyo", which was used to describe an organic, tar-like substance of unknown origin found in high-altitude rocks and caves, especially in Asia (Hiller et al, 1988, and references therein;Aiello et al, 2011). We therefore refer to Antarctic "stomachoil deposits" here.…”

“…Progressive accumulation of regurgitated stomach oils at the entrance to snow petrel nests in rock crevices and scree slopes (e.g. Johansson and Thor, 2004) leads to stratified deposits which may span several millennia (Hiller et al, 1988;Wand and Hermichen, 2005;Hiller et al, 1995;Thor and Low, 2011;Berg et al, 2019). The deposits include a mixture of stomach oils, guano, aeolian dust, and other mineral matter (Berg et al, 2019).…”

“…Johansson and Thor, 2004) leads to stratified deposits which may span several millennia (Hiller et al, 1988;Wand and Hermichen, 2005;Hiller et al, 1995;Thor and Low, 2011;Berg et al, 2019). The deposits include a mixture of stomach oils, guano, aeolian dust, and other mineral matter (Berg et al, 2019). Snow petrels forage in open waters at the margins of, or amongst, the sea ice within a restricted range (several 100 km) from their nesting sites (Delord et al, 2016;Marchant and Higgins, 1990).…”

Application of XRF Scanning to Different Geological Archives

“…More recently, researchers have succeeded in applying XRF scanning to speleothem archives (Li et al., 2019; Tan et al., 2018), corals (Ellis et al., 2019), mumiyo mounds (Berg et al., 2019), rocks (Peti et al., 2019), sedimentary nodules (Croudace, Teasdale, & Cundy, 2019), archeological artifacts (Croudace, Löwemark, et al., 2019), tree rings (Hevia et al., 2018; Sánchez‐Salguero et al., 2019) and melt segregations (Alexandrin et al., 2018). Most researchers focus on elemental results with application to paleoclimatic reconstruction.…”