Grain Size, Mineralogy and Geochemistry in Late Quaternary Sediments from the Western Ross Sea outer Slope as Proxies for Climate Changes

Abstract

Textural, mineralogical and geochemical investigations of three sedimentary sequences from the Ross Sea continental slope allow to give some important indications on climatic and environmental changes occurred during the Late Quaternary. The cores show cyclical changes in several proxies (grain size, mineralogical and geochemical parameters) which are in phase with glacial/interglacial changes (MIS 1-8). Such fluctuations are supposed to be driven by changes in transport mechanisms, reworking and provenance of the material, as well as by changes in direction and strength of marine currents induced by variations in the ice coverage.