1. Australian Antarctic Data Centre
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4. 1071_PCMEGA

Description

Field analysis of included quantification of clast rounding and lithology, and weathering features such as tafoni, elongated pitting, sand accumulations, frost shattering, glacial polish, and the degree of weathering based on the Moriwaki et. al. 1991 and 1994 scheme. Schmidt hammer tests on boulders were undertaken at approximately 30 sites.

Approximately 200 sediment (predominantly glacial but also some glaciofluvial, lacustrine and aeolian), 50 surface salt and 100 cosmogenic exposure age samples were taken from the Southern Prince Charles mountains during the PCMEGA (Prince Charles Mountains Expedition of Germany and Australia) expedition of the 2002/03 summer.

The matrix (less than 2 mm fraction) of the sediments are to be subjected to grain size and elemental analysis. Approximately 20 cosmogenic exposure age samples will be selected to date glacial highstands.

Aspects of the data are to be used for various publications on glacial history, and geomorphic agents active in the region.

The download file contains a large number of images taken as part of this project, plus an excel spreadsheet of data with an accompanying word document.

This work was undertaken as part of the PCMEGA project, and was part of ASAC project 1071 (ASAC_1071).

Quality

Cosmogenic Exposure Age samples were collected from glacial erratics and glacially eroded bedrock. Small, glacially rounded and striated samples on stable bedrock sites with little shielding were favoured. Where it occurred, shielding was constrained using a sighting clinometer ( 1 degree) and compass ( 2 degrees) at each break in slope. Photographs were taken to document the location of each sample within the landscape. Sample preparation and analysis will be conducted by ANSTO at the ANTARES tandem accelerator facility in Lucas Heights.

Sediments were sampled from within 20cm of the surface, with particles greater than 4cm removed by hand. At Mount Stinear, sites were selected to remove the influence of post-glacial transport on sediment composition, and to gain a geographical and altitudinal spread of material. At the remaining sites, glacial history and transport direction were more easily distinguished and samples were chosen to represent the character of each glacial maxima. Sand size particle size analysis is being conducted using a settling tube and silt clay material by a malvern 2000 laser diffractometer after dispersion with a chemical dispersant and ultrasonic action for 30 minutes. Analysis of major and trace elements will be conducted by XRF. Clay mineralogy may also be investigated using either a combination of XRD and PIMA. Salts were sampled on an opportunistic basis to gain diversity in spatial extent, salt type (based on field appearance) and altitude. Mineralogy will be classified by XRD.

Access

Some photographs from the expedition are available for download from the provided URL. An excel spreadsheet and an accompanying word document are also available for download at the provided URL. The word document also describes data collected as part of metadata record: 'ASAC_1071_Loewe'.

Temporal Coverages

• Start date: 2002-12-02 - Stop date: 2003-01-23

Spatial Coverages

64

69

-74.5

-72

+-

Leaflet

Latitude

Northernmost:

-72

Southernmost:

-74.5

Longitude

Westernmost:

64

Easternmost:

69

Minimum Altitude:

50 Metres

Maximum Altitude:

2000 Metres

Science Keywords

• EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > ICE DEPTH/THICKNESS
• EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > ICE EXTENT
• EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > ICE SHEETS

Use Constraints

This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=1071_PCMEGA when using these data.