Holocene paleoclimate change in the Antarctic Peninsula: evidence from the diatom, sedimentary and geochemical record

Holocene. marine deposition in Lallemand Fjord. Antarctic: Peninsula, is reinterpreted using statistical analyses (cluster analysis, analysis of variance, nonmetric multidimensional scaling and multiple regression) to compare diatom assemblages and the primary sedimentological proxies. The assemblages have been deposited in a variable sea ice zone over the lust ca. 10.500 yr BP in response to a climate change. In the Late Pleistocene/early Holocene (10,580-7890 yr BP), a sea ice diatom assemblage was deposited in the presence of a retreating ice shelf at the head of the fjord. In the mid Holocene (7890-3850 yr BP), an open water assemblage was deposited and sea ice cover was at a minimum. We associate the assemblage with climatic warming, which characterizes much of the Antarctic Peninsula during this rime. A second sea ice assemblage, different from that deposited in the early Holocene, has been deposited in Lallemand Fjord since the late Holocene (<3850 yr BP). The assemblage reflects Neoglacial cooling, an increase in sea ice extent and/or an advance of the Muller Ice Shelf. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.