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Clay mineralogy of the ocean sediments from the Wilkes Land margin, east Antarctica: implications on the paleoclimate, provenance and sediment dispersal pattern

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Abstract

Core U1359 collected from the continental rise off Wilkes Land, east Antarctica, is analyzed for the clay mineralogy and carbon content. The temporal variation of the clay mineralogical data shows a dominance of illite with chlorite, smectite and kaolinite in decreasing concentration. Clay mineral illite is negatively correlated with smectite which shows enrichment during 6.2–6.8, 5.5–5.8, 4.5 and 2.5 Ma. The mineralogical analyses on the silt size fraction (2–53 μm) of some selected samples were also carried out. The combined result of both the size fractions shows the presence of chlorite and illite in both size fractions, smectite and kaolinite only in clay size fraction (<2 μm) and similarity in the crystallinity and chemistry of illite in both fractions. Similar nature of illite in both fractions suggests negligible role of sorting probably due to the deposition from the waxing ice sheet. During times of ice growth, nearby cratonic east Antarctica shield provided biotite-rich sediments to the depositional site. On the other hand, the presence of smectite, only in the clay size fraction, suggests the effective role of sorting probably due to the deposition from distal source in ice retreat condition. During times of ice retreat, smectite-rich sediment derived from Ross Orogen is transported to the core site through surface or bottom water currents. Poor crystallinity of illite due to degradation further corroborates the ice retreat condition. The ice sheet proximal sediments of U1359 show that in the eastern part of Wilkes Land, the ‘warming’ was initiated during late Miocene.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Director General and Deputy Director General, Geological Survey of India for providing facilities. The authors also thank Shri Basab Chattopadhyay and R.K. Agarwal Director, Geology, Geological Survey of India, Faridabad, for their constant support. This research used samples and data provided by Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) funded the project ‘Paleoclimatic and magmato-metamorphic history of Wilkes Land, East Antarctica: constraints from accessory minerals, clay mineralogy and micropaleontology in oceanic sediments’ under which this work was carried out.

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  1. Geological Survey of India, NH-5P, NIT, Faridabad, 121 001, Haryana, India

    Kamlesh Verma, Sanjeeb Bhattacharya & Prakash K. Shrivastava

  2. Department of Geology, Center of Advanced Study, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    P. Biswas, Mayuri Pandey & N. C. Pant

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  1. Kamlesh Verma
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Correspondence to N. C. Pant.

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Verma, K., Bhattacharya, S., Biswas, P. et al. Clay mineralogy of the ocean sediments from the Wilkes Land margin, east Antarctica: implications on the paleoclimate, provenance and sediment dispersal pattern. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 103, 2315–2326 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-014-1043-4

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