aboriginalflag

RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.

Patterns of glacial erosion and deposition in Prydz Bay and the past behaviour of the Lambert Glacier

Papers & Reports

Summary

Styles of glacial sedimentation and erosion in Prydz Bay respond to glacial and interglacial cycles and fall into three zones; an inner zone of net erosion, a middle zone of subglacially eroded and deformed transitional glacial marine deposits and an outer zone of subglacial till deposition and shelf progradation. The inner zone is the region of maximum basal shear stress and inner-shelf deep formation by enhanced erosion in areas where tributary glaciers converge with the extended Lambert Glacier. The middle zone is underlain by sediments deposited near the ice-grounding zone during retreat, both as blanket like deposits and as grounding-line moraines. This material is then deformed into elongate subglacial bedforms (megaflures or drumlins), a process that probably involves some erosion. Deforming subglacial bed conditions extend to the shelf edge within a valley crossing the shelf on the western side of Prydz Bay. The outer zone is a zone of net
deposition of compact subglacial till and prograding continental slope deposits formed during full glacial conditions and glacial marine sediment formed during ice retreat. The inferred build up of ice on the Ingrid Christensen Coast may have been responsible for the development of the western ice stream that flowed in Prydz Channel. The geometry of seismic sequences in Prydz Channel suggests that this ice stream and its associated trough mouth fan developed after a major episode of shelf and slope erosion during the Pliocene.

 

Keywords:

Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library

Acknowledgement of Country

The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.

aboriginalflag

On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.