Quaternary sediment patterns in the Weddell Sea: relations and environmental conditions

Sediment patterns such as texture, composition, and facies from three selected areas of the Antarctic continental margin of the Weddell Sea are discussed in relation to environmental variations of the Quaternary hydrosphere and kryosphere. Advance and retreat of ice shelves as well as oscillations in sea ice coverage are reflected by particular sediment facies. The distribution of ice-rafted detritus tracks the Antarctic Coastal Current, and the Weddell Sea Bottom water contour current can be recognized by its distinctive winnowing and erosion pattern. Distribution and abundance of biogenic sediment components are mainly controlled by duration of sea ice coverage reflecting the long-term climatic evolution

PANGAEA information system for glaciological data management

Specific parameters determined on cores from continental ice sheets or glaciers can be used to reconstruct former climate. To use this scientific resource effectively an information system is needed which guarantees consistent longtime storage of data and provides easy access for the scientific community.An information system to archive any data of paleoclimatic relevance, together with the related metadata, raw data and evaluated paleoclimatic data, is presented. The system, based on a relational database, provides standardized import and export routines, easy access with uniform retrieval functions, and tools for the visualization of the data. The network is designed as a client/server system providing access through the Internet with proprietary client software including a high functionality or read-only access on published data via the World Wide Web

A young porcellanite occurrence from the Southwest Indian Ridge

A porcellanite layer, probably younger than 0.6-0.4 Ma, of a nearly monomineralic composition of opal-CT was sampled on the Southwest Indian Ridge during Polarstern cruise ANT-VI/3. The intense cementation of the rock, together with recent findings by the Ocean Drilling Program (Legs 113 and 120) and the occurrence of a unique older porcellanite from Eltanin Core 47-15, provides evidence of very early silica precipitation in pure diatom oozes of the Southern Ocean. Such porcellanites occur in shallowly buried young sediments and provide a contrast to the established concepts of porcellanite formation