Investigation of submarine landforms in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula

In this study, glacial landforms and sub-bottom characteristics have been mapped to investigate the late Holocene retreat behaviour of the Fourcade Glacier and to delineate past environmental processes in Potter Cove, King George Island. The comprehensive datasets include high-resolution swath bathymetry, shallow seismic profiling and one sediment core.

Moraines, moraine incisions and glacial lineations were mapped on the sea floor in the inner part of the cove, whereas pockmarks, ice scour marks and channel structures were identified in the outer part. Sub-bottom characteristics have been assigned to different acoustic facies types indicating different depositional settings. The results reveal glacial recessions as well as stillstands and potential readvances during the late Holocene.