QuaternaryScienceReviews,Vol. 7, pp. 185-198, 1988.

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H O L O C E N E G L A C I E R F L U C T U A T I O N S IN S O U T H A M E R I C A A N D A N T A R C T I C A

Chalmers M. Clapperton

Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB9 2UF, Scotland, U.K.

and
David E. Sugden

Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, Scotland, U.K.

Glacial geologic evidence indicates that glaciers throughout the Andes and Antarctica fluctuated during the Holocene.
Radiocarbon dating and other age determinations suggest that glaciers readvanced significantly only during the last 5 ka,
reaching positions from several 100 m to a few kilometres beyond their present limits. In South America tenuous evidence from
radiocarbon dates, with dendrochronological data and environmental interpretations from pollen analyses indicate four main
periods of Neoglacial advance, culminating 5000-4000 BP, 3000-2000 BP, 1300-1000 BP, and 15th-late 19th centuries; smaller
advances may have occurred at ca. 8400 BP, ca. 7500 BP, and ca. 6300 BP. The meagre data are consistent in indicating broad
synchrony throughout the Andes during the last 5 ka, suggesting response to global climatic changes. Anomalies exist in
Patagonia where some tide-water glaciers reached their maximal Holocene limits recently this century.
The broad spectrum of differing Antarctic environments produces interesting contrasts. Some local glaciers in the McMurdo
Sound area of the East Antarctic continent are more extensive now than during the global glacial maximum ca. 18 ka BP, when
they were starved of precipitation. Consistent agreement among 14 radiocarbon dates from the South Shetland Islands indicates
two main Holocene glacier advances, the most extensive (2-3 km) peaking in the 12th century, the other culminating in the
18th-19th century. Glaciers in South Georgia reached their most advanced Holocene limits before 2200 BP. Moraine Fjord
glacier, which culminated as a 6 km advance between 1460-1700 radiocarbon BP, may have lagged 400-650 years behind the
climatic forcing because it could only advance in its deep-water fjord by building a moraine bank. Smaller advances in South
Georgia culminated in the 17th-19th centuries and during the 1920s-30s.
There is no firm evidence of glacier advances before 3 ka BP in the Southern Ocean-sub-Antarctic domain, but broad
synchrony in glacier advances during the last ca. 3000 years appears to have occurred throughout the Andes-Antarctic transect.
Caution is required in the interpretation and correlation of moraines associated with calving glaciers and of those with poorly
constrained dating.

INTRODUCTION
This review considers the evidence for Holocene
glacier fluctuations along a unique land-based transect
from equatorial to polar latitudes (Fig. 1). It assesses
the validity of data given in a number of papers
supporting a model of at least four major glacier
advances in the Andes. Difficulties encountered in
identifying and dating equivalent Holocene glacier
advances on the Antarctic continent and on subAntarctic islands are discussed prior to an overview of
the entire Andean-Antarctic transect in an attempt to
discern any synchrony or lack of synchrony in the
emerging chronologies.
SOUTH AMERICA

Early-Mid Holocene

Gonzalez et al. (1965), Ochsenius (1980), and Thouret

and van der Hammen (1981). The earliest advance
appears to have been at ca. 8400 BP in Patagonia
(R6thlisberger, 1987), but the regional extent and
climatic significance of this event remain obscure.
Pollen analyses of radiocarbon-dated peat cores have
suggested cold climatic spells at ca. 7500 BP, shortly
before 6050 BP, and 6--5 ka BP (Clapperton, 1983).
These inferences are supported by the radiocarbon
dating of organic material incorporated within lateral
moraines in the tropical Andes (R6thlisberger, 1987).
Most glacier advances in the early-mid Holocene
appear to have been relatively small and imply that
most Andean glaciers at that time may have been
similar in size, or smaller, compared with those of the
present day.

Late Holocene Neoglaciation

It is very likely that most glaciers in the Andes

There is a growing body of evidence that Andean
withdrew within their late-glacial limits during the glaciers expanded on several occasions during the last
period of Holocene warmth that peaked ca. 9400-8600 5 ka, the time period conventionally known as NeoBP (Heusser and Streeter, 1980): some small icefields glaciation. The model for Neoglaciation in the Andes
and glacier systems may have disappeared entirely. derives from the extensive work of J.H. Mercer in
Although there are few stratigraphical and morpho- Patagonia. His scheme of three glacial advances peaklogical data suggesting that glaciers expanded or re- ing 4600-4200 BP, 2700-2000 BP, and A.D. 1600-1850
developed during the next four millennia, early-mid (Mercer, 1965) has been reinforced and repeated in a
Holocene advances have been identified by R6thlis- number of papers (Mercer, 1968, 1970, 1976, 1982).
berger (1987) and inferred from pollen studies by Clapperton (1983) extended this scheme to encompass
185

186

C.M. Clapperton and D.E. Sugden

7O

,/
60

P/CO BOLIVAR

EL ALTAR

~COROILERA BI.ANCA
HUA$CARAN

SOUTH

AMERICA

Mendoza
~

HIELO

TRONADOR . . _ ~
r , ~ ' ) ~

PATAGONICO SUUR
40oS

50

ANTAI~CTIC
,~ ~ ~ ~ ~'NG GEOR
CONVERGENCE 60
ISLAND
SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS~ - "~
LIVINGSTON ISLAND ~ ' ~ "

HIEt.O PATAGONICO NORTE

5 HIELO P A T A G O N I C O S U N

GEONaE Vl S O U N O ~

RNTARCT/C

GEORGIA~
1=*P ~
~
~ -

\
MORAINE
F. . . .

HALLEY BAY

ROSS SEA
MCM. . . .

SOUND..~_~ta/ ~

ANTARCTICA

800KM

SCALE t : 3 2 M

FIG. 1. Location map showing places mentioned in the text.

the entire Andean mountain system, observing that

data from Colombia and Peru in particular appear to
confirm that glaciers in the central and northern Andes
had also advanced during the same three Neoglacial
time periods; an additional stage was suggested for the
8th-9th centuries A.D. Although the scheme is based
on rather meagre data, no evidence has yet been found
to warrant a major modification, and so it is used here
as a framework for discussing Neoglacial glacier fluctuations in South America.

First Neoglacial advance: 5-4 ka BP

Morphological evidence of glacier advances earlier
than those of recent centuries is believed to be most

obvious in some parts of Patagonia where lateral and

terminal moraines bearing mature vegetation contrast
with younger, sparsely vegetated moraines. The
validity of evidence that these moraines were formed
by glacier advances during 5-4 ka BP is worthy of
examination. For example, immense piedmont lobes
developed on the northeastern side of the Hielo
Patagonico Norte where the Gualas, San Rafael, and
San Quintin outlet glaciers advanced 15 km, 10 km,
and 2 km, respectively, beyond their present limits
(Fig. 2). The age of the conspicuous moraines fronting
these glaciers is imprecisely known. A near-basal
sample of organic sediments taken from a kettle pond
on the outermost moraine at Glaciar San Rafael gave a

Holocene Glacier Fluctuations in South America and Antarctica

187

FIG. 2a. Map of the main Patagonian icefields, Hielo Patagonico Norte and Hielo Patagonico Sur, showinglocation of glaciers
referred to in the text.

.............

19th C. MOR/~

FIRST

-- -

PAC/F/C

NEO(

OC~. W

I~KM

FIG. 2b. Glaciers and Neoglacial moraines in the Laguna de San Rafael area, Patagonia (Chile) (after Heusser, 1960).
radiocarbon age of 3610 + 400 BP (later recalculated
to 3740 + 400 BP - - Mercer, 1982, p. 38). Heusser
(1960) originally estimated the moraine to be ca. 4000
years old, but the data clearly give only an upper
limiting age and the feature could be very much older.
A lower limiting age was assumed from a so-called
'interfluctuational section' where silty peat overlain by
85 cm of till gave a radiocarbon age of 6850 + 200 BP
(Heusser, 1960). Since the site is within the glacier's
19th century moraine limits, the overlying till could be
no more than 100 years old, and one implication is that
Glaciar San Rafael may not have advanced further than
its 19th century limits for more than 7000 years. Thus,
the older moraines enclosing Laguna San Rafael could
be late-glacial in age, as suspected by Muller (1960).
Doubt concerning the Neoglacial history of Glaciar San

Rafael is compounded by the absence of any evidence

for an expansion about 3 - 2 ka BP so that Mercer's
interpretation that the San Rafael moraines indicate an
advance peaking 4700-4200 BP will remain equivocal
until further data are found.
Radiocarbon dates from the vicinity of other glaciers
in Patagonia give no more than upper limiting ages for
the moraines with which they are associated (Table 1).
The strongest evidence for a glacier advance 5 - 4 ka BP
comes from only one site, at Glaciar San Lorenzo Este
(Fig. 2), where a small tree was apparently killed when
an ice-dammed lake developed as the glacier advanced
and formed its outermost Neoglacial end moraine. The
radiocarbon age of the tree is 4590 + 115 BP (Mercer,
1968). Even this evidence becomes doubtful if the tree
died for other reasons.

188

C.M. Clapperton and D.E. Sugden

Outside Patagonia only meagre evidence supports a

glacier advance at ca. 5-4 ka BP. It comes from Peru,
where radiocarbon dates (Table 1) were derived from
organic material interbedded within superposed
moraines (moraines formed by repeated glacier advances to roughly the same position) periodically
burying soils and vegetation (c.f. Rrthlisberger and
Schneebeli, 1979). Two of the dates from the Cordillera
Blanca are from soils developed on underlying moraine
pre-dating ca. 3500-3600 BP (Clapperton, 1983). The
morainic material could therefore be associated with an
advance between 5 ka and 4 ka BP, but this remains
uncertain in the absence of lower bracketing dates. The
third date is from peat interbedded with coarse outwash
sediments downstream from the large debris-covered
superposed moraine of Chopicalqui glacier east of
Huascaran in the Cordillera Blanca (Fig. 1). The site
lies inside moraine limits now judged to be of lateglacial age on the basis of the amount of snowline
lowering they indicate. Two interpretations of the peat
bed are possible. One is that the peat became buried by
outwash from a Neoglacial advance shortly after ca.
4300 BP; the other is that peat developed on outwash
from a Neoglacial advance that culminated sometime
before ca. 4300 BP.
It is clear that glacial-geologic evidence for a
Neoglacial advance ca. 5-4 ka BP in South America is
inconclusive. Nevertheless, the evidence, though
tenuous, is sufficiently consistent and persuasive to
support a working hypothesis, but many more data are
required to test it. Weak though the glacial evidence
may be, environmental interpretations from pollen
analyses at sites as far apart as Colombia and southern
Chile are consistent in suggesting a climatic reversal to
cooler, moister conditions during the interval 5-4 ka
BP (Thouret and van der Hammen, 1981; Heusser,
1984; Heusser and Streeter, 1980). Climatically
sensitive glaciers may reasonably be expected to have
advanced in the conditions deduced for Chilean Patagonia where mean annual temperature may have
dropped by 2C and mean annual precipitation rose by
3000 mm (Heusser and Streeter, 1980, Fig. 2, p. 1346).

Second Neoglacial advance: 3-2 ka BP

Evidence for a distinctive Neoglacial advance culminating 3-2 ka BP in South America is also highly
uncertain, the only data coming from Patagonia, Peru,
and Ecuador (Table 1). Apparent confirmation of a
2700-2000 BP advance has been argued from a site
close to Glaciar Upsala, a large outlet from the eastern
side of Hielo Patagonico Sur in Argentina (Mercer,
1965, 1976, 1982). A log embedded in till seemingly
associated with a 10 km readvance moraine (Pearson 1)
gave a radiocarbon age of ca. 2300 BP, implying that
the glacier reached its limit shortly after this date.
Examination of the original field description suggests
that the evidence could be equivocal. For example,
Mercer (1965, p. 404) referred to a 6 m cliff cut in drift
which shows a marked discontinuity between clay-rich
drift below 5 m and drift with less clay above. The 2300

year-old log was embedded in the lower drift. Since the

site lies also within limits of a second readvance
moraine (Pearson 2) believed, on the basis of tree-ring
studies, to have formed ca. A.D. 1600, the implication is
that only the upper clay-impoverished drift was deposited by the younger advance. Such an interpretation
is plausible but not conclusive. Both 'drifts' could be
associated with the A.D. 1600 advance, the lower being
basal till and the upper an ablation till. The strongest
evidence favouring Mercer's interpretation is that the
embedded log was 'well preserved, with bark attached,
and thus was probably buried near where it grew by the
ice advancing past this point about 350 BC' (Mercer,
1965, p. 404). This suggests that the log is unlikely to
have been lying around on the surface for 2000 years
from death until incorporation in an A.D. 1600 advance.
Nevertheless, considerable uncertainty surrounds the
Neoglacial history of this area. If Glaciar Upsala
readvanced 10 km shortly after 2300 BP and 8 km in
A.D. 1600, why is there no evidence of an earlier
Neoglacial readvance? The Peruvian data for an advance culminating 2700-2000 BP are as uncertain as
those for the earlier period. At one site in the
Cordillera Blanca, Rrthlisberger (1987) has radiocarbon-dated soils, bracketing a till, buried within
superposed moraines. The soils have ages of ca. 3500
and ca. 2 ka BP. The till could have been deposited by
a readvance between 2700 and 2 ka BP, but equally
may be associated with an advance peaking shortly
after ca. 3500 BP. The radiocarbon age of ca. 2200 BP
for basal peat overlying large blocks deposited by an
advance of the El Altar caldera glacier in Ecuador (Fig.
1) gives only a minimal age for the deposit (Clapperton,
1986).
Although palynological work in Colombia (Thouret
and van der Hammen, 1981) suggests that a brief spell
of cold climate occurred during the millenium 3-2 ka
BP, conclusive evidence of synchronous glacier readvances throughout the Andes for this period has yet
to be demonstrated. Existing data are consistent and
suggestive, but still equivocal.

Third Neoglacial advance: 1300-1000 BP

Palynological evidence suggests that the interval
2000-1300 BP was a milder period probably characterised by reduced glaciers, but tenuous evidence for
renewed glacial expansion during the following 300
years exists in Peru and Patagonia. The most persuasive
data are from the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, where trees
rooted in an older Neoglacial moraine were overridden
during a readvance peaking sometime after ca. 1325 BP
(Table 1). However, much more evidence is required
before it can be decided whether or not glacier
expansion occurred throughout the Andes.
Fourth Neoglacial advance: 12th-19th centuries
There is growing evidence that glaciers in the
Northern Hemisphere have fluctuated in extent during
at least the last 1300 years (Porter, 1986). Advances in
early Medieval times were separated by an interval of

Holocene GlacierFluctuationsin South Americaand Antarctica

relative warmth extending from ca. A.D. 1090 to A.D.
1230, before the onset of the Little Ice Age. Andean
glaciers may also have advanced during similar time
periods. R6thlisberger (1987) identified two to three
phases of expansion between 1700-1050BP, the
greatest advance occurring at ca. 1100 BP. These were
followed by two advances between 900-500 BP and by
advances during the last three centuries. Ring studies of
trees on recent moraines in Patagonia led Mercer
(1965, 1970) to conclude that different glaciers reached
their maximal limits at different times during the 17th,
18th and 19th centuries. Less precise data from the
more northern Andes suggest that most glaciers were
beginning to recede from near-maximal positions by
the last two decades of the 19th century (Clapperton,
1983).
South American glaciers in the 20th century
Apart from a few notable exceptions, most Andean
glaciers have receded dramatically from enlarged positions in the mid-late 19th century. Photographic
records in places show marked shrinkage by the 1920s
(Broggi, 1943; Oppenheim and Spann, 1946), but the
period of most rapid recession seems to have been
between the early 1930s and the early 1960s. Wood
(1970) estimated that Colombian glaciers decreased in
extent by one-third between 1939 and 1969, while
Broggi (1943) and Oppenheim and Spann (1946) noted
a considerable rise in the snowline of many Peruvian
glaciers. The only report of a reversal in this trend is a
rather dubious observation by Broggi (1943, p. 66),
based on small-scale map evidence, that the snowline
on Huascaran descended 150 m sometime between
1909 and 1932. The vertical rise of the snowline in the
Pico Bolivar area, Venezuela, has been estimated at
6 m per year for the period 1885-1972 (Schubert,
1972), leading to the complete disappearance of many
small glaciers and perennial snowfields. Hastenrath
(1981) reported similar effects in the Ecuadorian Andes
where surviving glaciers exist only on volcanic massifs
rising above 5000 m.
Whereas most glaciers in the central and northern
Andes behave 'normally' unless affected by volcanic
activity, it is clear that some in the southern Andes,
from 41 lat. southwards, exhibit anomalous behaviour
because of their internal dynamics or conditions in their
catchments. For example, some glaciers in the central
Andes of Argentina have experienced rapid advances
over several hundred metres, encouraging the opinion
that they are periodically surging glaciers. Examples
include the Frias glacier on Mount Tronador (Rabassa
et al., 1979), the Laguna and Plomo glaciers in the Rio
Mendoza basin (Cobos and Boninsegna, 1983; Espizfi,
1986) and Mt. Aconcagua where the Atuel glacier
surged 600 m in 1985-86. It is also evident that some
water-terminating glaciers fluctuate out of phase with
adjacent glaciers, notable examples including the
Moreno glacier (Lago Argentino) and Glaciar Bruggen
(Fiordo Eyre) which are eastern and western outlets
from the Hielo Patagonico Sur, respectively (Fig. 2).

189

The Moreno glacier advanced 1 km between 1899 and

1966 (Mercer, 1968) and Glaciar Bruggen advanced
10 km between 1945 and 1983 to reach its maximal
Neoglacial position (J.H. Mercer, pers. commun.,
1987). The reason why these glaciers have advanced in
recent times while most others have been in recession is
not yet understood, but part of the explanation may
rest on the particular dynamics of these calving glaciers
and the topography of their basins. Such differential
behaviour of glaciers in South America, particularly in
Patagonia where the most comprehensive model of
Holocene glacier fluctuations has been derived
(Mercer, 1982), must clearly be taken into account in
assessing the strength of the evidence presented in
support of glacier fluctuations during Neoglaciation.
Assuming that many Andean glaciers have readvanced to similar limits on three or four occasions
during the Holocene, a depression of their equilibrium
line altitude (ELA) by a similar amount each time is
suggested. No estimation has been made for ELA
depression in Patagonia, but calculations for the
tropical Andes suggest a lowering of ca. 200-300 m
(Clapperton, 1986).
THE ANTARCTIC

The record of Neoglacial glacier fluctuations in

Antarctica and surrounding areas is difficult to unravel
for three reasons. First, the record is sparse because
there are few nunataks or oases protruding through the
ice sheet with a glacial-geologic record available for
study. Second, most Antarctic glaciers achieve the bulk
of their ablation by calving. This means that they are
relatively insensitive to temperature fluctuations and
are thus unlikely to respond sensitively to climatic
change as do most other glaciers in the world. Instead,
they respond mainly to changes in accumulation which
affects ice thickness and grounding lines, to cyclical
variations in calving activity and to changes in relative
sea level; the smaller alpine glaciers in maritime areas
may nevertheless fluctuate with climate. Third, the
large size of the Antarctic ice sheet means that its
response to climatic forcing may follow a lag of several
thousand years. Together, these problems present
considerable difficulty in integrating Holocene glacier
fluctuations in Antarctica with a worldwide framework.
This part of the review considers glaciers south of the
Antarctic Convergence (Fig. 1). Since all of this region
is not strictly Antarctica, the discussion focuses on the
following geographical areas; East Antarctica, West
Antarctica, sub-Antarctic islands and South Georgia
(Southern Ocean).
East Antarctica
There are three main localities in East Antarctica
where Neoglacial glacier advances have been recognised. The first is in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (Fig. 1)
where numerous radiocarbon dates reveal that local
glaciers have expanded from a minimal extent during
the last glaciation 18 ka BP and reached a maximal

190

C.M. Clapperton and D.E. Sugden

extent some time in the Holocene (Stuiver et al., 1981).

The interpretation is based on cross-cutting moraine
relationships (Denton et al., 1971). During the last
glacial maximum, glacier ice in the Ross Sea built up
and pushed into the seaward end of the valleys, leaving
a clear upper limit of till often uninterrupted by local
alpine glaciers. Following deglaciation and the withdrawal of glacier ice from the Ross Sea, the alpine
glaciers advanced, locally over the Ross Sea drift. Some
o f these glaciers are currently at their most advanced
Holocene positions - - for example, Canada, Commonwealth, Hobbs, and Walcott Glaciers (Stuiver et al.,
1981). While it is true that most glacier snouts occupy
their maximal Holocene positions, the same is not true
of many glacier lateral margins. Some lateral margins
are bordered by small ice-cored moraines which pass
beneath the glacier towards its snout. At Suess and
Garwood glaciers, these moraines have been radiocarbon dated to about 2900 BP, suggesting that their
maximal Holocene width occurred at that time. Following recession and thinning, subsequent rejuvenation led
to ice flowing more rapidly down the glaciers' centrelines, thereby overriding ice-cored moraines at the
glacier snouts but not at the lateral margins (Denton
and Wilson, 1982). In the Dry Valleys, currently rising
lake levels accompany warming summer temperatures;
since 17 radiocarbon dates indicate high levels for Lake
Vanda at 2-3 ka BP, warmer climatic conditions are
inferred for that ~eriod. There is no evidence for Little
ice Age cooling in the Dry Valleys and the possibility
remains that the last few centuries may have been
warmer than now (G.H. Dentonpers. commun., 1987).
Thus two periods of Neoglacial cooling in South
America may coincide with two periods of warming in
the Dry Valleys. The cause of this anomaly is unknown
but may reflect some local climatic condition.
Interestingly, a similar expansion of alpine glaciers
occurred during at least the last three previous interglaciations (Hendy et al., 1979). Probably the advance
and retreat of the alpine glaciers in the McMurdo Dry
Valleys reflect variations in precipitation (Dort, 1970).
During glaciations the precipitation-bearing winds are
blocked from the Dry Valleys by grounded ice in the
Ross Sea and the alpine glaciers retreat. During
interglaciations the precipitation increases and the local
glaciers advance. In this case precipitation changes
override the effect of temperature changes which would
be expected to operate in the opposite direction,
Another location in East Antarctica with reports of
Neoglacial glacier fluctuations occurs in the Vestfold
Hills (Fig. 1) where there is tenuous evidence of an ice
advance about 3 ka BP (Zhang, 1985; Adamson and
Pickard, 1986).
West Antarctica
A second area with evidence of Neoglacial glacier
fluctuations is Alexander Island and George VI Sound
at the base of the Antarctic Peninsula (Fig. 1), a coastal
maritime location with a mean annual temperature of
about -9C. The chronology is constrained by radio-

carbon and amino acid assays of barnacles (Bathylasma

corolliforrne) incorporated within moraines. The resuits suggest that George VI Iceshelf disappeared in the
middle Holocene about 6500 BP and reformed subsequently (Clapperton and Sugden, 1982). Crosscutting moraines show that small local glaciers advanced some hundreds of metres beyond their present
limits both at the time of iceshelf disappearance and
after its reconstitution. Little can be said about the
environmental significance of these fluctuations until
there is a much firmer chronological framework.
Possibly the earlier advance of the local glaciers
reflected an increase in precipitation due to the
disappearance of George VI Iceshelf, but it could
equally have been due to the onset of Neoglaciation.
Sub-Antarctic Islands and South Georgia
Although there are frequent references to relict
moraines in front of glaciers in sub-Antarctica and the
Southern Ocean, only two island groups contain sufficient radiocarbon dates to form the basis of a
Holocene glacier chronology - - the South Shetland
Islands (61-6330'S) and South Georgia (54-55S).
Both island groups border the Scotia Sea and lie in the
belt of westerly weather systems which dominate these
latitudes. The mean annual temperature in the South
Shetland Islands is about -2C and precipitation
averages 400-600 mm. Most of the island area is
covered by glaciers, but ice-free peninsulas on the
eastern side of Livingston Island and King George
Island bear evidence of a former ice cover. In South
Georgia the mean annual temperature at sea level on
the northeast coast is 1.8C and the mean annual
precipitation is 1393 mm (Smith, 1960). Ice covers 58%
of the island, mostly on the windward southwestern
side. Both island groups were submerged by ice caps
that extended offshore during the last glaciation
(Clapperton 1971; John and Sugden, 1971; Sugden and
John, 1973; Sugden and Clapperton, 1977; Clapperton
et al., 1978). Glaciers had withdrawn close to their
present limits at least by 9700 BP in South Georgia and
by 9 ka BP in the South Shetland Islands. Since then
there have been two to three main advances, one in
which glaciers extended a few kilometres down-fjord
and others where glaciers were only slightly more
extensive than today. The timing of these advances is
different in each island group and requires separate
discussion.
South Shetland Islands
Moraine limits of the main fjord advance in the
South Shetland Islands coincide with a raised beach at
ca. 6 m (varying locally between 5 and 7.5 m), and
represent an advance of 2-3 km in several fjords, e.g.,
in branches of Admiralty Bay, Potter Cove and Marian
Cove on King George Island and in Yankee Harbour
on Greenwich Island (Sugden and John, 1973). In all
cases the highest beach coincident with the moraine lies
at ca. 6 m while much higher raised beaches occur
immediately outside, e.g. at 41 m in Potter Cover (Fig.

Glaciai N a ~ a e z
G l ac ia i T f m p a n 0
t~lat'iar (')flhillrlJ Stir
Glacier Frias

1-2204
1-3508
1-3510
G X 41 64

4320 "1- 110

4120 + 105

P[ csunlcd killed b y o u t w a s l l flOllt gi aicl

advance
Po*tdates a gla~iM advance

~1

D a t e s glacier rc a d v a n c e
P o s td a te s glacier recession

T re e o v e rlid d e n in re a d v a n e e m o r a i n e
Basal peat o n ont~/agh d e h a
P e a t overiddcn b y radvance m o r a i n e
P a t b d l d o ~ d b y glaeix radvanc

H u a l l c a c o c h a glacier. Cordillera Blanca

C a n e C u c h p a n g a . Cordillera Central
Minas Raura. Cordigera H u a y u ~ h
Oulccaya i ~ t a p . Cordillera O ~ i d ~ n t e d

HV-8709
wig-1200
gRR*994
1-8441

1215 * 4~

1100 =~ 70

1014 + 45

1675

Chile (Patagonia)

I882

L a t e 19~h c e n t u r y Early 20~h c e n t u r y

Bolivia

Glacier withdrew f r o m L a g u n a d e San

R a fa e l
O l a d e r ~ a d v a n ~ in to L ~ g u n a d e S a n
R a fa c l
Rc~iot~ until 5light advanc~ in 1959

f.)ln~ier 8 ~ R a fa e l,
Hi~lo P a t n g o n l g o N o rt
Glacier S a n Rafaci.
Hlelo Paxagonlco N o t r e

Strollg continuom~ t i n d e r [ e c ~ t n l
s o m e chsappeared

N o r t h e r n AndL-s o r P e r u

l a t e 191h t e r t i a r y Early 20~h c e n t u r y

Glacie~ San Rafael,

H i el o Patagot~ico N o t r e

V e ~ i c a l t ~ ra~s$ion of 500 m

Central Andes of p e ~

1862-1942

Recession f r o m p r e s u m e d L l l d e Ice A g e
moraines

31atr advancm o v e r Spanish gold ram

Cordillera R e a l

p e a t o n outwa~h delta - - date~

glneler ~ i o n

1510 "~ 185

B~I

Al)

Cordillera C e n t r a l

Soal b u rie d in s u p e r p o s c d m o r a i n e - - pred a te s overlying deposit

C~rdilfera Binned

Crro C u c h p a n g a

A D 1520 --+ 75 (WIS-1200)

Po~t 16th c.ntury

Cordillera B la n c a

A D 1260 + 50 (HV-8703)

Pera

10&q
Husscr, 1960

Heu~r,

H e us s e r, 1960

C l a p p e r t o n , 1981

B t o g g i , 1943

Broggi. 1943

O p p e n h e i m a n d S p a n n . 1940

W r i g h t . 1984

F. R 6 t h h s b e [ g e r (pers. c o m m u n . ,
1982)

H a s t e n r a t h . 19@1

W o o d . 1970

E a s t a n d W e s t Cordilleras

third

R e d u c t i o n o f ice ~ e r

Hl~tofi~d o ] ~ r v a h o n o1 snow a n d ~
carver: *am glaciers disappeared

Sierra N e v a d a dc S a n t a M a r i a

1939--1969

by o ~

H e r d . 1974

T e p h r a f r o m 1595 e r u p d o n a b s e n t fro m
moraines

R u i z - T o l i m a massif. Cordillera Central

1595

151h 19th caentuty

H e r d . 1974

P e a t i n ~ r f a ~ r a t e d in m o r a i n e - radi~rbon dated

Rui~-Tollma massif. Cordillera Central

Ecuador

Schubert. 1972

C o u t i n u ~ n s tgcgsion fro m 19th c e n t u r y

limits

Pica Bolivar. Sierra Nvada d e Mrida

1420

C o l o mb i a

M e rc e r a nd Palacios. 1977

C l a p p e r t o n . 1981

l gt h - - 1 9 t h C e n n l r y
1885-19"72

Dat~ gla~icl rcadvan~

W r i g h t 198~

F. R6thlisbcrgcr (per$. c o m r a u n . ,
19821

F. R0thlisberger ( p e r s . c o m m u n . ,
1982)

F. R6thlisberger ( p e t s e o m m u n . ,
19821

m e r e ~ r , 1070

Ml~cl. 1970

M e rc e r. 19o5

M c l c c t . 1970

F . u r t h Neoglaeial A d v n ~ :
Vcnc~ela

905 100

D a t e s glacier reaOvanee

T re e t r u n k tn s o u . o v e rrid e n b y
~advanee moraine

Huallcaeo~ha glacier. Cordillera B l a n ~

H V -8 71 0

1325 --+ 75

M in ima l age for rcadvancc

D a t e s g l ~ i e r readvance

F ~ i l w o o d I r a g m ~ n t in s u p e r p o s e d
friar ainc

T u l p a r a j u glacier. Cordillera Blanca

HV-ffT08

~ a t off #flei~l ou1~ggh

WusJd giant t ~ t c d tncc ~tunzp lit alluvium

H a m m i e k glacier

1-3S03

23t~J =k 110

H a m m i c k glacier

1-350d

2800 1~)

O r g a n i c near-basal s e d i m e n t m pOnd o n
moraine

U p sa la glacier lobe. t2rro P e a r s o n .

H r. L a g o A r g e n t i n a

1-~85

lb~3 Z IU0

POStdalS glacier r c c ~ i o n

P~~sil,ly d a t ~ a i eadvallce

WucJd CllllTcddcd in ~lay-lidl till

U l ~ a l a g l a ~ e r , l.ago Argerlthlu

1-988

F. g 6 t h h s b ~ r g e r (peea. c o m m u n . ,
1082)

U p p e r limiting age for unde rlying

moraine

Soil i n t e r b c d d c d within s u p c r p o s a d
~raine

O x a p a l c a glacier, Cordillera Blanca

H V 8705

1995 60

2310 ~- 120

F. ROthksL~rgcr ( p e r s c o m m u a . ,
19821

H V -8 70 6

T h i r d Ne~.laelal A g v ~ e e : l~00--Ii00 BP
Pe r u
1365 + 60

Chile ( P a t a g o n i a )

A r g e n t i n a (P at ag o n i a)

C l a p p e r t o n . 1986

L o w e r limiting age for overlying m o r a i ~

Soil i n t c r b c d d e d within su p e rp o se d
moraine

O x a p a l c a glacier, Cordillera Blanea

SRR-2587

3~70 -Y 215

2170 _+ 50

Ecuador

M in ima l age for readvance

Peru

T h o u r e t a n d van de r H a m m e n .
1981

Indicates a s h o r t , cold period

Basal p e a t overlying morainic boulders

M e r ~ r . 1976

Mert-er, 1970

Pollen analysis o f palaeosol overlying

moraine

Postdats glacial a d v a n ~

El A lta r, Cordillera C e n tra l

channel through end moraine

W o o d n e a r bae~ o f o r g a n i c ~ d i m e n t in

M e rc e r. 1970

Postdate* glacier rccssi0n

Basal p e a t o n s e d i m e n t o f f o r m e r
m o ra in a l lake
PIISIdZIeS glat:ier rel~ssilm

M l e r ~ r . 1968

Postdates glaciel r e ~ i o n

Basal p e a t in b o g o n o u t e r m o s t m a r anie

oldest l n o r a i n e

NIcro~r. 1960

R u i z T o iim a massif, Cordillera central

3 ha--2 k a B P
2700

Se~and Neo81aclal A d v t . :
Colombia

3465 130

B a ~ l I l e a l nil ~ l l d

(31aiax ~ a n L o r c l g o Eatc

1-2208

4590 --+ 115

H e ns s e r. 1960

F. R6thlisberger ( p e t s . c o m m u n .
in C l a p p e r t o n . 19831

F R6thlixberger(pers commun.
in C l a p p e r t o n . 19831

C l a p F c r t o n . 1983

T h o i o t ~ d va n dor H a m m e n .
1981

Reference

O ~ l i c v ~ to d a te g l a c ~ t rcadvanco

Rootd trod ~ttamp below surfa~ o f

lagoon d a n n n d by n | o r a i n e

Nooglacial m o r a i n e

Argentina (Patagonia)

M i n i m u m age for t h e m o r a i n e

N e a r basal p e a t in p o n d o r o u t e r

L a g u n a d e San Rafael

Y-738-2

3740 400

Limiting age for u n d e r l y i n g m o r a i n e

Palae0sol within s u p e r p o s e d m o r a i n e

O u e b r a d a Llaca. Cordillera Blanca

HV-8706

Limiting age for u n d e r l y i n g m o r a i n e

Palaeosol within superposed m o r a i n e

3470 + 215

U n ~ r t a i n . b u t m a y give u p p e r or lower
llmRlng age for NeOglaeml r e a a v a n e e

Pat i , t r b ~ d t ~ l w ith outwa:sh ~ d i m n t s

g00 m t ~ y o n d s u p e r p o s e d m o r a i n e

Cordillera B la n c a

HV-8707

O u c b t a d a L l a n g a n u ~ s . Cordillera Blana

SRR-996

3560 1(30

Indicates a s h o r t ~ l d period

Significance

Pollen analyais o f palaeo*ol overlying

moraine

Description o f deposit

R u i z T o l i m a massif. Cordillera C e n tra l

Locality

T A B L E l . K e y H o lo o e n e radiocarbon d a te s a n d historical observations f r o m S o u t h A m e r i c a fo r H o l o c e n e glacier

advances

4287 +_ 90

g k a r l ka BP
4750

R a d i o c a r b o n d at e (BP)

Chile

Peru

Fir~-t N ~g l ae i ~l A d v ~ t
Colombia

Country

Whaiebone
(collagen)
Whalebone
(collagen)
Sealbone
Whalebone
(eollagen)

King George Island

Livingston Island
King George Island

Livingston Island

Whalebone
(collagen)
Whalebone
(collagen)
Whalebone
(collagen)

Whalebone
(collagen)
Whalebone
(collagen)

Seaweed

Tree trunk
(Southern beech)
Whalebone
(collagen)
Seaweed

Whalebone
(eollagen~
Whalebone
(collagen)
Whalebone
(eollagen)

Penguin bone

Penguin bone

Material

Byer~ Peninsula,
Livingston Island
Maxwell Bay.
King George Island
Maxwell Bay,
King George Island

Barton Peninsula,
King George Island
Marian Cove,
King George Island
Marian Cove
King George Island
Maxwell Bay,
King George Island
Maxwell Bay,
King George Island

Nelson Island

Fildes Peninsula,
King George Island
Fildca Peninsula,
King George Island
Byers Penimula,
Livingston Bland
Byers Peninsula,
Livingston Island
Liviagsto~ Bland

Location

Material

no.

DIC-370
Birm.496

DIC-372

DIC-367

DIC-369

DIC-368

Birm-S)

DIC-371

DIC-373

Birm.17

Birm.16

Birm-22A

Birm-14

1-7870

SRR-1087

SRR-1086

HD8426-9106

HD9425-9100

Lab.

143(I _+470*"

360 _+ 55

350 + 110

206 + 130

510 -+ 165

590 _+ 55

9493 - 370
9280 -- 60
6647 + 120
6040 _+ 40
2000 - 50
1700 -- 50
1460 ___60
1000 _ 50
910 - 50
2210 _+ 50
950 - 50
2012 _ 45
2230 __. 70
33311 _+ 120
1590 + 30
1540 "4-70*

SRR-3004
SRK-578
SRR-3000
SRl~-2760(b)
SIGR-2760(a)
SRR-2998
SRR-2996
SRR-2997
SRg-3001
SRR-S)02
SRR-739
SRR-2704
SRR-2705
SRR-1497
SRR-49

Radiocarbon age (BP)

SRR-736

Lab. no.

TABLE 3. Key HIoloceue radiocarbon dates from South Georgia

970 --. 50
674 --_ 66

840 _ 75

1000 + 45'

1210 + 55

1200 + 110

1056 + 130

1360-165

1440 _+ 55

540 _+ 140

1450-1540

1440-1660

1520-180

1285-1510

1295-1410

1280-1465

1223 + 81~

1390 + 140

One sigma calibration

to calendar year AD

1215-1260

1680 _ 85

2271 + 35

1973 4- 40

5710 + 55

580C + 90

Reservoir :orr~tod age

(-850 years)

802 + 43

2530 4- 85

3121 --. 35

2893, 4- 40

6560 4- 55

6500 4" 90

Uncorrected age
(BP)

TABLE 2. Key Holocene radiocm'bon dates from the South Shetland Islands

Basal peat from inside Late-glacial moraines and outside Neoglaeial

moraines
As ~bove
As above
As sbove
Organic soil buried by-Neoglaeial moraine
Woody stems of Acaena buried by Neoglacial moraine
Basal organic silt from ketde pond inside outer moraine
Basal peat from outwash channel from moraine
Basal peat from kettle bog on inner moraine
Basal peat from ou~wash Inn from moraine
Bassi peat inside inner moraine
Basal peat from kettle hollow within moraine complex
Top of peat bed adjacent to east ~id of Nordemkjold glacier
Base of same peat bed
Base of peat layer over beach material between ltolecene
moraines, east side of Bay
Whalebone embedded in second oldest Holoeene moraine on west
side of Bay

*Correction factor ot -850 and calibration to calen&r yem AD gives 1265-1380 AD.

Cumberland East Bay

King EdwaN Cove

Sphagnum Valley, Cumberland West Bay
Cumberland West Bay
Moraine Fjord Series
Moraine Fjord Series
Moraine Fjord Series
Moraine Fjord Series
Moraine Fjord Series
Hamberg Lakes Series
Hamberg Lakes Series
Doris Bay
Cuml~erland East Bay
Cumberland East Bay
Cumberland East Bay

King Edward Cove

Loeatinn

Notes: Average apparent age = ca. 850 BP.

"70 years subtracted because the whale died ia 1905.
"~These dates are uncertain because of unknown reservoir correction.

Modern

2.5-3

2.5-3

6--5

6--5

6-7

6--5

7.6

10.13

10.3

ca. 18

ca. lg

Beach Altitude
(m)
Reference

Harkness, 1979

D.D. Hzrknoss, pets. eommun.,

Harkness, 1979
D.D. Hzrkness, pets. commun.,
D.D, [.D.rkness,pets. eommun.,
D.D. Hzrkness, pets. eommun.,
D.D. Harkness, pets. eommun.,
D.D, l-I~rkness, pets. commun.,
D.D. [hrkness, pets. eommun.,
D.D. I-~rkness, pets. c o n m m n ,
D.D. Harkness, pets. eommun.,
Clapperton and gugdan, 1980
L Gordon, 1987
J. Gordon, 1987
L Gordon, 1987

Harkness, 1979

Reference

Curl, 19g0
Sugden and John, 1973

Cud, 1980

Curl, 1980

Curl, 1980

Curl, 1980

Sogden ~nd John, 1973

Curl, 1980

Curl, 1980

Sugden and John, 1973

Sttgden and John, 1973

Sugden and John, 1973

Sugden and John, 1973

Curl, 1~0

Hansom, 1979

Hansom, 1979

1986
1985
1985
1986
1986
1986
1986
1986

1986

1]arsch and Msmbaeher, 198~

Barsch and Mausbaeher, 1986

191

Holocene Glacier Fluctuations in South America and Antarctica

3). The moraines dearly represent a readvance rather Beaches above 6 m range in age from 1680 to 5800 yr
than a recessional still-stand because the glaciers BP, being progressively older with increasing altitude.
overrode and entrained beach sediments and deposited Four dates suggest that the 6 m beach formed ca.
till over early Holocene shell-bearing marine deposits 510-800 14C years BP, while three others suggest the
(Potter Cover). Because the sea was unable to pen- 3 m beach formed ca. 200-360 14C years BP. One of the
etrate within the moraine limits and form beaches at dates for the 6 m beach is from a tree trunk (Nothoequivalent and lower altitudes, the glaciers must have fagus antarctica - - Southern Beech) and requires no
been at the site of the terminal moraines while the 6 m correction, yet it corresponds well with the corrected
beach formed. This suggests that when glaciers stood whalebone dates associated with the same beach.
at the moraine limits relative sea level was 6 m lower Bearing in mind the number of different workers and
than now. Within the fjords there is another moraine laboratories involved and the variety of different
linked with a raised beach at 2.5-3 m. This beach is materials used, the consistency of the pattern is
present outside the moraine but not within it. The striking. If the high-precision calibration curves derived
moraine indicates an advance of 0.25-1 km beyond the by Stuiver and Pearson (1986) are applied to the last
present glacier margins. Organic remains associated seven radiocarbon dates, using a one sigma range, then
with the raised beach series allow the two moraines to a first approximation of the calendar age span of the
be dated. Altogether, several workers have obtained 14 6 m beach would be late 13th-early 16th centuries
radiocarbon dates from penguin, seal, whale, and A.D. This implies that the 2-3 km glacier readvance
seaweed remains (Table 2). A problem relating to associated with the beach culminated at some time
radiocarbon dates on marine animals in the Antarctic is close to this period. On a similar basis, the 3 m beach
the significant depletion in radiocarbon activity in the and the glacier readvance of 250-1000 m would have an
sea which leads to falsely old dates relative to the approximate calendar age most probably in the range of
terrestrial time scale (Broecker, 1963). Harkness the 15th-17th centuries A.D.
(1979) and Gordon (1987) have considered the problem
The chronology based on radiocarbon dating of
in the West Antarctic seas and on the basis of dates on raised beaches is supported by independent lichenomarine organisms which died this century suggest that a metric dating of moraines on both Livingston Island
correction factor of 750 years may apply widely in and King George Island. Using Rhizocarpon geoAntarctica. However, there appear to be regional graphicum thalli calibrated by measurements on a
variations in radiocarbon activity and in an attempt to sealer's hut thought to have been built about 1820derive its value for the South Shetland Islands an 1825, Curl (1980) gave a minimum age of ca. A.D. 1720
approximate value of 850 years was estimated from to recent moraines at False Bay and Elephant Point on
dates on four modem whale and seal bones (Table 2, Livingston Island. In addition, Birkenmajer (1981)
bottom). This figure should be regarded as no more used the same growth curve to approximate a minimum
than a provisional guide, however, and the corrected age of A.D. 1240 for a moraine contemporaneous with
dates could easily differ by more than 100 years either the 6 m beach in front of Ferrar Glacier, King George
way.
Island. Again this agrees with the raised-beach chronolIf the same correction factor is used for all the ogy. Birkenmajer also used lichenometry to derive
marine-based dates, then the overall pattern of the 14 minimal ages for two other moraines as A.D. 1780 and
radiocarbon ages is remarkably consistent (Fig. 3). A.D. 1825. Somewhat later limiting dates of A.D. 1837

lSm
'0

O0

O0

3760 - 38508.C. ( ~710 - 5800 8.P. )

( 2 OMes )

(232Dates321 )B'C" (19"/'3 - 227'18.P. )

1240 A.D.

'__-i( Lichen

7.6rn

270 A.D. (1aS0 B.P. )

4 L

"~'~" O O 0
6nl
O O O O O O O~ O O O O O O

(I Date )
1215 - 1510A.0. (
( 40stu )

510 )

802

B+P.

~
1720 A,O.
~ y ' ~ , ~( Uchen )
IP /~
0 0 0 0 0 0
O O O O OO

0 0 0 00'

O O O O O 'O ~ - - O O

t8rn
O O O O O O O O O~O O

Distance down - fjord

Moraine ~

3rn
0 0 ~ 0

00~

0
~

O0

1450 -1800 A.D. ( 208 - 360 B.P. )

( 3 D~IIIII l

PresentBeach

Raised beach

FIG. 3. Schematic diagram showing the relationship of Holocene glacier readvance moraines with radiocarbon dated raised
beaches, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.

192

C.M. Clapperton and D.E. Sugden

and A.D. 1880 were derived from lichenometry for two

moraines close to the ice cap on Signy Island in the
South Orkney Islands (Lindsay, 1973). Considering the
uncertainties involved in both approaches to dating, the
agreement between the two is encouraging and two
important conclusions may be made with some degree
of confidence. One is that the largest glacial advance in
the South Shetland Islands during the last 9 ka culminated between the late 13th and the early 16th centuries
A.D., possibly corresponding with the early part of the
Little Ice Age (A.D. 1250-1500); the other is that a less
extensive advance (or advances) occurred sometime
between the 15th and 19th centuries A.D., corresponding with the later Little Ice Age (A.D. 1550-1850).

South Georgia
In South Georgia evidence of Holocene glacier
advances is demonstrated by arcuate morainic ridges
extending beyond most glaciers on the lee northeastern
side of the island (Fig. 4). The moraines are distinguished from glacial deposits outside their limits by
freshness of form, continuity, association with sea level
close to the present, the presence of boulders on their
tops, and by the lack of iron staining. Some fjord
glaciers, such as those terminating in Moraine Fjord
(Fig. 5) and Antarctica Bay, advanced more than 6 km
and produced morainic ridges over 30 m high, while
land-based glaciers advanced only several tens or
hundreds of metres and produced ridges generally less
than 5 m high. Within the clear outer moraine limit are
two other moraines usually occurring within a few
hundred metres of the present glacier margins. In
contrast to the outer moraine which is well-vegetated,
the inner moraines are poorly vegetated, blocky and, in
the case of some innermost ridges, ice-cored and
unstable. Two sets of inner moraines have been
mapped around the margins of many South Georgian
glaciers (Clapperton, 1971; Clapperton and Sugden,
1980).
The most extensive Holocene moraine is tightly
dated in Moraine Fjord (Fig. 4) where a series of three
to four lobate terminal ridges 3-5 m high form superficial topography on a massive accumulation of till
more than 35 m thick. On the eastern side of the fjord
mouth, an actively eroding sea cliff 8 m high exposes
3-5 m of till which covers a layer of plant remains
(compressed Acaena stems) overlying a thin organic
soil. This, in turn, had developed on a lower till, the
base of which is not exposed. Radiocarbon dates of
1700 + 50 and 2000 + 50 BP were obtained for the
plant and soil material, respectively, suggesting that the
last glacier advance to the mouth of Moraine Fjord
occurred shortly after ca. 1700 years ago. Upper
bracketing dates for glacier recession were obtained
from basal peat overlying outwash on the eastern side
of the moraine and from basal organic sediments in a
kettle pond just inside the end moraine on the western
side of the fjord (Fig. 6). These gave radiocarbon dates

of 1000 + 50 and 1460 + 60 BP, respectively, suggesting that the Moraine Fjord glacier probably receded
from the moraine complex sometime before 1000 BP.
Since the dated soil is only a thin skeletal layer, the
glacial sediments on which it is developed possibly date
from an earlier Holocene advance. Such an opinion is
supported by the fact that peat up to 3 m thick and
6000-9000 years old covers ground immediately outside the moraine limit. Furthermore, the moraine is a
massive complex of four major ridges suggesting that it
may be a composite feature constructed by several
advances to approximately the same point, a place
where a rock threshold crosses the fjord as it widens
abruptly into Cumberland Bay (Fig. 4). Thus, although
radiocarbon dating confirms that the last advance in
Moraine Fjord culminated shortly after ca. 1700 BP,
advances may also have occurred earlier and later in
the Holocene.
Three other radiocarbon dates close to this age range
come from adjacent glaciers. Two are from basal peats
immediately outside and inside equivalent moraines in
the Hamberg Lakes valley where a distributary lobe of
the Moraine Fjord glacier system advanced to form
three well-defined arcuate ridges (Fig. 7). The outer
and inner peats gave dates of 2210 + 50 and 950 + 50
BP, respectively. The other site is in Doris Bay some
25 km to the southeast where well-vegetated moraines
terminate at the coast approximately 1.7 km from
Nachtigal glacier (Fig. 4). Basal peat dug from a kettle
hollow ca. 400 m inside the moraine limit gave a
radiocarbon age of 2012 + 45 BP (Clapperton and
Sugden, 1980). This is a limiting date for an advance of
Nachtigal glacier reaching its furthest Neoglacial extent
some time before ca. 2 ka BP. Near the eastern side of
Nordenskjrld glacier, which calves into water over
200 m deep in Cumberland East Bay, a meltwater
stream had in 1982 exposed a 6 cm thick bed of peat
extending 10 m away from beneath the glacier's landbased terminus. The peat rests on till, is compacted,
and is partly covered by freshly deposited till; the peat
also exists as large blocks in the innermost moraine.
Radiocarbon dates of 2230 + 70 and 3330 + 120 BP
were obtained for the top and bottom in situ layers
respectively, suggesting ice-free conditions at the site
between calendar ages 2122-2334 and 3395-2689 BP
(Gordon, 1987). This suggests that if Nordenskjrld
glacier advanced in response to an early Neoglacial (say
2700-2200 BP) climatic deterioration, possibly extending as far as the outermost 'inner moraine', it lagged
several hundred years behind the forcing, similar to
Moraine Fjord glacier.
The younger moraines are most closely dated at
Nordenskjrld glacier where Clapperton (1971) mapped
three ridges 2-5 m high on the western side. The
outermost moraine lies no more than ca. 800 m from
the glacier margin. In 1968 the innermost ridge was still
ice-cored and may have formed during an advance
culminating about 1957 (Hayward, 1983). It had become much lower (1-2 m) and ice-free by 1985. The
two outer ridges have a sparse but stable vegetation

193

Holocene Glacier Fluctuations in South America and Antarctica

seo'zow
x x x LATE

GLACIAL MORAINE

.....

NEOGLACIAL

---

2 0 t h c . MORAINE

MORAINE

PEAKS OVER

2000m

('~

11'00BP "1~

1450 BP~

807m
/ I, i

11420 S -

490m

i
BP

,,

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
i:i:i:i:i~i::::'~:il $ ~ , ..:.::::iSi:

(" - - ~
~|. . . . . .

." .,..:.::i:!:
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
iI :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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A,t

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~ -~

~=============================
' ~ ~ i : : : " " ========================

~
ak ',
Z_..
.35.
~~.:i~:i:i:!:!:i:!:i::."
.%
. o~,._,
;"'"/_....
,,

~4~0C-

( . " I--1525l

~J
0

5KM

/& i

FIG. 4. Map of the Cumberland East Bay area, South Georgia, showing Neoglacial moraines and some radiocarbon dated sites.

FIG. 5. Hamberg and Harker glaciers calving into Moraine Fjord, South Georgia. Moraines and trimfines mark the former
extent of these glaciers during the Little Ice Age.

194

C.M. Clapperton and D.E. Sugden

FIG. 6. Neoglacialmoraine complex at the mouth of Moraine Fjord, South Georgia, which may have been deposited by more
than one glacier readvance. Radiocarbon dates bracket one readvance between ca. 1700 and ca. 1460 BP.

FIG. 7. Neoglacialmoraines m Hamberg Lakes Valley, South Georgia, probable equivalentsof those in Moraine Fjord (Fig. 6).
Younger moraines are contiguous -~th the glacier and older till is in the foreground.
cover, but the seaward end of the inner one is largely
composed of beach shingle rich in seal remains and
whalebone, apparently bulldozed by a readvanee of the
land-based western edge of the glacier. A radiocarbon
age of 1540 + 70 BP obtained from a whalebone gives
a corrected calendar age of A D 1265-1380, suggesting
that the readvance may have culminated in the early
14th century. This appears to correspond reasonably
well with the advance identified in the South Shetland
IslandS. Equivalent moraines mapped at other glaciers
on South Georgia have a similar vegetation cover and
degree of relative weathering (Clapperton, 1971),

suggesting that the 13th-14th centuries advance may

have been widespread on the island.
Since South Georgia was not continuously inhabited
until the land-based whaling industry began in 1904,
there are few historical records with which to assess the
behaviour of the island's glaciers between the 17th and
20th centuries. However, the top of a 15 cm peat layer
buried by 60 cm of till, approximately 50 m from the
terminus of H e a n e y Glacier (Fig. 4), gave a radiocarbon age of 155 + 45 BP. Calibration to calendar
years, following Stuiver and Pearson (1986), indicates
that the peat could date from A.D. 1690, A.D. 1730, or

195

Holocene Glacier Fluctuations in South America and Antarctica

A.D. 1820; all that may be concluded from the site is

that Heaney glacier readvanced a short distance sometime after the end of the 17th century.
Glacier fluctuations on South Georgia during the
20th century are imprecisely known, but a study based
on photographic and surveying records has recently
been made by Hayward (1983). He tentatively coneluded that there was an advance during the first
decade of the 20th century, with a maximum about
1910. This was followed by a short period of retreat
before a rapid advance of many glaciers reached a
maximum in the late 1920s, with some glaciers (mostly
the tidewater ones) continuing until the early 1930s, as
Smith (1960) had noted earlier. Slow retreat continuing
until the late 1940s was followed by a short, rapid
advance culminating around 1956. Most glaciers have
slowly receded since then, apart from some sea-calving
glaciers which are presently close to their greatest
extent of recent times. The trends recognised by
Hayward (1983, pp. 55-56) appear to correspond well
with those noted for the Northern Hemisphere (Porter,
1986).

with their improved schematic diagram of pulses of

glacier activity in Scandinavia, presented as Fig. 7
(Denton et al., 1986, p. 19). The figure caption
highlights major advances during the Little Ice Age
(i.e. 100-700 calendar years ago), 1900-3200 BP,
4400-4800 BP, and 7300-7600 BP; deafly an anomaly
exists between advances beginning at 3200 BP and
4800 BP, a gap of 1600 years rather than 2550 years.
Furthermore, not only does the schematic diagram
indicate three smaller advances of unknown extent but
also shows that two of the main advances were
interrupted by significant warm pulses. Such inconsistencies reduce confidence in the validity of a solarforced 2500-year cycle and suggest a causal mechanism
with less regularity. Pulses of volcanism, for example,
would be one appropriate alternative to solar forcing,
particularly in view of the influence of eruptions on
glacier fluctuations in the Northern Hemisphere during
the last 200 years (Porter, 1981, 1986).
The identification and dating of glacier fluctuations
along a meridional transect such as that afforded by the
Andes, the West Antarctic peninsula, and intervening
island groups is clearly crucial to establishing synchrony
DISCUSSION
or non-synchrony between hemispheres and to testing
the 2550-year periodicity model for the Holocene.
A study of the moraine record of alpine glaciers in Table 4 presents a summary of glacier advances
the Northern Hemisphere led Denton and Kaddn suggested for the transect, from which several issues
(1973) to propose that minor climatic variations with arise.
cold intervals peaking with a periodicity of ca. 2500
One issue concerns uncertainty in interpreting the
years, were superimposed on longer-term trends such signal from alpine glaciers in East Antarctica where
as the Holocene warming. Subsequent analyses of 81s0 fluctuations may be forced more by local climatic
oscillations in two Greenland ice cores detected a 2550 conditions than by global variations; but the possibility
year periodicity that is believed to reasonably match that the advance culminating before 2900 BP was a
the Holocene glacier record of the past 8500 years response to Neoglacial cooling can not yet be dis(Dansgaard et al., 1984). Denton et al. (1986) con- missed, since the response time of such cold glaciers to
eluded that variations in solar activity are the most changing climatic parameters is not well known. Equal
probable cause of such periodic short-term climatic uncertainty surrounds the meaning of glacier flucfluctuations. Thus it may reasonably be expected that tuations on Alexander Island and adjacent parts of the
glaciers in the Southern Hemisphere would have West Antarctic peninsula, where small-scale advances
fluctuated synchronously with those in the Northern of local alpine glaciers may be partly linked with the
Hemisphere. One curious inconsistency in the dis- extent of shelf and sea ice.
cussion of Denton et al. (1986, p. 20-21) arises,
A second puzzle is why outlet glaciers from the South
however, when the 2550-year periodicity is compared Shetland ice caps reached their greatest Holocene
TABLE 4. Main phases of climatic fluctuation as deduced from glacier oscillations and environmental indicators for the
Andes-Antarctic transect. Places where the evidence has been obtained are indicated; the nature of the evidence is discussed in

the text. Trop = Tropical;Pata = Patagonia

Period of cold:
glaciers advance(BP)

Period of wan,nth:
glaciers withdrawn(BP)
9400-8600

ca. 8400
ca. 8000
ca. 7500
Before ca. 6500
ca. 6300-6000
ca. 5000-4800
ca. 5200
ca. 4700-4200
ca. 3330-2230
ca. 3200
ca. 2700-2000
ca. 12th century-early 20th century

Place
Southern Andes, South Georgia
Pata Andes
Trop Andes
Trop Andes only
George VI Sound
Trop Andes
South Georgia
Pata Andes
Trop + Pata Andes, South Georgia?
South Georgia
Trop Andes, E. Antarctica
Trop + Pata Andes, South Georgia
All Andes, South Georgia, Sub-Antarctic islands

196

C.M. Clapperton and D.E. Sugden

extent sometime about 800 BP. Raised beaches outside fluctuations during the Neoglacial in Patagonia
moraine limits contiguous with the 6 m beach are proposed by Mercer (1976) corresponds well with that
consistently higher and older than ca. 1700 BP but do emerging for Scandinavia and the European Alps
not seem to be linked with moraines. One possible (Denton et al., 1986; Rbthlisberger, 1987), much of it is
explanation is that older moraines and equivalent based on radiocarbon dates that give only minimal ages
beaches (higher than 6 m) formerly existed in the bays for the moraines with which they are associated. Other
but were removed by a more extensive advance radiocarbon dates are from soil or trees buried in
peaking at ca. 400-800 BP. The higher elevation of the lateral moraines where glacier thickening could have
older beaches outside the 800 year moraine limit is been caused by variations in the local catchment rather
explained by continuing isostatic recovery (and possibly than by regional climatic change. Also, much of
tectonic uplift) of the islands since the last glaciation Mercer's data come from calving glaciers which may
maximum. Because uplift constantly reduced water fluctuate in position because of their dynamics in
depth at the calving glacier termini, the glaciers are addition to climatic forcing. One problem in Patagonia
more likely to have advanced further recently than that has not yet been addressed is why outlet glaciers
formerly. This is clearly a hypothesis that requires from the northern and southern icefields reached their
testing since it implies that the Holocene extent of maximal Holocene limits at different times. For
glaciers in the South Shetland Islands is controlled example, of the glaciers studied by Mercer, most of
more by relative sea level than by climatic parameters, those flowing westwards attained their maximal limits
although these presumably may also force glacier at ca. 4200-4700 BP, whereas those flowing eastwards
advances.
did so at ca. 2000-2200 BP. It also remains unknown
A third problem concerns South Georgia, where the why some, such as Glaciar Moreno and Glacier
maximum Holocene extent of glaciers appears to have Bruggen, are presently more extensive than at any time
peaked shortly before ca. 2200 BP. Since fluctuations earlier in the Holocene (J.H. Mercer, pers. c o m m u n . ,
of glaciers on the island during the 20th century (as 1987).
described by Hayward, 1983) closely match those in the
CONCLUSIONS
Northern Hemisphere (Porter, 1986, Fig.~ 1, p. 30), it
might be expected that fluctuations earlier in the
This review concludes that much of the evidence on
Holocene would also have corresponded with those in
Europe. The glacial geologic record on South Georgia which the chronology of glacier fluctuations in South
is still incompletely known and lacks the dating control America and Antarctica is based appears to be very
necessary to permit a rigorous comparison with the tenuous and, in places, highly ambiguous. Many more
Northern Hemisphere, but some supporting data are radiocarbon dates tightly bracketing Holocene
emerging from the palaeoecological record. For moraines and sedimentary sequences are clearly reexample, analyses of variations in pollen, vegetation quired before a more reliable sequence of glacier
macrofossils, diatoms, and inorganic sediment content fluctuations may be established. Data now available
in cores from lakes and bogs suggest (with radiocarbon nevertheless suggest that during the last 5000 years, at
dating) a period of mid-Holocene warmth peaking least, glaciers in the Andes may have advanced more or
between 5600 and 4800 BP followed by a trend towards less synchronously with glaciers in the Northern
cooling; pronounced environmental deterioration is Hemisphere. Although glacier fluctuations on South
registered between 2700 and 2100 BP and during the Georgia may also have followed closely those of
last 1000 years by disruption of the fragile vegetation Patagonia, the precise pattern of glacier oscillations
cover and by higher input of inorganic sediment to and their forcing mechanisms on sub-Antarctic islands,
lakes and bogs (Clapperton et al., in press). A related the West Antarctic peninsula, and East Antarctica
problem emerging from South Georgia is that fjord remain obscure.
glaciers are unreliable for the precise dating of
climatically-forced advances since their response may
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
lag by several hundred years. Despite this problem,
however, calculations of a permissible calving rate at
We are pleased to acknowledge the Natural Environment ReMoraine Fjord glacier and estimation of its rate of search Council who supported the work in South Georgia (GR
advance on a moraine bank suggests that its radio- 3/5199) and The Royal Society, The Carnegie Trust, and Aberdeen
carbon-dated Holocene advance of 1460-1700 BP was University for grants towards research in South America. Mauri
Pelto has been most helpful in discussingthe climaticenvironment of
a delayed response to the pulse of global glacier the sub-Antarctic. The late John Mercerkindlyprovidedunpublished
expansion at 2200-3200 BP (Clapperton et al., 1987). information and reviewers G.H. Denton and S.C. Porter made
Temperature depression in South Georgia, estimated helpful suggestions.
from ELAs calculated for the early Neoglacial and
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