Textural and Geochemical Characteristics of Proglacial Sediments: A Case Study in the Foreland of the Nelson Ice Cap, Antarctica

This paper presents a detailed study on the textural and geochemical characteristics of the proglacial sediments near the edge of modern Nelson Ice Cap, Antarctica. The grain size distributions of the proglacial sediments are characteristic of glacigenic deposits, but very different from those of aeolian and lacustrine sediments. Moreover, the grain size distributions of the proglacial sediments are fractal with a dimension of about 2.9, and the fractal dimensions can be used as another summary statistical parameter for quantifying the relative amounts of coarse and fine materials. Correlations between the absolute element abundances of the proglacial sediments are very weak due to mineral partitioning and other effects of glacial processes, but correlations between the element/Rb ratios are statistically significant. This finding indicates that element/Rb ratios can be used to reduce or eliminate the effects of glacial processes, evaluate geochemical data and determine the sediment provenance in the foreland of Antarctic glacier. Comparisons on the element concentrations among different environments suggest that the proglacial sediments are derived predominantly from local bedrocks and appear to be natural in origin. Thus these natural sediments can be used to study chemical weathering in the proglacial foreland of modern glacier.