Sedimentological and pollen studies of Lake Priyadarshini, Eastern Antarctica

Abstract

A shallow sediment core from a freshwater Antarctic Lake-Priyadarshini, in Schirmacher Oasis, Eastern Antarctica has been studied for grain size, mineralogy and pollen assemblage. The silty clayey sediments from the lake bed have a simple clay mineral assemblage consisting of illite and chlorite with dominant quartz and feldspar in clay-size fraction. A low-hydrolyzing, periglacial depositional environment is reflected from this assemblage. The pollen analysis identifies three pollen zones based on the fluctuations in the retrieved palynomorphs which apparently manifest palaeoclimatic oscillations during Holocene.