The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) has been the largest cooperative marine geology program in history. The Australian Antarctic Division contributed to the Australian ODP budget while ODP was drilling in Antarctic or sub-Antarctic waters. Although initially related to ODP Leg 120 on Kerguelen Plateau (1988), the spirit of this project can also extend to Leg 188 (2000). These involvements have been primarily on foraminifera from the Cretaceous and Neogene but have also contributed to understanding of the sediments and changes of environment with time. A lot has been published and further papers are in press or in preparation. Leg 183 involvement was invited and turned down but Pat Quilty was then asked to present one paper on Late Cretaceous benthic foraminifera (published) and to act as external editor for the volume. This work is now almost final and is available on the WWW. Some sample data are available for download at the url below. For complete datasets, see the ODP website. The fields in this dataset are: Sample Accessory Depth (metres below surface) Species Planktonic percentage Barren

This data were collected as part of the Ocean Drilling Program. All data were collected on Leg 119. The cruise for Leg 119 began at Port Louis Harbor, Mauritius, and finished at the Port of Fremantle, Australia. The objective was to complete a transect, along with Leg 120, to study the Late Cretaceous to Holocene palaeoclimatic history of East Antarctic, tectonic history of the Kerguelen Plateau, and the late Mesozoic rifting history of the Indian plate from East Antarctica. Samples are sediments. Good calibration standards for sediments not available. More information can be obtained from the Ocean Drilling Program website. The data obtained from the drilling is available on the Ocean Drilling Program website (see Download Paleontology Data). From the abstract of one of the papers: The timing and nature of the initiation of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is the subject of considerable discussion. Before Leg 119, the earliest known unequivocal Cenozoic glacial sediments were discovered in a Lower Oligocene sequence from the Ross Sea. Quartz grains of Eocene age from the Subantarctic Pacific Ocean were inferred from their grain texture to be ice-rafted. Previous results obtained by Leg 113 in the Weddell Sea indicate that glaciation at sea level first occurred during the late early Oligocene on East Antarctica and during the late Miocene on western Antarctica. Our new results show that glaciation is present during the earliest Oligocene and possibly the late Miocene.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2237 See the link below for public details on this project. Two excel spreadsheets are available for download from the provided URL. Taken from the 1997-1998 Progress Report for this project: INAA (instrumental neutron activation analysis) analyses have been made of subsamples of each OSL (Optically stimulated luminescence) sample, for dosimetry calculation. The samples were then dated at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) which is the worlds leading lab for this work. Two very significant findings were made: (i) That the OSL technique works, and is reliable in Antarctica. These are the first OSL dates from Antarctica; (ii) The overriding hypothesis of Colhoun et al. (ASAC 926) has been vindicated: that Bunger Hills was not fully glaciated at the last glacial maximum.

This data were collected as part of the Ocean Drilling Program. All data were collected on Leg 119. The cruise for Leg 119 began at Port Louis Harbor, Mauritius, and finished at the Port of Fremantle, Australia. The objective was to complete a transect, along with Leg 120, to study the Late Cretaceous to Holocene palaeoclimatic history of East Antarctic, tectonic history of the Kerguelen Plateau, and the late Mesozoic rifting history of the Indian plate from East Antarctica. Samples are sediments. Good calibration standards for sediments not available. More information can be obtained from the Ocean Drilling Program website. The data obtained from the drilling is available on the Ocean Drilling Program website (see Download Paleontology Data). From the abstract of one of the papers: During Leg 119 of the Ocean Drilling Program, between December 1987 and February 1988, six holes were drilled in the Kerguelen Plateau, southern Indian Ocean, and five in Prydz Bay at the mouth of the Amery Ice Shelf, on the East Antarctic continental shelf. The Prydz Bay holes, reported here, form a transect from the inner shelf to the continental slope, recording a prograding sequence of possible Late Palaeozoic to Eocene to Quaternary glacially dominated sediments. This extends the known onset of large-scale glaciation of Antarctica back to about 36-40 million years ago, the sedimentary record suggesting that a fully developed East Antarctic Ice Sheet reached the coast at Prydz Bay at this time, and was more extensive than the present sheet. Subsequent glacial history is complex, with the bulk of sedimentation in the outer shelf taking place close to the grounding line of an extended Amery Ice Shelf. However, breaks in the record and intervals of no recovery may hide evidence of periods of glacial retreat.

The sedimentological, chemical and isotopic characteristics of sediment cores from three slightly saline to hypersaline lakes (Highway, Ace and Organic Lakes) and two marine inlets (Ellis Fjord and Taynaya Bay) in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica have been examined. Sections of the cores deposited in marine environments are characterised by uniform, regularly laminated, fine grained, organic-rich sediments, with uniform organic delta 13C values (-18.0 to 19.4 ppt vs. PDB) and sulfur contents. In contrast, sediments deposited in lacustrine environments are extremely heterogeneous, varying from finely laminated mat-like sequences to poorly sorted clastic-rich sediments. Authigenic monohydrocalcite and aragonite occur in some lake sediments. The delta 13C values of organic matter in the lacustrine sediments exhibit an extremely wide range (-10.5 to -25.3 ppt) that can be related to variations in physico-chemical conditions in the lake waters. Strongly negative organic-delta 13C values coupledwith high sulfur contents are indicative of an anoxic zone in the overlying lake waters, whereas less negative organic-delta 13C values coupled with low sulfur contents are indicative of well-mixed oxic conditions. Particularly high organic-delta 13C values result during high levels of microbial activity in the lakes, due to high rates of photosynthetic CO2 fixation. The large shifts in organic-delta 13C are not necessarily accompanied by any change in macroscopic sedimentological characteristics, illustrating the utility if isotopic investigations in these environments. The delta 13C composition of authigenic carbonate in hypersaline Organic Lake sediments provides a record of changes in palaeoproductivity, while the delta 18O of the carbonate provides information on rates of meltwater input and evaporation in the lake. 14C-dating suggests that Highway Lake was isolated from the sea by isostatic uplift at least 4600 years before present (BP) whereas Organic Lake was isolated at approximately 2700 years BP. Apparent emergence rates calculated from the 14C ages range from 1.0 to 2.1 mm per year. The 'reservoir effect' in the lacustrine and marine environments is variable, but probably does not exceed ~ 1000 years in any of the lakes examined.

The Holocene sea-ice project brings together for the first time, records from the Antarctic continent and deep sea sediments that will allow us to calibrate three sea-ice extent surrogates, validate their use in contrast to satellite observations and explore climatic influence on the physio-ecological environment over the last 10,000 years. Spreadsheet 1 (appendix A): Complete list of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating completed on E27-23 from various identified sources with original 14CAge and reported error. Three dates identified as Burckle pers comm. here were provided by Dr Lloyd Burckle (LDEO) to Dr L. Armand for this work. Outlier attributions are identified; the term Averaged identifies the two samples where final calibrated dates were averaged in this work. All remaining AMS dates were converted to calendar ages using the linear-based CALIB07 (Stuiver and Reimer, 1993) with calibration to the Marine13 dataset (Reimer et al., 2013) at 95% confidence (sigma 2) and included a correction for the surface water reservoir age of ~752 years at the site of core E27-23 resolved from the marine radiocarbon reservoir correction database and software available from http://radiocarbon.LDEO.columbia.edu/ (Butzin et al., 2005). The percent Marine Carbon relative attribution is provided. The Median age (Cal Yr BP) used as the final age at each respective (mid) depth is provided. In Appendix A the dates are all ages in years, however some are uncalibrated ages and others are Cal yr BP (= calendar years before present). So in terms of headings in Table A: Raw 14C age yr BP - is the raw age provided by radiocarbon dating without any corrections applied. It is in years before present. Corrected raw age (RA=752) - is the raw age with a local RA (Reservoir Age) correction applied and is still in years before present. The remaining ages are calendar years before present having been calibrated. All formats follow recommendations for reporting raw 14C dates and their calibration ages. Spreadsheet 2 (appendix B): Comparison of calibration output from the input of accepted 14C dates using OXCAL 4.2 (Bronk Ramsey 2009; Blaauw 2010), and CALIB07 (Stuiver and Reimer, 1993), both using the Marine13 calibration curve (Reimer et al., 2013) at 95.4% confidence (sigma 2) and including a correction for the surface water reservoir age of ~752 years at the site of core E27-23. The calibration output difference between the median Cal Yr BP, regardless of calibration method employed, was greater than or equal to 40 Cal Yr BP. Calibration data from the output of CALIB07 has been used in this paper to determine chronostratigraphy. Spreadsheet 3 (appendix C): The foraminiferal stable isotope data from E27-23. Ratios of oxygen (delta 18O) measured from the planktonic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral (greater than 150 microns). Isotope values are reported as per mil (%) deviations relative to the Vienna Peedee Belemnite (VPDB). Spreadsheet 4 (appendix D): The paleo winter sea-ice concentration (wSIC) estimates for marine sediment core SO136-111. The calendar ages, in thousands of years before present (kyr BP), are provided for each sample from core SO136-111. For each of the samples in core SO136-111, we have provided the estimates winter sea-ice concentration (%), along with the associated lower and upper bounds for the 95% confidence interval around the estimated winter sea-ice concentration (%), for both GAM/WSI/13 and GAM/WSI/ETS. The final two columns provide the estimated average annual monthly sea-ice cover for each sample within core SO136-111, originally estimated using the Modern Analogue Technique, by Crosta et al. (2004). Finally, we provide the estimated summer sea surface temperature, again using the Modern Analogue Technique, from Crosta et al. 2004. Spreadsheet 5 (appendix E): The paleo wSIC estimates for marine sediment core E27-23. The calendar ages, in thousands of years before present are provided for each sample from core E27-23. For each of the samples in core E27-23, we have provided the estimated winter sea-ice concentration (%), along with the associated lower and upper bounds for the 95% confidence interval around the estimates for winter sea-ice concentration (%).

Detailed sedimentary information and palaeontological samples were collected from Battye Glacier Formation, of the Pagodroma Group in the Prince Charles Mountains, an area where little information is presently available. The mid to Upper Cenozoic Pagodroma Group provides direct evidence for past changes in climate and glacial environments from deep within the Antarctic continent. Evidence from several geological formations in the Pagodroma Group, many of them fossil-bearing, will help to determine the history of fluctuations in climate and the size of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). This will provide baseline data to help validate the predictive numerical models of ice sheet dynamics. There is a clear need to study the response of the EAIS to past times of global warming. Periods of significance include times when atmospheric CO2 levels were similar to today (Poore and Sloan 1996). Another key time interval is during the late Neogene, prior to the development of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, which has largely governed Antarctic Ice Sheet volume changes during the Quaternary (Clapperton and Sugden 1990; Mabin 1990; Huybrechts 1990, 1992). An important aspect of the research is to build onto the geological data-set collected by ODP Leg 119, 120 and 188 in Prydz Bay. These operations have concentrated on the periphery of Antarctica and, therefore, record ice sheet retreat and advance at its outer-limits. The Pagodroma Group provides significant information about ice sheet variation at its the inner reaches. Together, these data-sets will shape our understanding of major fluctuations of the ice sheet through the Cenozoic, and will assist and test the models developed to predict ice sheet behavior in the future. Direct geological evidence for climatic conditions and the extent of the ice sheet during times of glacial retreat can be obtained only from onshore geological records, such as the Pagodroma Group. This is important given the current warming trends, expected ice sheet retreat and global sea-level rise, and general lack of geological data from onshore Antarctica for predicting the effects of this on the EAIS. Fieldwork was conducted during November - December (2000). A number of significant findings were made from the Amery Oasis: 1) New outcrops of the glacio-marine Battye Glacier Formation were located and mapped. Up to 800 m of geological section was logged and sampled. Similar Antarctic records have only been made available through expensive international drilling efforts around the Antarctic shelf. This project highlights that there are extensive records exposed on land, that can be studied for a fraction of the cost of off-shore marine geoscience. 2) Unique diatomaceous marine mudstone deposits were discovered (~9 m thick). This is the most diatomaceous (up to 12% biogenic silica), in situ marine deposit that has have been found from inland Antarctica. Diatom biostratigraphy indicates that the formation is middle - late Miocene in age. 3) In situ and articulate marine mollusc fossil horizons were discovered. These occur over a lateral distance of ~ 1km and provide undisputable evidence for a major ice sheet retreat in the past. 4) Three erratics containing marine mollusc fossils were discovered. These erratic are potentially Cretaceous in age (Stilwell, pers. comm.). This is the first marine sediment of this age found in the Lambert Graben catchment. Eleven pdf figures are available for download from the provided URL. Also included is a text file which explains what each of the figures are. Furthermore, two excel spreadsheets of data are also available. The two excel spreadsheets in the download directly relate to the paper Whitehead, et al (2003). Some explanatory notes for the excel files are: Qualitative assessment of fossil preservation vf = very fragmented with a few intact specimens seen per traverse of a microscope slide. mf = moderately fragmented with an intact specimen seen every few fields of view (at 600x magnification). See Whitehead et al (2003) for more information. Qualitative fossil abundance, where X = (present) one valve (Diatom valves)/fossil seen during entire examination. R = (rare) greater than 3 valves/fossils seen during all microscope traverses on slide. F = (few) greater than 1 valve/fossil per 10 microscope fields of view (at 600x magnification). C = (common) valves/fossils in each microscope field of view (at 600x magnification). The fields in this dataset are: Stratigraphic Intervals Samples Opal% McLeod Beds Bed A clasts Fossil Preservation Benthic Diatom Abundance Species Bardin Bluffs Formation Fisher Bench Formation Diatoms

This dataset represents the collected work arising from ASAC projects 263, 351, 497 and 716 (ASAC_263, ASAC_351, ASAC_497, ASAC_716). The data are pooled together into a single excel file, and presented by year. Descriptions/explanations of acronyms used are given at the bottom of each spreadsheet. One worksheet also details all publications arising from (and related to) the four ASAC projects. The full titles of the four ASAC projects are: ASAC 263: Metamorphic Evolution and Tectonic Setting of Granulites from Eastern Prydz Bay ASAC 351: The Role of Partial Melting in the Genesis of Mafic Migmatites and Orthogenesis within the Rauer islands ASAC 497: Structural and Chemical Processes in Granulite Metamorphism: the Rauer Group and Brattstrand Bluffs Region, Prydz Bay ASAC 716: Archaean Crustal Accretion Histories and Significance for Geological Correlations Between the Vestfold Block and Rauer Group The fields in this dataset are: Archive Collector Sample Number Location Location Code Latitude Longitude Field description Collected for Reported in Comments Type Grid reference Worker

A collaborative Italian/Australian marine geoscience research voyage to the George Vth Land sector of the East Antarctic continental margin was carried out between 11th February and 20th March, 2000, on board the of the RV Tangaroa. The cost of the expedition was shared jointly by the Italian and Australian National Antarctic Research Programs. Twenty four scientific personnel from 13 institutions participated in the expedition. The geophysical data collected includes a total of 1827 km of multi-channel seismic data and 562 km of Chirper sonar data. A total of 11 gravity cores, 28 piston cores, 18 surface grabs and 11 short trigger cores were collected on the voyage. Water profile (CTD) measurements and water samples were collected at nine stations and seabed bottom photographs were made at 11 stations. The expedition discovered and mapped a shelf sediment drift deposit covering about 400 km2 lying in an greater than 800m deep section of the George Vth basin west of the Mertz Glacier. It is a true 'drift' deposit, since these sediments exhibit a patchy distribution, large-scale bedforms, contain foreset bedding and display a depositional architecture indicative of contour-parallel sediment transport. A significant observation is that the drift thins to the north into an acoustically-transparent veneer; this observation implies that the drift is sourced from the outer continental shelf, with sediment being transported landwards, across the shelf and into an 850m deep inner shelf basin. The 'Mertz Drift' is over 35 m thick and core samples demonstrate that it is composed of laminated, anoxic, gelatinous olive green, silicious mud and diatom ooze (SMO). Preliminary shipboard counts of the laminae suggest a thickness of from 4 to 20mm, with a mean of about 7mm. While the lower sediments are laminated, there is a 20 to 50cm thick sandy drape at the surface over the whole of the drift. This suggests that a recent (late Holocene) change in the depositional environment has occurred, possibly related to changes in the extent of the nearby Mertz Glacier tongue, current regime and/or to the persistence of sea ice over the shelf area. Multi-channel seismic data show the occurrence of foreset beds at the shelf break, interpreted as having been deposited by ice streams that grounded on the outer shelf during glacial maxima. On the shelf, the seismic character of the seafloor exhibits highly reflective, parabolic reflectors suggestive of crystalline basement, cropping out at the seafloor. Northwards of these basement outcrops, the water depth increases to over 1,100 m which is the George Vth Basin. The basin coincides with an abrupt transition in seismic character from acoustic basement in the south to seaward (northeasterly) dipping reflectors. On the continental rise, seismic sections were taken across a contourite drift deposit and submarine canyon system in 2500 to 3500 m water depth. Piston cores were collected along the profile of one drift deposit which gave a preliminary Mid-Pliocene age to truncated strata that crop out on the drift's steeper lee side. These data will provide useful site-survey information in support of a proposal sent to the Ocean Drilling Program under the auspices of the SCAR-ANTOSTRAT project for drilling key sites along the Antarctic margin.