ANTARCTIC FJORDS AS PALEOCEANOGRAPHIC REPOSITORIES: LINKING PROCESS TO PRODUCT

The study of Antarctic fjords began recently, relative to the extensive study of northern high latitude fjords. Beginning in the mid-1980s cruises to the Antarctic Peninsula began to explore and collect surface sediments, sediment cores and water column data from the numerous fjord systems distributed along the western Antarctic Peninsula margin and its islands. The early cruises led to our initial understanding of processes coupling land-ice-water interaction in these marginal marine settings. As the fjord systems were more fully investigated through targeted sampling and more interdisciplinary study, the information gained is leading us to a more comprehensive understanding of the complex hydrosphere-biosphere-cryosphere-geosphere dynamics that have been, and continue to be evolving as a result of global change.