Dating of the Ross Sea glaciations from the Koettlitz Glacier region

The interaction between the Koettlitz Glacier and Trough Lake was determined as a model for the Quaternary proglacial lakes which occupy many of the coastal valleys of the McMurdo Oasis. Trough Lake in Pyramid Trough was surveyed and twelve holes were drilled through the ice surface to enable bathymetric, temperature and radiation measurements to be made. Water and sediment samples were taken and analyzed. Mounds of ice rafted glacial debris was found along the lake shores often with silts and algae beneath them. Samples of the algae were collected for dating. Sites between Trough Lake and Lake Miers had algae and carbonate sampled for 14C and U/Th dating to determine the age of the maximum expansion of the Ross Sea ice sheet.