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Notes on the sea caves of sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2009

Stephen Harris ,
Geof Copson  and
Louisa d'Arville
Stephen Harris
Affiliation:
Resource Management and Conservation Division, Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, GPO Box 44, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia (Stephen.Harris@dpipwe.tas.gov.au)
Geof Copson
Affiliation:
Red Chapel Avenue, Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia
Louisa d'Arville
Affiliation:
Kingston Beach, Tasmania 7001, Australia
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Abstract

Caves of marine origin occur in tectonically uplifted stacks on the coastal terrace and in plateau edge cliffs at a number of locations around Macquarie Island. Some of the caves have been located and their distributions mapped. Four of the best known caves are mapped in detail. Aspects of their geology, structure and biology, including speleothem development, clastic deposits, faunal remains and subfossil deposits are explored. Many of these caves contain deposits, which may have the potential to be investigated, as beach and peat deposits have been, for dating key time periods in the island's evolution. The palaeoenvironmental research potential of the sea caves on Macquarie Island has yet to be exploited. Further knowledge about these caves will assist in the understanding of the processes that have acted on Macquarie Island and other polar and sub-polar islands.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , April 2010 , pp. 136 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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