We present the main results concerning the PNRA Rosslope
Project (Past and present sedimentary dynamic in the ROSS Sea:
a multidisciplinary approach to study the continental SLOPE).
The project aims to investigate the relationships among
geological, geomorphological, geophysical characteristics of the
sea floor, water-mass circulation and Late Cenozoic
environmental variations in two selected areas of the Ross Sea
1) the outer–shelf and the continental slope of the Adare and Central Basins, as outlet areas of the High Salinity Shelf Water
(HSSW) into the Southern Ocean 2) the outer–shelf and the
continental slope East of the Pennell-Iselin Banks, as the main
overflow area of the Ice Shelf Water (ISW). Four cores were
selected: three in the East part of the Iselin Bank and one in the
Central Basin. Magnetic susceptibility, X-radiographs, grain-size,
organic matter, micropaleontological, geochemical and
mineralogical data were performed Micropaleontological data on
diatom assemblages from selected samples demonstrate the
existence of a strong reworking at least in eastern site,
considering the widespread occurrence of fossil taxa along the
investigated sediment cores 14C measurements gave ages
ranging from 6 ky to 34 ky BP on selected samples. Geophysical
data (2D seismic line) were acquired from the outer shelf to the
upper slope of the East part of Iselin Bank . The results of the
processed data were correlated to the adjacent existing seismic
lines in order to define a more detailed model representing the
Late Cenozoic sedimentation of this zone. Data processing is
ongoing, but it is already possible to identify the main factors
that are conditionig and have conditioned the sedimentation
processes in the area.
