Abstract:
Recent marine deposits were discovered at Cape Barne, Ross Island. A number of well preserved shell layers exposed beside the frozen lakes being Cape Barne, at 30m asl were investigated. Upon examination of the molluscan and bryozoan fragments, it was clear that living shells similar to the discovered fossils have only been trawled from waters deeper than 63 m, indicating that the mode of
... formation of the deposit was not that of a near shore littoral environment, as was previously thought. Instead, it was thought that uplift of the deposits to this height was attributed to isostatic uplift. The marine deposits along the shores at Cape Barne, Cape Bird and Cape Crozier were all investigated and their geology described. Shell samples were analysed with 14C radioactive dating and found to be between 32,000 and 37,000 years old. The shell layer stratigraphy and fossil content of these beds was investigated in detail and the geology of the entire area examined. At Cape Barne, four raised beaches were leveled for height and distance from sea level and detailed petrological and geochemical examination of rock samples together with identification of fossil molluscs and bryozoans was completed. At Cape Bird, 23 successively raised beaches were discovered and considerable time was spent in measuring these features along a number of parallel traverse lines. Exposed volcanic rock types were collected for detailed geochemical work. Samples of soils developed on variously ages, raised beaches from the northern penguin colony were collected to compare the effects of addition of guano to the regolith. At Cape Crozier, the volcanic geology was the area of focus. The area was mapped, the stratigraphy examined and rock samples collected for further analysis. 
