RECONSTRUCTION OF ICE FLOW ACROSS THE BUNGER HILLS, EAST ANTARCTICA

In the Bunger Hills, mapping of glacial drift sheets and examination o f striae patterns and other palaeo-ice flow direction indicators show that the largely ice-free region records the imprint of ice sheet expa nsion(s) during the late Cenozoic. In particular, ice moulded features and striae in southern Bunger Hills suggest formation during at least two episodes of ice sheet expansion, although whether they were forme d during separate events or merely different phases of the same expans ion of the ice sheet is not able to be discerned at present. The older event relates to thin ice with flow constrained by the topography, wh ilst the younger event relates to regional expansion of thick ice acro ss the area. Discrimination of the order of emplacement of the cross-c utting striae patterns is possible at a number of sites. Palaeo-ice fl ow indicators confirm that ice sheet expansion over southern Bunger Hi lls was purely from the southern and eastern margins, although minor a dvances of the north-east flowing Edisto Glacier onto coastal areas oc curred following retreat of the last extensive ice sheet phase.