Retreat of Ecology Glacier, Admiralty Bay, King George Island (South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica), 1956-2001

Ecology Glacier at Admiralty Bay (South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica) has been in a state of continuous retreat at least since 1956/7. The retreat was slow between 1956/7 and 1988/9, amounting to 4-4.5 m/yr it rapidly accelerated in the past decade (1989-1999) - up to 30 m/yr; a semi-enclosed lagoon opened in front of the retreating glacier. Retreat of the glacier's northern lobe between 1978/9 and 2000/l, bas exposed its bottom moraine (boulder clay), occasionally with fluted pattern, and numerous striated roches moutonnees, moreover kame fields that once formed in open ice crevasses. At the beginning, the north-easternmost part of this ice lobe retreated stepwise, leaving behind five successive push-moraine ridges.