Additional radiocarbon date from Dante outwash fan, King Valley, and dating of the late Wisconsin glacial maximum in western Tasmania

A radiocarbon date of 19 I 00 ± I 00 yr BP (SUA 2856) closely dates the maximum extent of glacier ice at Lake Beatrice in the upper Dante Rivulet during the Late Wisconsin in western Tasmania. Study of the Dante Glacier outwash fan deposits shows that they overlie a palaeosol and an older outwash gravel formation, and are interstratified with fluvial silts containing transported organic detritus deposited by flooding of the King River. Examination of available radiocarbon dates obtained from the palaeosol and interstratified silts shows that the palaeosol, Dante ourwash and fluvial silt sequence was formed during a relatively short period preceding and around the peak of the Late Wisconsin glacial stade (18-20 kyr BP). The data suggest that the Dante Glacier extended to its end moraine limits for only a short time.