**5. Conclusions**

The geomorphology of Schirmacher Oasis and Larsemann Hills, the two prominent ice free areas present distinct erosional and depositional landforms characteristic of a polar periglacial environment. Both the areas house hundreds of melt water lakes that have preserved the signatures of glacial–interglacial climate variations in the sediments deposited. Paleaoclimate history for the past ~42 cal. ka B.P [5] has revealed wide spread glaciation in LGM with Holocene being characterized by alternating warm and cold phases. Presence of marine sediments were documented from two coastal lakes viz., Pup Lagoon [35] and Heart Lake [3, 35] suggesting isostatic upliftment in the region. The sedimentological data viz.: sediment sorting, composition and the SEM studies on quartz grains from the two areas have shown similar results except the extent and strength of glacial processes. While there was a strong effect of glacial processes on quartz grains from Larsemann Hills, the imprints of glaciofluvial activity were more prominent on quartz grains from Schirmacher Oasis [40].
