Like most glaciers, those in subantarctic regions have experienced rapid mass loss over recent decades. On the Kerguelen Islands, the Cook Ice Cap (CIC) has retreated at among the highest rates globally, primarily driven by atmospheric drying linked to the Southern Annular Mode. To contextualise this recent wastage within a long-term perspective, documenting the evolution of past glacial extents through cosmic ray exposure (CRE) dating of glacial landforms is essential. However, CRE dating provides only discrete temporal and spatial data. Glacio-climate modelling offers a complementary approach, enabling the reconstruction of glacier evolution across entire regions and continuously over millennial timescales.

While previous studies on the Kerguelen Archipelago have largely focused on the CIC, little is known about smaller ice caps. This study addresses this gap by applying chlorine-36 (36Cl) CRE dating and positive degree-day (PDD) glaciological modelling to four glacier sites associated with peripheral ice caps on the archipelago: the Western and Eastern Rallier du Baty Peninsula, the Société de Géographie Peninsula, and the Northern Gallieni Peninsula. The CRE ages obtained, based on 30 samples, range from ~540 years to ~17.3 ka, consistent with previous studies on the islands. Complementary PDD modelling results will be discussed and compared to the information provided by 36Cl dating and previous PDD results on the CIC.

This work provides new insights into the long-term dynamics of peripheral glaciers in the Kerguelen Archipelago, highlighting the value of combining geochronological and modelling approaches to refine our understanding of past glacial and climatic variability in subantarctic environments.