<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>During RV <jats:italic>Polarstern</jats:italic> cruise ANT-XXIII/4 in 2006, a gravity core (PS 69/335-2) and a giant box core (PS 69/335-1) were retrieved from Maxwell Bay off King George Island (KGI). Comprehensive geochemical (bulk parameters, quantitative XRF, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) and radiometric dating analyses (<jats:sup>14</jats:sup>C, <jats:sup>210</jats:sup>Pb) were performed on both cores. A comparison with geochemical data from local bedrock demonstrates a mostly detrital origin for the sediments, but also points to an overprint from changing bioproductivity in the overlying water column in addition to early diagenetic processes. Furthermore, ten tephra layers that were most probably derived from volcanic activity on Deception Island were identified. Variations in the vertical distribution of selected elements in Maxwell Bay sediments further indicate a shift in source rock provenance as a result of changing glacier extents during the past <jats:italic>c</jats:italic>. 1750 years that may be linked to the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period. Whereas no evidence for a significant increase in chemical weathering rates was found, <jats:sup>210</jats:sup>Pb data revealed that mass accumulation rates in Maxwell Bay have almost tripled since the 1940s (0.66 g cm<jats:sup>-2</jats:sup> yr<jats:sup>-1</jats:sup> in <jats:sc>ad</jats:sc> 2006), which is probably linked to rapid glacier retreat in this region due to recent warming.</jats:p>