Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet Research Articles

A new Holocene relative sea level curve for the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Precise relative sea level (RSL) data are important for inferring regional ice sheet histories, as well as helping to validate numerical models of ice sheet evolution and glacial isostatic adjustment. Here we develop a new RSL curve for Fildes Peninsula, South Shetland Islands (SSIs), a sub-Antarctic archipelago peripheral to the northern Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet, by integrating sedimentary evidence from isolation basins with geomorphological evidence from raised beaches. This combined approach yields not only a Holocene RSL curve, but also the spatial pattern of how RSL change varied across the archipelago. The curve shows a mid-Holocene RSL highstand on Fildes Peninsula at 15.5 m above mean sea level between 8000 and 7000 cal a BP. Subsequently RSL gradually fell as a consequence of isostatic uplift in response to regional deglaciation. We propose that isostatic uplift occurred at a non-steady rate, with a temporary pause in ice retreat ca. 7200 cal a BP, leading to a short-lived RSL rise of ∼1 m and forming a second peak to the mid-Holocene highstand. Two independent approaches were taken to constrain the long-term tectonic uplift rate of the SSIs at 0.22–0.48 m/ka, placing the tectonic contribution to the reconstructed RSL highstand between 1.4 and 2.9 m. Finally, we make comparisons to predictions from three global sea level models.

The overdeepening hypothesis: How erosional modification of the marine-scape during the early Pliocene altered glacial dynamics on the Antarctic Peninsula's Pacific margin

A new synthesis of diatom assemblage data from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 178 suggests that the Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula underwent a transition from a shallow shelf to an overdeepened shelf in the early Pliocene. This modification of the marine-scape was due to a relatively brief interval of erosion begun at 5.2Ma. The erosion was caused by high frequency advances of a super-inflated Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS). The frequent advances of the higher elevation ice sheet were a consequence of abundant moisture delivered to the region as the Polar Front migrated southward. By 5.12Ma, ice streams incised foredeepened glacial troughs into basement on the inner shelf. Sediment eroded from the inner shelf was transported through cross-shelf troughs and deposited in large trough-mouth-fan depocenters on the upper slope. Overdeepened shelf conditions became widespread as troughs widened and intra-trough banks beveled. By 4.25Ma, trough-mouth-fan construction ceased and subsequent advances of the APIS have been infrequent. We propose that the reduced frequency of grounding events signaled the transition to a modern foredeepened and overdeepened shelf. We hypothesize that a new glacial dynamic emerged in the early Pliocene because overdeepening led to accelerated heat exchange between the ocean and APIS in two ways. Firstly, the overdeepened shelf required that a larger area of the grounded ice sheet's marine terminus be in contact with the ocean. Secondly, erosional deepening of the outer shelf was equivalent to lowering a shelf edge sill that permitted frequent and voluminous intrusion of warm circumpolar deep waters that upwell in the region. The resultant accelerated melting at the APIS marine terminus, caused the super-inflated APIS to deflate on the mainland, which further decreased the possibility that grounded ice could advance on the overdeepened shelf.

The sedimentary legacy of a palaeo-ice stream on the shelf of the southern Bellingshausen Sea: Clues to West Antarctic glacial history during the Late Quaternary

A major trough (“Belgica Trough”) eroded by a palaeo-ice stream crosses the continental shelf of the southern Bellingshausen Sea (West Antarctica) and is associated with a trough mouth fan (“Belgica TMF”) on the adjacent continental slope. Previous marine geophysical and geological studies investigated the bathymetry and geomorphology of Belgica Trough and Belgica TMF, erosional and depositional processes associated with bedform formation, and the temporal and spatial changes in clay mineral provenance of subglacial and glaciomarine sediments. Here, we present multi-proxy data from sediment cores recovered from the shelf and uppermost slope in the southern Bellingshausen Sea and reconstruct the ice-sheet history since the last glacial maximum (LGM) in this poorly studied area of West Antarctica. We combined new data (physical properties, sedimentary structures, geochemical and grain-size data) with published data (shear strength, clay mineral assemblages) to refine a previous facies classification for the sediments. The multi-proxy approach allowed us to distinguish four main facies types and to assign them to the following depositional settings: 1) subglacial, 2) proximal grounding-line, 3) distal sub-ice shelf/sub-sea ice, and 4) seasonal open-marine. In the seasonal open-marine facies we found evidence for episodic current-induced winnowing of near-seabed sediments on the middle to outer shelf and at the uppermost slope during the late Holocene. In addition, we obtained data on excess 210Pb activity at three core sites and 44 AMS 14C dates from the acid-insoluble fraction of organic matter (AIO) and calcareous (micro-) fossils, respectively, at 12 sites. These chronological data enabled us to reconstruct, for the first time, the timing of the last advance and retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) in the southern Bellingshausen Sea. We used the down-core variability in sediment provenance inferred from clay mineral changes to identify the most reliable AIO 14C ages for ice-sheet retreat. The palaeo-ice stream advanced through Belgica Trough after ∼36.0 corrected 14C ka before present (B.P.). It retreated from the outer shelf at ∼25.5 ka B.P., the middle shelf at ∼19.8 ka B.P., the inner shelf in Eltanin Bay at ∼12.3 ka B.P., and the inner shelf in Ronne Entrance at ∼6.3 ka B.P. The retreat of the WAIS and APIS occurred slowly and stepwise, and may still be in progress. This dynamical ice-sheet behaviour has to be taken into account for the interpretation of recent and the prediction of future mass-balance changes in the study area. The glacial history of the southern Bellingshausen Sea is unique when compared to other regions in West Antarctica, but some open questions regarding its chronology need to be addressed by future work.

The presence of polynyas in the Weddell Sea during the Last Glacial Period with implications for the reconstruction of sea-ice limits and ice sheet history

Cores from a contourite drift on the continental slope in the NW Weddell Sea, Antarctica, contain up to four sandy foraminifer-rich layers (WA1–4), with dispersed ice-rafted debris (IRD), interbedded with silty–clayey sands and sandy muds. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating on Neogloboquadrina pachyderma from the foraminifer-rich layers WA2 and WA3 yielded ages spanning the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 (20,319–28,543 cal yr BP) and the middle part of MIS 3 (41,349–43,242 cal yr BP), respectively. We attribute the high abundances of planktonic and benthic foraminifera to deposition in a seasonally open-marine environment. Given that the NW Weddell Sea shelf was covered by grounded ice at the LGM (and probably during MIS 2 and MIS 3) and that diatom-based reconstructions place the northern limit of winter and summer sea-ice coverage to the north of the core sites during the Last Glacial Period, our results document the presence of a seasonal or perennial polynya in the NW Weddell Sea. The polynya may have been formed by katabatic winds blowing off the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) when it was grounded at the continental shelf break, although polynya formation through upwelling of deep water cannot be ruled out. In addition we argue that previously published data from the southern, southeastern and southwestern Weddell Sea as well as the Ross Sea may indicate the widespread occurrence of polynyas along the Antarctic continental margin during the Last Glacial Period. The widespread occurrence of polynyas could help explain how (i) AABW formation (through brine rejection) continued throughout the LGM, and (ii) Antarctic shelf benthos survived glacial periods. The presence of polynyas through glacial periods also has implications for sea-ice reconstructions from ice core records, possibly biasing the signal towards a reduced sea-ice cover. Finally we propose that the fringes of the APIS, which probably influence the presence or absence of polynyas in the NW Weddell Sea, are sensitive to changes in Antarctic temperature that may be related to a reduction in oceanic heat transport from the North Atlantic.

Ice-sheet evolution in James Ross Basin, Weddell Sea margin of the Antarctic Peninsula: The seismic stratigraphic record

The stratigraphic architecture of the James Ross Basin, NW Weddell Sea continental shelf, shows three major phases of deposition: preglacial, ice-sheet growth, and ice-sheet dominated. The preglacial phase shows stratigraphic sequences that are similar to low-latitude margins. During the ice-sheet growth phase, there is evidence for initial ice-sheet grounding in the southern part of the basin, which migrated in steps northward. Sediment supply was also high during the ice-sheet growth phase. During the ice sheet–dominated phase, both north and south parts of the basin inherited all the classic features indicative of glacial strata: large glacial troughs hundreds of meters deep and tens of kilometers wide, truncation of sequences overlain by chaotic seismic facies and topped with coherent laminated reflections, and an oversteepened continental slope. The James Ross Basin strata are divided into five units (S5–S1). Each unit is characterized based upon seismic facies and stratigraphic architecture, and the age of each unit is inferred from a seismic stratigraphic age model. End-member strata (S5 and S1) were drilled and dated during SHALDRIL and help to constrain this age model. In total, 34 grounding events of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) are recorded on the continental shelf. This is similar to the 31 grounding events imaged on the Pacific side of the peninsula. Ice grounding on the continental shelf is shown to have occurred as early as late middle Miocene to early late Miocene in the southern part of the basin. The ice sheet advanced northward to encompass the northern peninsula by late Miocene time. The seven oldest glacial unconformities are believed to predate all previously identified unconformities on the peninsula continental shelf. An expanded section of late Pliocene–Pleistocene deposits shows a minimum of 10 grounding events; this record more closely matches the deep-sea oxygen isotope record than previous seismic studies of Antarctic margins have shown.

Neogene glacigenic debris flows on James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula, and their implications for regional climate history

Detailed sedimentological and microtextural analyses of newly-discovered late Neogene diamictites and other coarse-grained facies, mostly sandwiched between hyaloclastite of the James Ross Island Volcanic Group and Cretaceous sandstone and mudstone, indicate deposition mainly by glacigenic debris flows. The deposits on James Ross Island (northern Antarctic Peninsula) constrain the depositional setting, ice–bed dynamics and regional palaeoclimate. The sequences on James Ross Island vary in age but are mainly late Miocene and Pliocene. Unlike Neogene sedimentary sequences elsewhere in Antarctica, those on James Ross Island are unusually well-dated by a combination of 40Ar/ 39Ar and 87Sr/ 86Sr analyses on fresh interbedded lavas and pristine bivalve molluscs, respectively. The Sr isotopic ages of the debris flows cluster around 4.74, 4.89, 5.44, 5.78, and 6.31 Ma and probably date relatively warm periods in the northern Antarctic Peninsula region, when the bivalves lived under ice-poor or seasonally ice-free conditions. The bivalves are often remarkably well-preserved, lack adhering lithified sediment and, in at least two locations, are large, mainly unfragmented and sometimes articulated, suggesting that they were alive immediately prior to their incorporation in subaqueous debris flows at the margins of an advancing glacier. These fossiliferous glacigenic debris flows signify episodes of ice expansion during relatively warm periods, or “interglacials”, of the late Miocene and Pliocene. The James Ross Island glacigenic sedimentary successions attain thicknesses of up to 150 m and extend over 4 km laterally. The high volume of glacigenic sediment delivery implicit in the James Ross Island successions indicates that a series of dynamic ice fronts crossed the region during the late Miocene and Pliocene epochs. Associated evidence, in the form of clast abrasion (including striations and faceting) and bedrock erosion, is indicative of basal sliding and subglacial sediment deformation active at the ice–bed interface and wet-based temperate or polythermal regimes, prior to remobilisation. The evidence further suggests two local ice caps on James Ross Island during the warm periods, as well as ice-overriding by the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet from the west and northwest.

History of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet since the early Pliocene—Evidence from cosmogenic dating of Pliocene lavas on James Ross Island, Antarctica

Knowledge of the thickness, extent and basal thermal conditions of ice cover on Antarctica during past climatic fluctuations is essential if we are to accurately predict the contribution from the Antarctic ice sheets to future global sea level rise. When combined with geomorphological evidence, terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides are a powerful tool for palaeo-ice sheet reconstructions. Here we present results from the first terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide study on James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula. We measured cosmogenic 3He concentrations in primary flow surface features of Pliocene basalt lavas which are exposed more than 600 m above present-day sea level. Our results suggest that the lava surfaces have been ice-free for no more than 15 kyr since their eruption at 4.69 Ma. This implies that a glacial cover has persisted on James Ross Island since 4.69 Ma, even during interglacial periods, and much (if not all) of the warm Pliocene (5–3 Ma, when average global temperatures were up to 3 °C higher than today). This is consistent with results of recent modelling studies, but contradicts General Circulation Models that suggest an ice-free Antarctic Peninsula during that time. Field observations of striated lava surfaces found adjacent to primary volcanogenic features, such as ropy textures, combined with cosmogenic 3He data suggest that the ice cover was locally wet-based, and relatively thin (not exceeding 45–200 m) for the majority of the past 4.69 Myr. The ice temporarily reached a thickness sufficient to cause some localised erosion in hollows, but this erosion was not widespread. Although the pristinely-preserved lavas found on upstanding tumuli appear never to have been eroded, our exposure age data show that they were covered by ice for most of their history, and therefore could not have been refugia for terrestrial organisms during glacial periods.

New insights on the post-rift seismic stratigraphic architecture and sedimentary evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula margin (Central Bransfield Basin)

A seismic stratigraphic study of the Antarctic Peninsula margin of the Central Bransfield Basin was conducted using seismic and bathymetric data. The study focused on seismic sequences and units deposited after the basin opened, and yield a record of the evolution of the northern-most Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet. Two seismic sequences compose the post-rift stratigraphic succession on the Central Bransfield Basin slope platforms. Both sequences are composed of seismic units that record glacial/interglacial cycles and show evidence of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet having grounded on the continental shelf and slope platform on several occasions in the past. This evidence includes glacial and glaciomarine related sedimentary and erosional features within the seismic units (glacial unconformities, glacial troughs, till wedges, prograded wedges, trough mouth fans, glaciomarine sheet deposits and moraines), which are bounded by glacial unconformities. The Antarctic Peninsula lower slope also registered in its eastern sector the deposition of gravity flow deposits during ice sheet retreat and interglacial stages. The deposition of seismic units on the middle slope produced the present-day step-like profile of the margin composed of wide flat slope platforms and narrow and steep upper and lower slopes. Seismic units show changes in thickness and distribution that record the effect of the physiography and climatic changes on margin sedimentation. These variations produced an overall change from more line-sourced deposition to more point sourced deposition as ice streams evolved. The stacking of units shows a change in the stratigraphic architecture through time, from dominantly progradational (S2) to progradational/aggradational (S1). This change is correlated with a change in the frequency of ice sheet grounding events which was probably driven by a higher rate of eustatic rise and fall in relation with the Mid Pleistocene global climatic change.

Six million years of glacial history recorded in volcanic lithofacies of the James Ross Island Volcanic Group, Antarctic Peninsula

Basaltic volcanism in the James Ross Island region has been persistent over the last 6 million years resulting in at least 50 mainly effusive eruptions that are preserved predominantly as lava-fed deltas and a small number of tuff cones. Most of the eruptions took place during glacial periods, and the deltas have enabled the characteristics of the palaeo-glacier cover to be deduced for the first time, for multiple time slices. The resolution of 40Ar/39Ar dating of young basaltic lavas is relatively poor compared with the duration of glacial–interglacial periods and precludes any Milankovitch-scale cyclicity being identified, a problem that is now becoming acute in palaeoenvironmental investigations of this type. Our results indicate that glacial periods were characterised by a relatively thin glacier cover in this area, typically just 200–350 m. They were interspersed with fewer periods of thicker ice c. 600–750 m in thickness. These are likely maximum estimates and they may be too high by a few tens of metres. The glacier cover increased in thickness toward the present. However, as evidenced by 4.6 myr-old surfaces at c. 620 m a.s.l. that are glacially unmodified other than frost shattering, no evidence has been found for a substantially thicker ice sheet at any time during the last 6 myr. The glacier cover was formed predominantly of ice (sensu stricto) that was wet-based and erosive. Thus it had a temperate or, probably more likely, sub-polar (i.e. polythermal) thermal regime and, if the ice reached the continental shelf edge, it must have had a low profile. After an early history (c. 6.2–4.6 Ma) dominated by an areally extensive Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS), the local glacial morphodynamics were determined by a local ice cap that draped James Ross Island and was presumably confluent with the APIS along its western margin. These results are the first evidence for the morphology, thickness and thermal regime of the glacier cover in the northern Antarctic Peninsula region for the late Neogene–Quaternary period.

Radiocarbon constraints on Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet retreat following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)

We present marine sedimentologic and radiocarbon data for the timing of retreat of the largely marine-based Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Our findings indicate minimum estimates of deglaciation between 18,000 and 9000 calibrated years before present (calyr BP), roughly in phase with the Northern Hemisphere deglaciation and eustatic sea-level rise. Our findings show this retreat occurred progressively from the outer, middle, and inner continental shelf regions, as well as progressively from the north to the south. Retreat initiated on the outer shelf of the northern Peninsula by ∼18,000calyr BP and continued southward by ∼14,000calyr BP on the outer shelf of Marguerite Bay, several thousand years earlier than estimated by numeric models. While individual cores yield estimates of glacial retreat that may vary up to ±1100 years, we note steps in the data occur at ∼14,000 and possibly 11,000calyr BP, coincidental to rapidly rising (eustatic) sea level, including the well documented melt water pulses (MWP 1a and 1b). These data support the hypothesis that rapidly rising sea level is associated with marine ice sheet destabilization, although additional dates are necessary to substantiate this finding. This study highlights problems with radiocarbon dating acid insoluble organic (AIO) matter in proximal Lateglacial sediments as well as the need for more accurate dating techniques.

Are Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet grounding events manifest in sedimentary cycles on the adjacent continental rise?

The direct record of Late Miocene–Early Pliocene Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet expansions from a previously published seismostratigraphic study of the outer shelf at Ocean Drilling Program Site 1097 is compared to the glacial history we deduced from published proxy evidence within coeval sections on the adjacent continental rise. The proxies are sedimentary structures (laminated vs. massive/bioturbated facies) and clay minerals (predominantly smectite and chlorite contents) from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1095 located on the distal part of a large drift. The comparison shows that more sedimentary cycles are evident on the continental rise for three of the four diatom biozones we considered. This indicates that the continental-rise sedimentology may indeed be related to local or regional paleoenvironmental variability, including Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet grounding events on the adjacent outer continental shelf. If correct, this would be a promising result because unlike the outer continental shelf sequences drilled thus far, the continental rise record is relatively continuous and can be dated using paleomagnetic and biostratigraphic data. However, our study also shows that no objective criteria provide direct linkages between the glacial history we deduced from the two continental rise proxies and that previously derived from the continental-shelf seismic stratigraphy. Furthermore, the two sedimentologic proxies on the continental rise do not always provide a consistent picture of glacial history when compared against each other.

Depositional patterns at Drift 7, Antarctic Peninsula: Along-slope versus down-slope sediment transport as indicators for oceanic currents and climatic conditions

Understanding the processes and phases of deep-sea sediment drift formation is essential for a reconstruction of their evolution. This leads to a better understanding of the properties of oceanographic currents active during drift formation and in turn to information on the climatic conditions. A system of sediment drifts at the Antarctic Peninsula Pacific rise has been chosen to learn more about the Neogene evolution of both current systems and palaeo-climate in that area. Drift 7 was extensively surveyed (seismic and sampling), and two ODP Leg 178 sites were drilled there. Using this information, maps of reflectors depth and seismic unit thickness were compiled and interpreted regarding the controlling depositional processes. The depositional model shows an initially major along-slope sediment transport by a SW-setting bottom current (25–15 Ma), which deflected sediment supplied from the continental shelf. Between 15 Ma and 9.5 Ma down-slope transport took over as a result of the growth of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet. The SW setting bottom current appears to have broken down. Down-slope transport has decreased since 9.5 Ma, but a re-onset of the bottom current can only be observed since 5.3 Ma. The analysis has further shown that the nucleus of the drift is connected to a basement ridge. It is hence inferred that basement topography played a major role in the formation of this sediment drift.

Geomorphological evidence and cosmogenic 10Be/26Al exposure ages for the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet

This paper presents the first systematic attempt to map the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) configuration of the southern and central parts of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet, and to determine the timing of onshore ice-sheet retreat. Geomorphologic evidence shows that the LGM ice sheet expanded to form two ice domes in Palmer Land and merged with an expanded and thicker West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the Weddell Sea. Ice from the Antarctic Peninsula merged with Alexander Island ice in George VI Sound. Cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al data from 29 erratics on nunataks yield model ages between 7.2 ka and older than 1 Ma. The data set contains a high proportion of erratics with evidence of nuclide inheritance. Once these ages have been excluded, the cosmogenic ages suggest that thinning of the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to near-present configuration was almost complete by the early Holocene. These data, combined with previously published 14 C data, exclude the possibility that the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet has been thinning throughout the Holocene, as has been demonstrated for some other sectors of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. On the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula, ice-sheet thinning was under way prior to the early Holocene, but our data do not constrain the ice-sheet behavior more recently than 7.2 ka.

Geological and geomorphological insights into Antarctic ice sheet evolution

Technical advances in the study of ice-free parts of Antarctica can provide quantitative records that are useful for constraining and refining models of ice sheet evolution and behaviour. Such records improve our understanding of system trajectory, influence the questions we ask about system stability and help to define the ice-sheet processes that are relevant on different time-scales. Here, we illustrate the contribution of cosmogenic isotope analysis of exposed bedrock surfaces and marine geophysical surveying to the understanding of Antarctic ice sheet evolution on a range of time-scales. In the Dry Valleys of East Antarctica, 3He dating of subglacial flood deposits that are now exposed on mountain summits provide evidence of an expanded and thicker Mid-Miocene ice sheet. The survival of surface boulders for approximately 14Myr, the oldest yet measured, demonstrates exceptionally low rates of subsequent erosion and points to the persistence and stability of the dry polar desert climate since that time. Increasingly, there are constraints on West Antarctic ice sheet fluctuations during Quaternary glacial cycles. In the Sarnoff Mountains of Marie Byrd Land in West Antarctica, 10Be and 26Al cosmogenic isotope analysis of glacial erratics and bedrock reveal steady thinning of the ice sheet from 10400 years ago to the present, probably as a result of grounding line retreat. In the Antarctic Peninsula, offshore analysis reveals an extensive ice sheet at the last glacial maximum. Based on radiocarbon dating, deglaciation began by 17000cal yr BP and was complete by 9500cal yr BP. Deglaciation of the west and east sides of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet occurred at different times and rates, but was largely complete by the Early Holocene. At that time ice shelves were less extensive on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula than they are today. The message from the past is that individual glacier drainage basins in Antarctica respond in different and distinctive ways to global climate change, depending on the link between regional topography and climate setting.

Recent Trends in Melting Conditions on the Antarctic Peninsula and Their Implications for Ice-sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level

Long-term records from meteorological stations on the Antarctic Peninsula show strong rising trends in the annual duration of melting conditions. In each case, the trend is statistically significant and represents a major increase in the potential for melting; for example, between 1950 and 2000 the record from Faraday/Vernadsky Station showed a 74% increase in the number of positive degree-days (PDDs). A simple parameterization of the likely effects of the warming on the rate of snow melt suggests an increase across the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet from 28 ± 12 Gt a−1 in 1950, to 54 ± 26 Gt a−1 by 2000. Given a similar rate of warming over the next 50 years this may reach 100 ± 46 Gt a−1. The majority of this increased meltwater does not drain into the sea but is refrozen in the ice sheet, and it is difficult to predict the fraction of ablation that will become runoff; however, a calculation based on an established criterion for runoff indicates that the contribution from the Antarctic Peninsula, as a direct and immediate response to climate warming is significant, equivalent to (0.008–0.055) mm a−1 of global sea level rise. Given future warming this could easily treble in the coming 50 years. This contribution due to increased runoff could be augmented by any dynamic imbalance in the glaciers draining the ice sheet. This finding appears to contradict the conclusions of previous assessments, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which considered the contribution of runoff from Antarctica to sea level rise would be insignificant.

Geomorphological evidence and cosmogenic 10Be/26Al exposure ages for the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet

Research Article| September 01, 2006 Geomorphological evidence and cosmogenic 10Be/26Al exposure ages for the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet Michael J. Bentley; Michael J. Bentley 1Department of Geography, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Christopher J. Fogwill; Christopher J. Fogwill 2Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Peter W. Kubik; Peter W. Kubik 3Paul Scherrer Institut, c/o Institute of Particle Physics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar David E. Sugden David E. Sugden 4School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Michael J. Bentley 1Department of Geography, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK Christopher J. Fogwill 2Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK Peter W. Kubik 3Paul Scherrer Institut, c/o Institute of Particle Physics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland David E. Sugden 4School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 28 Sep 2004 Revision Received: 22 Jul 2005 Accepted: 24 Mar 2006 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Online Issn: 1943-2674 Print Issn: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2006) 118 (9-10): 1149–1159. https://doi.org/10.1130/B25735.1 Article history Received: 28 Sep 2004 Revision Received: 22 Jul 2005 Accepted: 24 Mar 2006 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Michael J. Bentley, Christopher J. Fogwill, Peter W. Kubik, David E. Sugden; Geomorphological evidence and cosmogenic 10Be/26Al exposure ages for the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet. GSA Bulletin 2006;; 118 (9-10): 1149–1159. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B25735.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract This paper presents the first systematic attempt to map the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) configuration of the southern and central parts of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet, and to determine the timing of onshore ice-sheet retreat. Geomorphologic evidence shows that the LGM ice sheet expanded to form two ice domes in Palmer Land and merged with an expanded and thicker West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the Weddell Sea. Ice from the Antarctic Peninsula merged with Alexander Island ice in George VI Sound. Cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al data from 29 erratics on nunataks yield model ages between 7.2 ka and older than 1 Ma. The data set contains a high proportion of erratics with evidence of nuclide inheritance. Once these ages have been excluded, the cosmogenic ages suggest that thinning of the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to near-present configuration was almost complete by the early Holocene. These data, combined with previously published 14C data, exclude the possibility that the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet has been thinning throughout the Holocene, as has been demonstrated for some other sectors of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. On the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula, ice-sheet thinning was under way prior to the early Holocene, but our data do not constrain the ice-sheet behavior more recently than 7.2 ka. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Distribution, lithofacies and environmental context of Neogene glacial sequences on James Ross and Vega islands, Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract Considerable controversy exists concerning the stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Neogene Period. The northern Antarctic Peninsula is in a critical position in this debate as it represents a peripheral area of the ice sheet and is therefore likely to have been sensitive to climatic changes. This paper is concerned with Neogene glacial deposits that occur on James Ross and Vega islands. They occur between a thick volcanic sequence, the James Ross Island Volcanic Group, and Upper Cretaceous sedimentary rocks; they also occur within the volcanic sequence itself. The glacial deposits, where dated, give a series of snapshots of glacial conditions in Neogene time. The deposits are characterized by diamictite and sandy mudstone. Published 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ages on shelly fossils in some deposits range from 9.9 to 4.7 Ma, although additional 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages on interbedded volcanic rocks suggest that younger sedimentary deposits are also present. On James Ross Island the basal diamictite is interpreted as glaciomarine sediment that has undergone subaqueous mass movement, and on Vega Island as basal till originating from the west. Provenance studies indicate that the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet expanded sufficiently to deposit these sediments. These diamictites, in places, are overlain by waterlain tuffaceous rocks that include a minor ice-rafted component. Complex deformation of sedimentary and volcanic deposits and contact-metamorphism relationships confirm that volcanism was contemporaneous with glaciation. Later glacial events (within the volcanic sequence) are characterized by glacial erosion of basalt followed by basal till and, possibly, glaciofluvial deposition. The clasts in the latter are almost exclusively local, hence later glaciation was as a small ice cap constructed on the growing volcanic complex of James Ross Island.

Flow of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet on the continental margin of the Bellingshausen Sea at the Last Glacial Maximum

Geophysical data show that during the last glaciation the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) drained to the continental shelf edge of the Bellingshausen Sea through a cross‐shelf bathymetric trough (Belgica Trough) as a grounded, fast flowing, ice stream. The drainage basin feeding this ice stream probably encompassed southwestern Palmer Land, parts of southern Alexander Island, and the Bryan Coast of Ellsworth Land, with an area exceeding 200,000 km2. On the inner continental shelf, streamlined bedrock and drumlins mapped by swath bathymetry show that the ice stream was fed by convergent ice flow draining from Eltanin Bay and bays to the east, as well as by ice draining the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet through the Ronne Entrance. The presence of a paleoice stream in Belgica Trough is indicated by megascale glacial lineations formed in soft till and a trough mouth fan on the continental margin. Grounding zone wedges on the inner and midshelf record ice marginal stillstands during deglaciation and imply a staggered pattern of ice sheet retreat. These new data indicate an extensive WAIS at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) on the Bellingshausen Sea continental margin, which advanced to the shelf edge. In conjunction with ice sheet reconstructions from the Antarctic Peninsula and Pine Island Bay, this implies a regionally extensive ice sheet configuration during the LGM along the Antarctic Peninsula, Bellingshausen Sea, and Amundsen Sea margins, with fast flowing ice streams draining the WAIS and Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to the continental shelf edge.

Direct constraints on Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet grounding events between 5.12 and 7.94 Ma

How has the Antarctic Ice Sheet responded to or influenced global climate change? This simple question has been difficult to address because the long‐term records of the ice sheet's fluctuations are poorly constrained with geologic data from Antarctica. Thus studies to date have not convincingly established how specific Antarctic Ice Sheet events correlate with climatic, eustatic, or other phenomena known from low‐latitude and deep‐sea records. This study focused on documenting the direct record of ice sheet advance and retreat to the Antarctic Peninsula's shelf edge. On the peninsula's outer shelf, seismic reflectors interpreted to be subglacial unconformities were correlated with published results from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 178. Lithologic and chronologic control at two drill sites provided ground truth for the seismic interpretation and the timing of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet grounding events. This synthesis showed that grounded ice advanced to the shelf edge on at least 12 occasions between 5.12 and 7.94 Ma.

Flow dynamics and till genesis associated with a marine-based Antarctic palaeo-ice stream

Geophysical and geological data indicate that during the last glacial cycle a palaeo-ice stream drained the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) through Marguerite Bay to the edge of the continental shelf via a bathymetric trough (Marguerite Trough). Mega-scale glacial lineations (MSGL) in outer Marguerite Trough are formed in an acoustically transparent sediment unit, consisting of a soft deformation till. The association of MSGL with deformation till indicates that bed deformation occurred beneath the ice stream, and the thickness of the subglacial deforming layer was on the order of several metres. MSGL within outer Marguerite Trough are related to a pre-existing thick sequence of soft sediments on the outer shelf and are inferred to have formed by a combination of subglacial sediment deformation by attenuation from a point source and groove-ploughing. Morphologically, the MSGL differ in several respects from those documented elsewhere and this variation suggests a polygenetic origin for this subglacial landform. An initial advance of the APIS across the Marguerite Bay continental shelf at the LGM deposited a stiff subglacial till. Following this advance, the ice margin within Marguerite Trough retreated 70–100 km before stabilising and depositing a grounding zone wedge. An ice stream then developed in the trough and extended to the shelf edge forming a soft deformation till. Development of the ice stream may have been a glacio-dynamic response to regional deglaciation. Subsequent retreat of the Marguerite Trough ice stream was underway by 13,490 (uncorrected) 14C years before present. Based on the geophysical and core data, ice-stream retreat appears to have been rapid and it contrasts with reconstructions of palaeo-ice streams from other locations in Antarctica. This implies marked regional variations in Antarctic ice-stream dynamics during Late Quaternary deglaciation.