A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene
Extensive ice coverage largely prevents investigations of Antarctica’s unglaciated past. Knowledge about environmental and tectonic development before large-scale glaciation, however, is important for understanding the transition into the modern icehouse world. We report geochronological and sedimen...
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2024
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn6056 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.adn6056 |
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craaas:10.1126/sciadv.adn6056 2024-06-23T07:45:26+00:00 A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene Zundel, Maximilian Spiegel, Cornelia Mark, Chris Millar, Ian Chew, David Klages, Johann Gohl, Karsten Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Najman, Yani Salzmann, Ulrich Ehrmann, Werner Titschack, Jürgen Bauersachs, Thorsten Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Bickert, Torsten Müller, Juliane Larter, Rober Lisker, Frank Bohaty, Steve Kuhn, Gerhard 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn6056 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.adn6056 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science Advances volume 10, issue 23 ISSN 2375-2548 journal-article 2024 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn6056 2024-06-13T04:01:27Z Extensive ice coverage largely prevents investigations of Antarctica’s unglaciated past. Knowledge about environmental and tectonic development before large-scale glaciation, however, is important for understanding the transition into the modern icehouse world. We report geochronological and sedimentological data from a drill core from the Amundsen Sea shelf, providing insights into tectonic and topographic conditions during the Eocene (~44 to 34 million years ago), shortly before major ice sheet buildup. Our findings reveal the Eocene as a transition period from >40 million years of relative tectonic quiescence toward reactivation of the West Antarctic Rift System, coinciding with incipient volcanism, rise of the Transantarctic Mountains, and renewed sedimentation under temperate climate conditions. The recovered sediments were deposited in a coastal-estuarine swamp environment at the outlet of a >1500-km-long transcontinental river system, draining from the rising Transantarctic Mountains into the Amundsen Sea. Much of West Antarctica hence lied above sea level, but low topographic relief combined with low elevation inhibited widespread ice sheet formation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Amundsen Sea Antarctic Lied ENVELOPE(65.532,65.532,-70.502,-70.502) Transantarctic Mountains West Antarctica Science Advances 10 23 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
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craaas |
language |
English |
description |
Extensive ice coverage largely prevents investigations of Antarctica’s unglaciated past. Knowledge about environmental and tectonic development before large-scale glaciation, however, is important for understanding the transition into the modern icehouse world. We report geochronological and sedimentological data from a drill core from the Amundsen Sea shelf, providing insights into tectonic and topographic conditions during the Eocene (~44 to 34 million years ago), shortly before major ice sheet buildup. Our findings reveal the Eocene as a transition period from >40 million years of relative tectonic quiescence toward reactivation of the West Antarctic Rift System, coinciding with incipient volcanism, rise of the Transantarctic Mountains, and renewed sedimentation under temperate climate conditions. The recovered sediments were deposited in a coastal-estuarine swamp environment at the outlet of a >1500-km-long transcontinental river system, draining from the rising Transantarctic Mountains into the Amundsen Sea. Much of West Antarctica hence lied above sea level, but low topographic relief combined with low elevation inhibited widespread ice sheet formation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zundel, Maximilian Spiegel, Cornelia Mark, Chris Millar, Ian Chew, David Klages, Johann Gohl, Karsten Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Najman, Yani Salzmann, Ulrich Ehrmann, Werner Titschack, Jürgen Bauersachs, Thorsten Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Bickert, Torsten Müller, Juliane Larter, Rober Lisker, Frank Bohaty, Steve Kuhn, Gerhard |
spellingShingle |
Zundel, Maximilian Spiegel, Cornelia Mark, Chris Millar, Ian Chew, David Klages, Johann Gohl, Karsten Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Najman, Yani Salzmann, Ulrich Ehrmann, Werner Titschack, Jürgen Bauersachs, Thorsten Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Bickert, Torsten Müller, Juliane Larter, Rober Lisker, Frank Bohaty, Steve Kuhn, Gerhard A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene |
author_facet |
Zundel, Maximilian Spiegel, Cornelia Mark, Chris Millar, Ian Chew, David Klages, Johann Gohl, Karsten Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Najman, Yani Salzmann, Ulrich Ehrmann, Werner Titschack, Jürgen Bauersachs, Thorsten Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Bickert, Torsten Müller, Juliane Larter, Rober Lisker, Frank Bohaty, Steve Kuhn, Gerhard |
author_sort |
Zundel, Maximilian |
title |
A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene |
title_short |
A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene |
title_full |
A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene |
title_fullStr |
A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene |
title_full_unstemmed |
A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene |
title_sort |
large-scale transcontinental river system crossed west antarctica during the eocene |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn6056 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.adn6056 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(65.532,65.532,-70.502,-70.502) |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Lied Transantarctic Mountains West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Lied Transantarctic Mountains West Antarctica |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
op_source |
Science Advances volume 10, issue 23 ISSN 2375-2548 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn6056 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
23 |
_version_ |
1802639690317168640 |