Is there direct evidence for late Quaternary collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet?

Abstract By studying diatoms recovered from sediment taken from beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet (Ice Stream B), Scherer (1991) concluded that this feature must have collapsed at least once during the past 600 kyear and that the two likely candidates for time of collapse were oxygen-isotope stag...

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Published in:Journal of Glaciology
Main Author: Burckle, Lloyd H.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1993
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000016385
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000016385
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spelling crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000016385 2024-03-03T08:37:15+00:00 Is there direct evidence for late Quaternary collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet? Burckle, Lloyd H. 1993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000016385 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000016385 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 39, issue 133, page 491-494 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 1993 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000016385 2024-02-08T08:36:10Z Abstract By studying diatoms recovered from sediment taken from beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet (Ice Stream B), Scherer (1991) concluded that this feature must have collapsed at least once during the past 600 kyear and that the two likely candidates for time of collapse were oxygen-isotope stage 11 (362–423 kyear BP) and sub-stage 5e (110–128kyear BP). This conclusion does not stand up to critical examination of the data, however. Specifically, the diatom datum level, the last occurrence of Actinocyclus ingens , used to constrain the 600 kyear date is diachronous into higher latitudes and does not apply in sediments recovered from near Antarctica. Secondly, the additional diatoms used to constrain the time of collapse to the late Quaternary either range before the late Quaternary or have no published geological record. In spite of this, there are data to suggest that one or more late Quaternary interglacial intervals were as warm as, or warmer than, the present. As yet, however, no direct evidence exists to incorporate a West Antarctic ice sheet collapse into these scenarios. It is suggested that this debate is best resolved by study of deep-sea sediments of late Quaternary age recovered from around the Antarctic continent. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet Ice Stream B Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Antarctic The Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet Journal of Glaciology 39 133 491 494
institution Open Polar
collection Cambridge University Press
op_collection_id crcambridgeupr
language English
topic Earth-Surface Processes
spellingShingle Earth-Surface Processes
Burckle, Lloyd H.
Is there direct evidence for late Quaternary collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet?
topic_facet Earth-Surface Processes
description Abstract By studying diatoms recovered from sediment taken from beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet (Ice Stream B), Scherer (1991) concluded that this feature must have collapsed at least once during the past 600 kyear and that the two likely candidates for time of collapse were oxygen-isotope stage 11 (362–423 kyear BP) and sub-stage 5e (110–128kyear BP). This conclusion does not stand up to critical examination of the data, however. Specifically, the diatom datum level, the last occurrence of Actinocyclus ingens , used to constrain the 600 kyear date is diachronous into higher latitudes and does not apply in sediments recovered from near Antarctica. Secondly, the additional diatoms used to constrain the time of collapse to the late Quaternary either range before the late Quaternary or have no published geological record. In spite of this, there are data to suggest that one or more late Quaternary interglacial intervals were as warm as, or warmer than, the present. As yet, however, no direct evidence exists to incorporate a West Antarctic ice sheet collapse into these scenarios. It is suggested that this debate is best resolved by study of deep-sea sediments of late Quaternary age recovered from around the Antarctic continent.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Burckle, Lloyd H.
author_facet Burckle, Lloyd H.
author_sort Burckle, Lloyd H.
title Is there direct evidence for late Quaternary collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet?
title_short Is there direct evidence for late Quaternary collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet?
title_full Is there direct evidence for late Quaternary collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet?
title_fullStr Is there direct evidence for late Quaternary collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet?
title_full_unstemmed Is there direct evidence for late Quaternary collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet?
title_sort is there direct evidence for late quaternary collapse of the west antarctic ice sheet?
publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP)
publishDate 1993
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000016385
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000016385
geographic Antarctic
The Antarctic
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
geographic_facet Antarctic
The Antarctic
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
genre Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Ice Stream B
Journal of Glaciology
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Ice Stream B
Journal of Glaciology
op_source Journal of Glaciology
volume 39, issue 133, page 491-494
ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000016385
container_title Journal of Glaciology
container_volume 39
container_issue 133
container_start_page 491
op_container_end_page 494
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