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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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1993
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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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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 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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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 |
_version_ |
1792497820568125440 |