Antarctic ice sheet history and stability: baseline palaeoclimate research on the Pagodroma Group, Prince Charles Mountains.

• Other Authors: AADC (owner), AADC, DATA OFFICER (distributor), AADC, DATA OFFICER (custodian), AU/AADC > Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia (hasAssociationWith), Australian Antarctic Data Centre (publisher), Australian Antarctic Division (sponsor), MCMINN, ANDREW (hasPrincipalInvestigator), MCMINN, ANDREW (author), WHITEHEAD, JASON (collaborator)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Australian Ocean Data Network
• Subjects: climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere; elevation; environment; geoscientificInformation; inlandWaters; oceans; EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > ICE SHEETS; LAND SURFACE > EROSION/SEDIMENTATION > EROSION; SEDIMENTATION; STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCE; GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES; OCEANS > MARINE SEDIMENTS > TERRIGENOUS SEDIMENTS; PALEOCLIMATE > LAND RECORDS > MACROFOSSILS; MICROFOSSILS; ANTARCTICA; BARDIN BLUFFS FORMATION; BENTHIC DIATOM ABUNDANCE; CENOZOIC; CLASTS; DIATOM; FISHER BENCH FORMATION; FOSSIL PRESERVATION; MARINE; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; Battye Glacier; Ice Sheet; Prince Charles Mountains; Prydz Bay
• Online Access: https://researchdata.edu.au/antarctic-ice-sheet-charles-mountains/2821890

Progress Code: completed Detailed sedimentary information and palaeontological samples were collected from Battye Glacier Formation, of the Pagodroma Group in the Prince Charles Mountains, an area where little information is presently available. The mid to Upper Cenozoic Pagodroma Group provides direct evidence for past changes in climate and glacial environments from deep within the Antarctic continent. Evidence from several geological formations in the Pagodroma Group, many of them fossil-bearing, will help to determine the history of fluctuations in climate and the size of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). This will provide baseline data to help validate the predictive numerical models of ice sheet dynamics. There is a clear need to study the response of the EAIS to past times of global warming. Periods of significance include times when atmospheric CO2 levels were similar to today (Poore and Sloan 1996). Another key time interval is during the late Neogene, prior to the development of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, which has largely governed Antarctic Ice Sheet volume changes during the Quaternary (Clapperton and Sugden 1990; Mabin 1990; Huybrechts 1990, 1992). An important aspect of the research is to build onto the geological data-set collected by ODP Leg 119, 120 and 188 in Prydz Bay. These operations have concentrated on the periphery of Antarctica and, therefore, record ice sheet retreat and advance at its outer-limits. The Pagodroma Group provides significant information about ice sheet variation at its the inner reaches. Together, these data-sets will shape our understanding of major fluctuations of the ice sheet through the Cenozoic, and will assist and test the models developed to predict ice sheet behavior in the future. Direct geological evidence for climatic conditions and the extent of the ice sheet during times of glacial retreat can be obtained only from onshore geological records, such as the Pagodroma Group. This is important given the current warming trends, expected ice sheet retreat ...