Extreme decay of meteoric beryllium-10 as a proxy for persistent aridity.
The modern Antarctic Dry Valleys are locked in a hyper-arid, polar climate that enables the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) to remain stable, frozen to underlying bedrock. The duration of these dry, cold conditions is a critical prerequisite when modeling the long-term mass balance of the EAIS durin...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt75p2b019 2023-05-15T13:33:01+02:00 Extreme decay of meteoric beryllium-10 as a proxy for persistent aridity. Valletta, Rachel D Willenbring, Jane K Lewis, Adam R Ashworth, Allan C Caffee, Marc 17813 2015-12-09 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/75p2b019 unknown eScholarship, University of California qt75p2b019 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/75p2b019 public Scientific reports, vol 5, iss 1 Biochemistry and Cell Biology Other Physical Sciences article 2015 ftcdlib 2021-02-18T15:14:58Z The modern Antarctic Dry Valleys are locked in a hyper-arid, polar climate that enables the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) to remain stable, frozen to underlying bedrock. The duration of these dry, cold conditions is a critical prerequisite when modeling the long-term mass balance of the EAIS during past warm climates and is best examined using terrestrial paleoclimatic proxies. Unfortunately, deposits containing such proxies are extremely rare and often difficult to date. Here, we apply a unique dating approach to tundra deposits using concentrations of meteoric beryllium-10 ((10)Be) adhered to paleolake sediments from the Friis Hills, central Dry Valleys. We show that lake sediments were emplaced between 14-17.5 My and have remained untouched by meteoric waters since that time. Our results support the notion that the onset of Dry Valleys aridification occurred ~14 My, precluding the possibility of EAIS collapse during Pliocene warming events. Lake fossils indicate that >14 My ago the Dry Valleys hosted a moist tundra that flourished in elevated atmospheric CO2 (>400 ppm). Thus, Dry Valleys tundra deposits record regional climatic transitions that affect EAIS mass balance, and, in a global paleoclimatic context, these deposits demonstrate how warming induced by 400 ppm CO2 manifests at high latitudes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Tundra University of California: eScholarship Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Friis Hills ENVELOPE(161.417,161.417,-77.750,-77.750) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Biochemistry and Cell Biology Other Physical Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Biochemistry and Cell Biology Other Physical Sciences Valletta, Rachel D Willenbring, Jane K Lewis, Adam R Ashworth, Allan C Caffee, Marc Extreme decay of meteoric beryllium-10 as a proxy for persistent aridity. |
topic_facet |
Biochemistry and Cell Biology Other Physical Sciences |
description |
The modern Antarctic Dry Valleys are locked in a hyper-arid, polar climate that enables the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) to remain stable, frozen to underlying bedrock. The duration of these dry, cold conditions is a critical prerequisite when modeling the long-term mass balance of the EAIS during past warm climates and is best examined using terrestrial paleoclimatic proxies. Unfortunately, deposits containing such proxies are extremely rare and often difficult to date. Here, we apply a unique dating approach to tundra deposits using concentrations of meteoric beryllium-10 ((10)Be) adhered to paleolake sediments from the Friis Hills, central Dry Valleys. We show that lake sediments were emplaced between 14-17.5 My and have remained untouched by meteoric waters since that time. Our results support the notion that the onset of Dry Valleys aridification occurred ~14 My, precluding the possibility of EAIS collapse during Pliocene warming events. Lake fossils indicate that >14 My ago the Dry Valleys hosted a moist tundra that flourished in elevated atmospheric CO2 (>400 ppm). Thus, Dry Valleys tundra deposits record regional climatic transitions that affect EAIS mass balance, and, in a global paleoclimatic context, these deposits demonstrate how warming induced by 400 ppm CO2 manifests at high latitudes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Valletta, Rachel D Willenbring, Jane K Lewis, Adam R Ashworth, Allan C Caffee, Marc |
author_facet |
Valletta, Rachel D Willenbring, Jane K Lewis, Adam R Ashworth, Allan C Caffee, Marc |
author_sort |
Valletta, Rachel D |
title |
Extreme decay of meteoric beryllium-10 as a proxy for persistent aridity. |
title_short |
Extreme decay of meteoric beryllium-10 as a proxy for persistent aridity. |
title_full |
Extreme decay of meteoric beryllium-10 as a proxy for persistent aridity. |
title_fullStr |
Extreme decay of meteoric beryllium-10 as a proxy for persistent aridity. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Extreme decay of meteoric beryllium-10 as a proxy for persistent aridity. |
title_sort |
extreme decay of meteoric beryllium-10 as a proxy for persistent aridity. |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/75p2b019 |
op_coverage |
17813 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(161.417,161.417,-77.750,-77.750) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Friis Hills |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Friis Hills |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Tundra |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Tundra |
op_source |
Scientific reports, vol 5, iss 1 |
op_relation |
qt75p2b019 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/75p2b019 |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1766037862730432512 |