Limited grounding-line advance onto the West Antarctic continental shelf in the easternmost Amundsen Sea Embayment during the last glacial period ...

• Main Authors: Klages, Johann P., Kuhn, Gerhard, Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Smith, James A., Graham, Alastair G.C., Nitsche, Frank O., Frederichs, Thomas, Jernas, Patrycja E., Gohl, Karsten, Wacker, Lukas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2017
• Subjects: Amundsen Sea; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; Iceberg*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000191623; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/191623

Precise knowledge about the extent of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; c. 26.5–19 cal. ka BP) is important in order to 1) improve paleo-ice sheet reconstructions, 2) provide a robust empirical framework for calibrating paleo-ice sheet models, and 3) locate potential shelf refugia for Antarctic benthos during the last glacial period. However, reliable reconstructions are still lacking for many WAIS sectors, particularly for key areas on the outer continental shelf, where the LGM-ice sheet is assumed to have terminated. In many areas of the outer continental shelf around Antarctica, direct geological data for the presence or absence of grounded ice during the LGM is lacking because of post-LGM iceberg scouring. This also applies to most of the outer continental shelf in the Amundsen Sea. Here we present detailed marine geophysical and new geological data documenting a sequence of glaciomarine sediments up to ~12 m thick within the deep outer portion of Abbot Trough, a ... : PLoS ONE, 12 (7) ...