Holocene thinning of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers, Antarctica, and implications for grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea
Chronologies of glacier deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains provide important constraints on grounding-line retreat during the last deglaciation in the Ross Sea. However, between Beardmore Glacier and Ross Island – a distance of some 600 km – the existing chronologies are generally sparse and f...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3329-2021 https://doaj.org/article/a1533c7edfcd40808366db667d6894e3 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a1533c7edfcd40808366db667d6894e3 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a1533c7edfcd40808366db667d6894e3 2023-05-15T13:44:10+02:00 Holocene thinning of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers, Antarctica, and implications for grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea T. R. Hillebrand J. O. Stone M. Koutnik C. King H. Conway B. Hall K. Nichols B. Goehring M. K. Gillespie 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3329-2021 https://doaj.org/article/a1533c7edfcd40808366db667d6894e3 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/3329/2021/tc-15-3329-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-3329-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/a1533c7edfcd40808366db667d6894e3 The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 3329-3354 (2021) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3329-2021 2022-12-31T13:22:15Z Chronologies of glacier deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains provide important constraints on grounding-line retreat during the last deglaciation in the Ross Sea. However, between Beardmore Glacier and Ross Island – a distance of some 600 km – the existing chronologies are generally sparse and far from the modern grounding line, leaving the past dynamics of this vast region largely unconstrained. We present exposure ages of glacial deposits at three locations alongside the Darwin–Hatherton Glacier System – including within 10 km of the modern grounding line – that record several hundred meters of Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene thickening relative to present. As the ice sheet grounding line in the Ross Sea retreated, Hatherton Glacier thinned steadily from about 9 until about 3 ka. Our data are equivocal about the maximum thickness and Mid-Holocene to Early Holocene history at the mouth of Darwin Glacier, allowing for two conflicting deglaciation scenarios: (1) ∼500 m of thinning from 9 to 3 ka, similar to Hatherton Glacier, or (2) ∼950 m of thinning, with a rapid pulse of ∼600 m thinning at around 5 ka. We test these two scenarios using a 1.5-dimensional flowband model, forced by ice thickness changes at the mouth of Darwin Glacier and evaluated by fit to the chronology of deposits at Hatherton Glacier. The constraints from Hatherton Glacier are consistent with the interpretation that the mouth of Darwin Glacier thinned steadily by ∼500 m from 9 to 3 ka. Rapid pulses of thinning at the mouth of Darwin Glacier are ruled out by the data at Hatherton Glacier. This contrasts with some of the available records from the mouths of other outlet glaciers in the Transantarctic Mountains, many of which thinned by hundreds of meters over roughly a 1000-year period in the Early Holocene. The deglaciation histories of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers are best matched by a steady decrease in catchment area through the Holocene, suggesting that Byrd and/or Mulock glaciers may have captured roughly half of the catchment ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Beardmore Glacier Darwin Glacier Hatherton Glacier Ice Sheet Ross Island Ross Sea The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Beardmore ENVELOPE(174.900,174.900,-83.350,-83.350) Beardmore Glacier ENVELOPE(170.000,170.000,-84.500,-84.500) Byrd Darwin Glacier ENVELOPE(159.000,159.000,-79.883,-79.883) Hatherton Glacier ENVELOPE(157.583,157.583,-79.917,-79.917) Ross Island Ross Sea Transantarctic Mountains The Cryosphere 15 7 3329 3354 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 T. R. Hillebrand J. O. Stone M. Koutnik C. King H. Conway B. Hall K. Nichols B. Goehring M. K. Gillespie Holocene thinning of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers, Antarctica, and implications for grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Chronologies of glacier deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains provide important constraints on grounding-line retreat during the last deglaciation in the Ross Sea. However, between Beardmore Glacier and Ross Island – a distance of some 600 km – the existing chronologies are generally sparse and far from the modern grounding line, leaving the past dynamics of this vast region largely unconstrained. We present exposure ages of glacial deposits at three locations alongside the Darwin–Hatherton Glacier System – including within 10 km of the modern grounding line – that record several hundred meters of Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene thickening relative to present. As the ice sheet grounding line in the Ross Sea retreated, Hatherton Glacier thinned steadily from about 9 until about 3 ka. Our data are equivocal about the maximum thickness and Mid-Holocene to Early Holocene history at the mouth of Darwin Glacier, allowing for two conflicting deglaciation scenarios: (1) ∼500 m of thinning from 9 to 3 ka, similar to Hatherton Glacier, or (2) ∼950 m of thinning, with a rapid pulse of ∼600 m thinning at around 5 ka. We test these two scenarios using a 1.5-dimensional flowband model, forced by ice thickness changes at the mouth of Darwin Glacier and evaluated by fit to the chronology of deposits at Hatherton Glacier. The constraints from Hatherton Glacier are consistent with the interpretation that the mouth of Darwin Glacier thinned steadily by ∼500 m from 9 to 3 ka. Rapid pulses of thinning at the mouth of Darwin Glacier are ruled out by the data at Hatherton Glacier. This contrasts with some of the available records from the mouths of other outlet glaciers in the Transantarctic Mountains, many of which thinned by hundreds of meters over roughly a 1000-year period in the Early Holocene. The deglaciation histories of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers are best matched by a steady decrease in catchment area through the Holocene, suggesting that Byrd and/or Mulock glaciers may have captured roughly half of the catchment ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
T. R. Hillebrand J. O. Stone M. Koutnik C. King H. Conway B. Hall K. Nichols B. Goehring M. K. Gillespie |
author_facet |
T. R. Hillebrand J. O. Stone M. Koutnik C. King H. Conway B. Hall K. Nichols B. Goehring M. K. Gillespie |
author_sort |
T. R. Hillebrand |
title |
Holocene thinning of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers, Antarctica, and implications for grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea |
title_short |
Holocene thinning of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers, Antarctica, and implications for grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea |
title_full |
Holocene thinning of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers, Antarctica, and implications for grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea |
title_fullStr |
Holocene thinning of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers, Antarctica, and implications for grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Holocene thinning of Darwin and Hatherton glaciers, Antarctica, and implications for grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea |
title_sort |
holocene thinning of darwin and hatherton glaciers, antarctica, and implications for grounding-line retreat in the ross sea |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3329-2021 https://doaj.org/article/a1533c7edfcd40808366db667d6894e3 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(174.900,174.900,-83.350,-83.350) ENVELOPE(170.000,170.000,-84.500,-84.500) ENVELOPE(159.000,159.000,-79.883,-79.883) ENVELOPE(157.583,157.583,-79.917,-79.917) |
geographic |
Beardmore Beardmore Glacier Byrd Darwin Glacier Hatherton Glacier Ross Island Ross Sea Transantarctic Mountains |
geographic_facet |
Beardmore Beardmore Glacier Byrd Darwin Glacier Hatherton Glacier Ross Island Ross Sea Transantarctic Mountains |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Beardmore Glacier Darwin Glacier Hatherton Glacier Ice Sheet Ross Island Ross Sea The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Beardmore Glacier Darwin Glacier Hatherton Glacier Ice Sheet Ross Island Ross Sea The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 3329-3354 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/3329/2021/tc-15-3329-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-3329-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/a1533c7edfcd40808366db667d6894e3 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3329-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
3329 |
op_container_end_page |
3354 |
_version_ |
1766198404349689856 |