Antarctic last interglacial isotope peak in response to sea ice retreat not ice-sheet collapse.

Several studies have suggested that sea-level rise during the last interglacial implies retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The prevalent hypothesis is that the retreat coincided with the peak Antarctic temperature and stable water isotope values from 128,000 years ago (128 ka); very ear...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Holloway, MD, Sime, LC, Singarayer, JS, Tindall, JC, Bunch, P, Valdes, PJ
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2016
Subjects:
Antarctic
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Antarc*
ice core
Ice Sheet
Sea ice
Online Access:https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/103982/
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/103982/1/ncomms12293.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12293
Description
Summary:Several studies have suggested that sea-level rise during the last interglacial implies retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The prevalent hypothesis is that the retreat coincided with the peak Antarctic temperature and stable water isotope values from 128,000 years ago (128 ka); very early in the last interglacial. Here, by analysing climate model simulations of last interglacial WAIS loss featuring water isotopes, we show instead that the isotopic response to WAIS loss is in opposition to the isotopic evidence at 128 ka. Instead, a reduction in winter sea ice area of 65±7% fully explains the 128 ka ice core evidence. Our finding of a marked retreat of the sea ice at 128 ka demonstrates the sensitivity of Antarctic sea ice extent to climate warming.

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