Lost cold Antarctic deserts inferred from unusual sulfate formation and isotope signatures
The Antarctic ice cap significantly affects global ocean circulation and climate. Continental glaciogenic sedimentary deposits provide direct physical evidence of the glacial history of the Antarctic interior, but these data are sparse. Here we investigate a new indicator of ice sheet evolution: sul...
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Online Access: | https://repository.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/213 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8579 https://repository.lsu.edu/context/geo_pubs/article/1212/viewcontent/213.pdf |
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ftlouisianastuir:oai:repository.lsu.edu:geo_pubs-1212 2024-09-15T17:45:19+00:00 Lost cold Antarctic deserts inferred from unusual sulfate formation and isotope signatures Sun, Tao Socki, Richard A. Bish, David L. Harvey, Ralph P. Bao, Huiming Niles, Paul B. Cavicchioli, Ricardo Tonui, Eric 2015-06-29T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://repository.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/213 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8579 https://repository.lsu.edu/context/geo_pubs/article/1212/viewcontent/213.pdf unknown LSU Scholarly Repository https://repository.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/213 doi:10.1038/ncomms8579 https://repository.lsu.edu/context/geo_pubs/article/1212/viewcontent/213.pdf Faculty Publications text 2015 ftlouisianastuir https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8579 2024-08-08T04:27:15Z The Antarctic ice cap significantly affects global ocean circulation and climate. Continental glaciogenic sedimentary deposits provide direct physical evidence of the glacial history of the Antarctic interior, but these data are sparse. Here we investigate a new indicator of ice sheet evolution: sulfates within the glaciogenic deposits from the Lewis Cliff Ice Tongue of the central Transantarctic Mountains. The sulfates exhibit unique isotope signatures, including I 34 S up to +50‰ for mirabilite evaporites, I " 17 O up to +2.3‰ for dissolved sulfate within contemporary melt-water ponds, and extremely negative I 18 O as low as a '22.2‰. The isotopic data imply that the sulfates formed under environmental conditions similar to todaya € s McMurdo Dry Valleys, suggesting that ice-free cold deserts may have existed between the South Pole and the Transantarctic Mountains since the Miocene during periods when the ice sheet size was smaller than today, but with an overall similar to modern global hydrological cycle. Text Antarc* Antarctic Ice cap Ice Sheet McMurdo Dry Valleys South pole South pole LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) Nature Communications 6 1 |
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LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) |
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The Antarctic ice cap significantly affects global ocean circulation and climate. Continental glaciogenic sedimentary deposits provide direct physical evidence of the glacial history of the Antarctic interior, but these data are sparse. Here we investigate a new indicator of ice sheet evolution: sulfates within the glaciogenic deposits from the Lewis Cliff Ice Tongue of the central Transantarctic Mountains. The sulfates exhibit unique isotope signatures, including I 34 S up to +50‰ for mirabilite evaporites, I " 17 O up to +2.3‰ for dissolved sulfate within contemporary melt-water ponds, and extremely negative I 18 O as low as a '22.2‰. The isotopic data imply that the sulfates formed under environmental conditions similar to todaya € s McMurdo Dry Valleys, suggesting that ice-free cold deserts may have existed between the South Pole and the Transantarctic Mountains since the Miocene during periods when the ice sheet size was smaller than today, but with an overall similar to modern global hydrological cycle. |
format |
Text |
author |
Sun, Tao Socki, Richard A. Bish, David L. Harvey, Ralph P. Bao, Huiming Niles, Paul B. Cavicchioli, Ricardo Tonui, Eric |
spellingShingle |
Sun, Tao Socki, Richard A. Bish, David L. Harvey, Ralph P. Bao, Huiming Niles, Paul B. Cavicchioli, Ricardo Tonui, Eric Lost cold Antarctic deserts inferred from unusual sulfate formation and isotope signatures |
author_facet |
Sun, Tao Socki, Richard A. Bish, David L. Harvey, Ralph P. Bao, Huiming Niles, Paul B. Cavicchioli, Ricardo Tonui, Eric |
author_sort |
Sun, Tao |
title |
Lost cold Antarctic deserts inferred from unusual sulfate formation and isotope signatures |
title_short |
Lost cold Antarctic deserts inferred from unusual sulfate formation and isotope signatures |
title_full |
Lost cold Antarctic deserts inferred from unusual sulfate formation and isotope signatures |
title_fullStr |
Lost cold Antarctic deserts inferred from unusual sulfate formation and isotope signatures |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lost cold Antarctic deserts inferred from unusual sulfate formation and isotope signatures |
title_sort |
lost cold antarctic deserts inferred from unusual sulfate formation and isotope signatures |
publisher |
LSU Scholarly Repository |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://repository.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/213 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8579 https://repository.lsu.edu/context/geo_pubs/article/1212/viewcontent/213.pdf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice cap Ice Sheet McMurdo Dry Valleys South pole South pole |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice cap Ice Sheet McMurdo Dry Valleys South pole South pole |
op_source |
Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://repository.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/213 doi:10.1038/ncomms8579 https://repository.lsu.edu/context/geo_pubs/article/1212/viewcontent/213.pdf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8579 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1810493091756376064 |