Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition
The stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is threatened by the incursion of warm Circumpolar Deepwater which flows southwards via cross-shelf troughs towards the coast there melting ice shelves. However, the onset of this oceanic forcing on the development and evolution of the West Antarctic Ice...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Nature Research
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529578/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529578/1/s43247-022-00369-x.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00369-x |
id |
ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:529578 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:529578 2023-05-15T13:24:02+02:00 Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Gohl, Karsten Hochmuth, Katharina Salzmann, Ulrich Larter, Robert D. Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Klages, Johann P. Expedition PS104, Science Team 2022-02-21 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529578/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529578/1/s43247-022-00369-x.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00369-x en eng Nature Research https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529578/1/s43247-022-00369-x.pdf Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele; Gohl, Karsten; Hochmuth, Katharina; Salzmann, Ulrich; Larter, Robert D. orcid:0000-0002-8414-7389 Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter orcid:0000-0003-0240-7317 Klages, Johann P.; Expedition PS104, Science Team. 2022 Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Communications Earth & Environment, 3 (36). 10, pp. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00369-x <https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00369-x> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftnerc 2023-02-04T19:51:42Z The stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is threatened by the incursion of warm Circumpolar Deepwater which flows southwards via cross-shelf troughs towards the coast there melting ice shelves. However, the onset of this oceanic forcing on the development and evolution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet remains poorly understood. Here, we use single- and multichannel seismic reflection profiles to investigate the architecture of a sediment body on the shelf of the Amundsen Sea Embayment. We estimate the formation age of this sediment body to be around the Eocene-Oligocene Transition and find that it possesses the geometry and depositional pattern of a plastered sediment drift. We suggest this indicates a southward inflow of deep water which probably supplied heat and, thus, prevented West Antarctic Ice Sheet advance beyond the coast at this time. We conclude that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has likely experienced a strong oceanic influence on its dynamics since its initial formation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelves Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Amundsen Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
The stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is threatened by the incursion of warm Circumpolar Deepwater which flows southwards via cross-shelf troughs towards the coast there melting ice shelves. However, the onset of this oceanic forcing on the development and evolution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet remains poorly understood. Here, we use single- and multichannel seismic reflection profiles to investigate the architecture of a sediment body on the shelf of the Amundsen Sea Embayment. We estimate the formation age of this sediment body to be around the Eocene-Oligocene Transition and find that it possesses the geometry and depositional pattern of a plastered sediment drift. We suggest this indicates a southward inflow of deep water which probably supplied heat and, thus, prevented West Antarctic Ice Sheet advance beyond the coast at this time. We conclude that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has likely experienced a strong oceanic influence on its dynamics since its initial formation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Gohl, Karsten Hochmuth, Katharina Salzmann, Ulrich Larter, Robert D. Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Klages, Johann P. Expedition PS104, Science Team |
spellingShingle |
Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Gohl, Karsten Hochmuth, Katharina Salzmann, Ulrich Larter, Robert D. Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Klages, Johann P. Expedition PS104, Science Team Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition |
author_facet |
Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele Gohl, Karsten Hochmuth, Katharina Salzmann, Ulrich Larter, Robert D. Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Klages, Johann P. Expedition PS104, Science Team |
author_sort |
Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele |
title |
Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition |
title_short |
Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition |
title_full |
Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition |
title_fullStr |
Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition |
title_sort |
deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the west antarctic ice sheet at the eocene-oligocene transition |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529578/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529578/1/s43247-022-00369-x.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00369-x |
geographic |
Antarctic Amundsen Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Amundsen Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelves |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelves |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529578/1/s43247-022-00369-x.pdf Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele; Gohl, Karsten; Hochmuth, Katharina; Salzmann, Ulrich; Larter, Robert D. orcid:0000-0002-8414-7389 Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter orcid:0000-0003-0240-7317 Klages, Johann P.; Expedition PS104, Science Team. 2022 Deep water inflow slowed offshore expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Communications Earth & Environment, 3 (36). 10, pp. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00369-x <https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00369-x> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766377018543308800 |