Dynamic Antarctic ice sheet during the early to mid-Miocene

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are projected to exceed 500 ppm in the coming decades. It is likely that the last time such levels of atmospheric CO2 were reached was during the Miocene, for which there is geologic data for large-scale advance and retreat of the Antarctic ice sheet. Sim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Main Authors: Gasson, Edward, DeConto, Robert M., Pollard, David, Levy, Richard H.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: National Academy of Sciences 2016
Subjects:
Physical Sciences
Antarctic
Ross Sea
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Ice Sheet
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4822592/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26903645
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1516130113
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Summary:Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are projected to exceed 500 ppm in the coming decades. It is likely that the last time such levels of atmospheric CO2 were reached was during the Miocene, for which there is geologic data for large-scale advance and retreat of the Antarctic ice sheet. Simulating Antarctic ice sheet retreat is something that ice sheet models have struggled to achieve because of a strong hysteresis effect. Here, a number of developments in our modeling approach mean that we are able to simulate large-scale variability of the Antarctic ice sheet for the first time. Our results are also consistent with a recently recovered sedimentological record from the Ross Sea presented in a companion article.

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