Wilkes subglacial basin ice sheet response to Southern Ocean warming during late Pleistocene interglacials

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Crotti, Ilaria, Quiquet, Aurélien, Landais, Amaelle, Stenni, Barbara, Wilson, David J., Severi, Mirko, Mulvaney, Robert, Wilhelms, Frank, Barbante, Carlo, Frezzotti, Massimo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Antarctic; Southern Ocean; East Antarctic Ice Sheet; Wilkes Subglacial Basin; Antarc*; British Antarctic Survey; ice core; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gro-2/114335; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32847-3

Abstract The response of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to past intervals of oceanic and atmospheric warming is still not well constrained but is critical for understanding both past and future sea-level change. Furthermore, the ice sheet in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin appears to have undergone thinning and ice discharge events during recent decades. Here we combine glaciological evidence on ice sheet elevation from the TALDICE ice core with offshore sedimentological records and ice sheet modelling experiments to reconstruct the ice dynamics in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin over the past 350,000 years. Our results indicate that the Wilkes Subglacial Basin experienced an extensive retreat 330,000 years ago and a more limited retreat 125,000 years ago. These changes coincide with warmer Southern Ocean temperatures and elevated global mean sea level during those interglacial periods, confirming the sensitivity of the Wilkes Subglacial Basin ice sheet to ocean warming and its potential role in sea-level change. Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003407 Funder:Università Italo-Francese/Université Franco-Italienne Grant: Vinci Scholarship EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme https://doi.org/10.13039/100010661 Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca RCUK | NERC | British Antarctic Survey https://doi.org/10.13039/501100007849 Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca Università degli Studi Roma Tre https://doi.org/10.13039/100008991