Grounding-line Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from Inner Pine Island Bay
Ice loss from the marine-based, potentially unstable West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) contributes to current sea-level rise and may raise sea level by ≤3.3 m or even ≤5 m in the future. Over the past few decades, glaciers draining the WAIS into the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) have shown accelerated...
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Digital Commons @ University of South Florida
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Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1527 https://doi.org/10.1130/G33469.1 |
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ftunisfloridatam:oai:digitalcommons.usf.edu:msc_facpub-2586 2023-05-15T13:24:08+02:00 Grounding-line Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from Inner Pine Island Bay Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Kuhn, Gerhard Smith, James A. Gohl, Karsten Graham, Alastair G.C. Larter, Robert D. Klages, Johann P. Downey, Rachel Moreton, Steven G. Forwick, Matthias Vaughan, David G. 2013-01-01T08:00:00Z https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1527 https://doi.org/10.1130/G33469.1 unknown Digital Commons @ University of South Florida https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1527 https://doi.org/10.1130/G33469.1 Marine Science Faculty Publications Life Sciences article 2013 ftunisfloridatam https://doi.org/10.1130/G33469.1 2022-01-20T18:39:43Z Ice loss from the marine-based, potentially unstable West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) contributes to current sea-level rise and may raise sea level by ≤3.3 m or even ≤5 m in the future. Over the past few decades, glaciers draining the WAIS into the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) have shown accelerated ice flow, rapid thinning, and fast retreat of the grounding line (GL). However, the long-term context of this ice loss is poorly constrained, limiting our ability to accurately predict future WAIS behavior. Here we present a new chronology for WAIS retreat from the inner continental shelf of the eastern ASE, based on radiocarbon dates from three marine sediment cores. The ages document a retreat of the GL to within ∼100 km of its modern position before ca. 10,000 calibrated (cal.) yr B.P. This early deglaciation is consistent with ages for GL retreat from the western ASE. Our new data demonstrate that, in contrast to the Ross Sea, WAIS retreat from the ASE shelf was largely complete by the start of the Holocene. Our results further suggest either slow GL retreat from the inner ASE shelf throughout the Holocene, or that any episodes of fast GL retreat must have been short-lived. Thus, today’s rapid retreat may be exceptional during the Holocene and may originate in recent changes in regional climate, ocean circulation, or ice-sheet dynamics. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Pine Island Bay Ross Sea Digital Commons University of South Florida (USF) Antarctic Ross Sea Amundsen Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet Island Bay ENVELOPE(-109.085,-109.085,59.534,59.534) Pine Island Bay ENVELOPE(-102.000,-102.000,-74.750,-74.750) Geology 41 1 35 38 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Digital Commons University of South Florida (USF) |
op_collection_id |
ftunisfloridatam |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Life Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Life Sciences Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Kuhn, Gerhard Smith, James A. Gohl, Karsten Graham, Alastair G.C. Larter, Robert D. Klages, Johann P. Downey, Rachel Moreton, Steven G. Forwick, Matthias Vaughan, David G. Grounding-line Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from Inner Pine Island Bay |
topic_facet |
Life Sciences |
description |
Ice loss from the marine-based, potentially unstable West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) contributes to current sea-level rise and may raise sea level by ≤3.3 m or even ≤5 m in the future. Over the past few decades, glaciers draining the WAIS into the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) have shown accelerated ice flow, rapid thinning, and fast retreat of the grounding line (GL). However, the long-term context of this ice loss is poorly constrained, limiting our ability to accurately predict future WAIS behavior. Here we present a new chronology for WAIS retreat from the inner continental shelf of the eastern ASE, based on radiocarbon dates from three marine sediment cores. The ages document a retreat of the GL to within ∼100 km of its modern position before ca. 10,000 calibrated (cal.) yr B.P. This early deglaciation is consistent with ages for GL retreat from the western ASE. Our new data demonstrate that, in contrast to the Ross Sea, WAIS retreat from the ASE shelf was largely complete by the start of the Holocene. Our results further suggest either slow GL retreat from the inner ASE shelf throughout the Holocene, or that any episodes of fast GL retreat must have been short-lived. Thus, today’s rapid retreat may be exceptional during the Holocene and may originate in recent changes in regional climate, ocean circulation, or ice-sheet dynamics. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Kuhn, Gerhard Smith, James A. Gohl, Karsten Graham, Alastair G.C. Larter, Robert D. Klages, Johann P. Downey, Rachel Moreton, Steven G. Forwick, Matthias Vaughan, David G. |
author_facet |
Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter Kuhn, Gerhard Smith, James A. Gohl, Karsten Graham, Alastair G.C. Larter, Robert D. Klages, Johann P. Downey, Rachel Moreton, Steven G. Forwick, Matthias Vaughan, David G. |
author_sort |
Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter |
title |
Grounding-line Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from Inner Pine Island Bay |
title_short |
Grounding-line Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from Inner Pine Island Bay |
title_full |
Grounding-line Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from Inner Pine Island Bay |
title_fullStr |
Grounding-line Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from Inner Pine Island Bay |
title_full_unstemmed |
Grounding-line Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from Inner Pine Island Bay |
title_sort |
grounding-line retreat of the west antarctic ice sheet from inner pine island bay |
publisher |
Digital Commons @ University of South Florida |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1527 https://doi.org/10.1130/G33469.1 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-109.085,-109.085,59.534,59.534) ENVELOPE(-102.000,-102.000,-74.750,-74.750) |
geographic |
Antarctic Ross Sea Amundsen Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet Island Bay Pine Island Bay |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Ross Sea Amundsen Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet Island Bay Pine Island Bay |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Pine Island Bay Ross Sea |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Pine Island Bay Ross Sea |
op_source |
Marine Science Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1527 https://doi.org/10.1130/G33469.1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1130/G33469.1 |
container_title |
Geology |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
35 |
op_container_end_page |
38 |
_version_ |
1766377604451926016 |