Early east Antarctic ice sheet growth recorded in the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains.
The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are regarded as a key nucleation site for the Antarctic Ice Sheet and they retain a unique long-term record of pre-glacial and early glacial landscape evolution. Here, we use a range of morphometric analyses to constrain the nature of early glaciation and subseque...
Published in: | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
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Online Access: | http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/1/11313.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.053 |
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ftunivdurham:oai:dro.dur.ac.uk.OAI2:11313 2023-05-15T13:59:22+02:00 Early east Antarctic ice sheet growth recorded in the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. Rose, K.C. Ferraccioli, F. Jamieson, S.S.R. Bell, R. Corr, H. Creyts, T. Fretwell, P.T. Jordan, T. Damaskee, D. Braaten, D. 2013-08-01 application/pdf http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/1/11313.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.053 unknown Elsevier dro:11313 issn:0012-821X doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.053 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.053 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/1/11313.pdf This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. CC-BY Earth and planetary science letters, 2013, Vol.375, pp.1-12 [Peer Reviewed Journal] Landscape evolution geomorphology glacial erosion fluvial erosion hypsometry Article PeerReviewed 2013 ftunivdurham https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.053 2020-05-28T22:30:03Z The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are regarded as a key nucleation site for the Antarctic Ice Sheet and they retain a unique long-term record of pre-glacial and early glacial landscape evolution. Here, we use a range of morphometric analyses to constrain the nature of early glaciation and subsequent ice sheet evolution in the interior of East Antarctica, using a new digital elevation model of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, derived from an extensive airborne radar survey. We find that an inherited fluvial landscape confirms the existence of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains prior to the onset of glaciation at the Eocene–Oligocene climate boundary (ca. 34 Ma). Features characteristic of glaciation, at a range of scales, are evident across the mountains. High elevation alpine valley heads, akin to cirques, identified throughout the mountains, are interpreted as evidence for early phases of glaciation in East Antarctica. The equilibrium line altitudes associated with these features, combined with information from fossil plant assemblages, suggest that they formed at, or prior to, 34 Ma. It cannot be ruled out that they may have been eroded by ephemeral ice between the Late Cretaceous and the Eocene (100–34 Ma). Hanging valleys, overdeepenings, truncated spurs and steep-sided, linear valley networks are indicative of a more widespread alpine glaciation in this region. These features represent ice growth at, or before, 33.7 Ma and provide a minimum estimate for the scale of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet between ca. 34 and 14 Ma, when dynamic fluctuations in ice extent are recorded at the coast of Antarctica. The implications are that the early East Antarctic Ice Sheet grew rapidly and developed a cold-based core that preserved the alpine landscape. The patterns of landscape evolution identified provide the earliest evidence for the development of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and can be used to test coupled ice–climate evolution models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Durham University: Durham Research Online Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet East Antarctica Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains ENVELOPE(76.000,76.000,-80.500,-80.500) The Antarctic Earth and Planetary Science Letters 375 1 12 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Durham University: Durham Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftunivdurham |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Landscape evolution geomorphology glacial erosion fluvial erosion hypsometry |
spellingShingle |
Landscape evolution geomorphology glacial erosion fluvial erosion hypsometry Rose, K.C. Ferraccioli, F. Jamieson, S.S.R. Bell, R. Corr, H. Creyts, T. Fretwell, P.T. Jordan, T. Damaskee, D. Braaten, D. Early east Antarctic ice sheet growth recorded in the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. |
topic_facet |
Landscape evolution geomorphology glacial erosion fluvial erosion hypsometry |
description |
The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are regarded as a key nucleation site for the Antarctic Ice Sheet and they retain a unique long-term record of pre-glacial and early glacial landscape evolution. Here, we use a range of morphometric analyses to constrain the nature of early glaciation and subsequent ice sheet evolution in the interior of East Antarctica, using a new digital elevation model of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, derived from an extensive airborne radar survey. We find that an inherited fluvial landscape confirms the existence of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains prior to the onset of glaciation at the Eocene–Oligocene climate boundary (ca. 34 Ma). Features characteristic of glaciation, at a range of scales, are evident across the mountains. High elevation alpine valley heads, akin to cirques, identified throughout the mountains, are interpreted as evidence for early phases of glaciation in East Antarctica. The equilibrium line altitudes associated with these features, combined with information from fossil plant assemblages, suggest that they formed at, or prior to, 34 Ma. It cannot be ruled out that they may have been eroded by ephemeral ice between the Late Cretaceous and the Eocene (100–34 Ma). Hanging valleys, overdeepenings, truncated spurs and steep-sided, linear valley networks are indicative of a more widespread alpine glaciation in this region. These features represent ice growth at, or before, 33.7 Ma and provide a minimum estimate for the scale of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet between ca. 34 and 14 Ma, when dynamic fluctuations in ice extent are recorded at the coast of Antarctica. The implications are that the early East Antarctic Ice Sheet grew rapidly and developed a cold-based core that preserved the alpine landscape. The patterns of landscape evolution identified provide the earliest evidence for the development of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and can be used to test coupled ice–climate evolution models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rose, K.C. Ferraccioli, F. Jamieson, S.S.R. Bell, R. Corr, H. Creyts, T. Fretwell, P.T. Jordan, T. Damaskee, D. Braaten, D. |
author_facet |
Rose, K.C. Ferraccioli, F. Jamieson, S.S.R. Bell, R. Corr, H. Creyts, T. Fretwell, P.T. Jordan, T. Damaskee, D. Braaten, D. |
author_sort |
Rose, K.C. |
title |
Early east Antarctic ice sheet growth recorded in the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. |
title_short |
Early east Antarctic ice sheet growth recorded in the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. |
title_full |
Early east Antarctic ice sheet growth recorded in the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. |
title_fullStr |
Early east Antarctic ice sheet growth recorded in the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Early east Antarctic ice sheet growth recorded in the landscape of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. |
title_sort |
early east antarctic ice sheet growth recorded in the landscape of the gamburtsev subglacial mountains. |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/1/11313.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.053 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(76.000,76.000,-80.500,-80.500) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet East Antarctica Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet East Antarctica Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Earth and planetary science letters, 2013, Vol.375, pp.1-12 [Peer Reviewed Journal] |
op_relation |
dro:11313 issn:0012-821X doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.053 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.053 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/11313/1/11313.pdf |
op_rights |
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.053 |
container_title |
Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
container_volume |
375 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
12 |
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1766267915393302528 |