Cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an East Antarctic outlet glacier since the Pliocene.
Understanding past changes in the Antarctic ice sheets provides insight into how they might respond to future climate warming. During the Pliocene and Pleistocene, geological data show that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet responded to glacial and interglacial cycles by remaining relatively stable in it...
Published in: | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Elsevier
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/1/23105.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014 |
id |
ftunivdurham:oai:dro.dur.ac.uk.OAI2:23105 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivdurham:oai:dro.dur.ac.uk.OAI2:23105 2023-05-15T13:48:01+02:00 Cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an East Antarctic outlet glacier since the Pliocene. Jones, R.S. Norton, K.P. Mackintosh, A.N. Anderson, J.T.H. Kubik, P. Vockenhuber, C. Wittman, H. Fink, D. Wilson, G.S. Golledge, N.R. McKay, R. 2017-12-05 application/pdf http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/1/23105.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014 unknown Elsevier dro:23105 issn:0012-821X doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/1/23105.pdf © 2017 This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ CC-BY-NC-ND Earth and planetary science letters, 2017, Vol.480, pp.75-86 [Peer Reviewed Journal] Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftunivdurham https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014 2020-06-04T22:24:07Z Understanding past changes in the Antarctic ice sheets provides insight into how they might respond to future climate warming. During the Pliocene and Pleistocene, geological data show that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet responded to glacial and interglacial cycles by remaining relatively stable in its interior, but oscillating at its marine-based margin. It is currently not clear how outlet glaciers, which connect the ice sheet interior to its margin, responded to these orbitally-paced climate cycles. Here we report new ice surface constraints from Skelton Glacier, an outlet of the East Antarctic ice sheet, which drains into the Ross Ice Shelf. Our multiple-isotope (10Be and 26Al) cosmogenic nuclide data indicate that currently ice-free areas adjacent to the glacier underwent substantial periods of exposure and ice cover in the past. We use an exposure-burial model driven by orbitally-paced glacial–interglacial cycles to determine the probable ice surface history implied by our data. This analysis shows that: 1) the glacier surface has likely fluctuated since at least the Pliocene; 2) the ice surface was >200 m higher than today during glacial periods, and the glacier has been thicker than present for ∼75–90% of each glacial–interglacial cycle; and 3) ice cover at higher elevations possibly occurred for a relatively shorter time per Pliocene cycle than Pleistocene cycle. Our multiple-nuclide approach demonstrates the magnitude of ice surface fluctuations during the Pliocene and Pleistocene that are linked to marine-based ice margin variability. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ross Ice Shelf Skelton Glacier Durham University: Durham Research Online Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Ross Ice Shelf Skelton Glacier ENVELOPE(161.500,161.500,-78.583,-78.583) The Antarctic Earth and Planetary Science Letters 480 75 86 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Durham University: Durham Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftunivdurham |
language |
unknown |
description |
Understanding past changes in the Antarctic ice sheets provides insight into how they might respond to future climate warming. During the Pliocene and Pleistocene, geological data show that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet responded to glacial and interglacial cycles by remaining relatively stable in its interior, but oscillating at its marine-based margin. It is currently not clear how outlet glaciers, which connect the ice sheet interior to its margin, responded to these orbitally-paced climate cycles. Here we report new ice surface constraints from Skelton Glacier, an outlet of the East Antarctic ice sheet, which drains into the Ross Ice Shelf. Our multiple-isotope (10Be and 26Al) cosmogenic nuclide data indicate that currently ice-free areas adjacent to the glacier underwent substantial periods of exposure and ice cover in the past. We use an exposure-burial model driven by orbitally-paced glacial–interglacial cycles to determine the probable ice surface history implied by our data. This analysis shows that: 1) the glacier surface has likely fluctuated since at least the Pliocene; 2) the ice surface was >200 m higher than today during glacial periods, and the glacier has been thicker than present for ∼75–90% of each glacial–interglacial cycle; and 3) ice cover at higher elevations possibly occurred for a relatively shorter time per Pliocene cycle than Pleistocene cycle. Our multiple-nuclide approach demonstrates the magnitude of ice surface fluctuations during the Pliocene and Pleistocene that are linked to marine-based ice margin variability. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jones, R.S. Norton, K.P. Mackintosh, A.N. Anderson, J.T.H. Kubik, P. Vockenhuber, C. Wittman, H. Fink, D. Wilson, G.S. Golledge, N.R. McKay, R. |
spellingShingle |
Jones, R.S. Norton, K.P. Mackintosh, A.N. Anderson, J.T.H. Kubik, P. Vockenhuber, C. Wittman, H. Fink, D. Wilson, G.S. Golledge, N.R. McKay, R. Cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an East Antarctic outlet glacier since the Pliocene. |
author_facet |
Jones, R.S. Norton, K.P. Mackintosh, A.N. Anderson, J.T.H. Kubik, P. Vockenhuber, C. Wittman, H. Fink, D. Wilson, G.S. Golledge, N.R. McKay, R. |
author_sort |
Jones, R.S. |
title |
Cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an East Antarctic outlet glacier since the Pliocene. |
title_short |
Cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an East Antarctic outlet glacier since the Pliocene. |
title_full |
Cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an East Antarctic outlet glacier since the Pliocene. |
title_fullStr |
Cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an East Antarctic outlet glacier since the Pliocene. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an East Antarctic outlet glacier since the Pliocene. |
title_sort |
cosmogenic nuclides constrain surface fluctuations of an east antarctic outlet glacier since the pliocene. |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/1/23105.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(161.500,161.500,-78.583,-78.583) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Ross Ice Shelf Skelton Glacier The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Ross Ice Shelf Skelton Glacier The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ross Ice Shelf Skelton Glacier |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelf Ross Ice Shelf Skelton Glacier |
op_source |
Earth and planetary science letters, 2017, Vol.480, pp.75-86 [Peer Reviewed Journal] |
op_relation |
dro:23105 issn:0012-821X doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23105/1/23105.pdf |
op_rights |
© 2017 This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.09.014 |
container_title |
Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
container_volume |
480 |
container_start_page |
75 |
op_container_end_page |
86 |
_version_ |
1766248418484682752 |