Orbital Forcing of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet During the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene

Authors

M. O. Patterson, Victoria University of Wellington
R. McKay, CSICFollow
T. Naish, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and TechnologyFollow
C. Escutia, Columbia UniversityFollow
F. J. Jimenez-Espejo, University of Wisconsin-MadisonFollow
M. E. Raymo, University of California at San Diego
S. R. Meyers, Utrecht University
L. Tauxe, Texas A and M University
Henk Brinkhuis, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea ResearchFollow
A. Klaus, University of Birmingham
Annick Fehr, RWTH Aachen UniversityFollow
J. A.P. Bendle, University of Southampton
P. K. Bijl, Colorado School of Mines
S. M. Bohaty, Stanford UniversityFollow
S. A. Carr, Universidad de SalamancaFollow
Robert B. Dunbar, Stanford UniversityFollow
J. A. Flores, Kochi UniversityFollow
J. J. Gonzalez, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources
T. G. Hayden, Daito Bunka UniversityFollow
M. Iwai, University of South Florida SystemFollow
K. Katsuki, City University of New YorkFollow
G. S. Kong, Heidelberg University
M. Nakai, University of OtagoFollow
M. P. Olney, University of BremenFollow
Sandra Passchier, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Stephen F. Pekar, City University of New YorkFollow
J. Pross, Evolution Applied Limited
C. R. Riesselman, University of TokyoFollow
U. Röhl, Tongji University
T. Sakai, Imperial College LondonFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-5-2014

Abstract

The Pliocene and Early Pleistocene, between 5.3 and 0.8 million years ago, span a transition from a global climate state that was 2-3 °C warmer than present with limited ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere to one that was characterized by continental-scale glaciations at both poles. Growth and decay of these ice sheets was paced by variations in the Earth's orbit around the Sun. However, the nature of the influence of orbital forcing on the ice sheets is unclear, particularly in light of the absence of a strong 20,000-year precession signal in geologic records of global ice volume and sea level. Here we present a record of the rate of accumulation of iceberg-rafted debris oshore from the East Antarctic ice sheet, adjacent to the Wilkes Subglacial Basin, between 4.3 and 2.2 million years ago. We infer that maximum iceberg debris accumulation is associated with the enhanced calving of icebergs during ice-sheet margin retreat. In the warmer part of the record, between 4.3 and 3.5 million years ago, spectral analyses show a dominant periodicity of about 40,000 years. Subsequently, the powers of the 100,000-year and 20,000-year signals strengthen. We suggest that, as the Southern Ocean cooled between 3.5 and 2.5 million years ago, the development of a perennial sea-ice field limited the oceanic forcing of the ice sheet. After this threshold was crossed, substantial retreat of the East Antarctic ice sheet occurred only during austral summer insolation maxima, as controlled by the precession cycle.

DOI

10.1038/ngeo2273

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Patterson, M. O.; McKay, R.; Naish, T.; Escutia, C.; Jimenez-Espejo, F. J.; Raymo, M. E.; Meyers, S. R.; Tauxe, L.; Brinkhuis, Henk; Klaus, A.; Fehr, Annick; Bendle, J. A.P.; Bijl, P. K.; Bohaty, S. M.; Carr, S. A.; Dunbar, Robert B.; Flores, J. A.; Gonzalez, J. J.; Hayden, T. G.; Iwai, M.; Katsuki, K.; Kong, G. S.; Nakai, M.; Olney, M. P.; Passchier, Sandra; Pekar, Stephen F.; Pross, J.; Riesselman, C. R.; Röhl, U.; and Sakai, T., "Orbital Forcing of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet During the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene" (2014). Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 456.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/456