Orbitally Induced Oscillations in the East Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Oligocene/Miocene Boundary

Authors

Tim R. Naish, GNS ScienceFollow
Ken J. Woolfe, James Cook University Queensland
Peter J. Barrett, Victoria University of Wellington
Gary S. Wilson, University of Otago
Cliff Atkins, Victoria University of WellingtonFollow
Steven M. Bohaty, Institut für Geowissenschaftliche GemeinschaftsaufgabenFollow
Christian J. Bücker, RWE Power AG
Michele Claps, Marche Polytechnic UniversityFollow
Fred J. Davey, GNS ScienceFollow
Gavin B. Dunbar, NIWA
Alistair G. Dunn, University of Queensland
Christopher R. Fielding, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Fabio Florindo, University of SouthamptonFollow
Michael J. Hannah, Ohio State UniversityFollow
David M. Harwood, University of NebraskaFollow
Stuart A. Henrys, GNS
Lawrence A. Krissek, Queen Mary University of London
Mark Lavelle, New Mexico Institute of Mining and TechnologyFollow
Jaap Van Der Meer, Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
William C. Mcintosh, Northern Illinois University
Frank Niessen, University of SienaFollow
Sandra Passchier, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Ross D. Powell, University of Parma
Andrew P. Roberts, University of Southampton
Leonardo Sagnotti, Istituto Nazionale Di Geofisica E VulcanologiaFollow
Reed P. Scherer, Northern Illinois UniversityFollow
C. Percy Strong, GNS Science
Franco Talarico, University of SienaFollow
Kenneth L. Verosub, University of California at DavisFollow
Giuliana Villa, University of Parma

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-18-2001

Abstract

Between 34 and 15 million years (Myr) ago, when planetary temperatures were 3-4°C warmer than at present and atmospheric CO2 concentrations were twice as high as today, the Antarctic ice sheets may have been unstable. Oxygen isotope records from deep-sea sediment cores suggest that during this time fluctuations in global temperatures and high-latitude continental ice volumes were influenced by orbital cycles. But it has hitherto not been possible to calibrate the inferred changes in ice volume with direct evidence for oscillations of the Antarctic ice sheets. Here we present sediment data from shallow marine cores in the western Ross Sea that exhibit well dated cyclic variations, and which link the extent of the East Antarctic ice sheet directly to orbital cycles during the Oligocene/Miocene transition (24.1-23.7 Myr ago). Three rapidly deposited glacimarine sequences are constrained to a period of less than 450 kyr by our age model, suggesting that orbital influences at the frequencies of obliquity (40 kyr) and eccentricity (125 kyr) controlled the oscillations of the ice margin at that time. An erosional hiatus covering 250 kyr provides direct evidence for a major episode of global cooling and ice-sheet expansion about 23.7 Myr ago, which had previously been inferred from oxygen isotope data (Mil event).

DOI

10.1038/35099534

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Naish, Tim R.; Woolfe, Ken J.; Barrett, Peter J.; Wilson, Gary S.; Atkins, Cliff; Bohaty, Steven M.; Bücker, Christian J.; Claps, Michele; Davey, Fred J.; Dunbar, Gavin B.; Dunn, Alistair G.; Fielding, Christopher R.; Florindo, Fabio; Hannah, Michael J.; Harwood, David M.; Henrys, Stuart A.; Krissek, Lawrence A.; Lavelle, Mark; Van Der Meer, Jaap; Mcintosh, William C.; Niessen, Frank; Passchier, Sandra; Powell, Ross D.; Roberts, Andrew P.; Sagnotti, Leonardo; Scherer, Reed P.; Strong, C. Percy; Talarico, Franco; Verosub, Kenneth L.; and Villa, Giuliana, "Orbitally Induced Oscillations in the East Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Oligocene/Miocene Boundary" (2001). Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 457.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/457