Evidence for a Highly Dynamic West Antarctic Ice Sheet During the Pliocene

Authors

• Karsten Gohl, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
• Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
• Johanna Gille-Petzoldt, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
• Claus Dieter Hillenbrand, British Antarctic Survey
• Johann P. Klages, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
• Steven M. Bohaty, University of Southampton
• Sandra Passchier, Montclair State University
• Thomas Frederichs, Universität Bremen
• Julia S. Wellner, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
• Rachel Lamb, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
• German Leitchenkov, Saint Petersburg State University
• A. Klaus, Texas A&M University
• D. Kulhanek, Texas A&M University
• T. Bauersachs, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
• M. Courtillat, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia
• E. Cowan, Appalachian State University
• M. De Lira Mota, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos
• M. Esteves, UiT Norges Arktiske Universitet
• J. Fegyveresi, Northern Arizona University
• L. Gao, China University of Geosciences
• A. Halberstadt, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• K. Horikawa, University of Toyama
• M. Iwai, Kochi University
• J. Kim, Korea Inst. Geoscience and Minerals
• T. King, University of South Florida
• M. Penkrot, Texas A&M University
• J. Prebble, GNS Science
• W. Rahaman, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research
• B. Reinardy, Stockholms universitet
• J. Renaudie, Museum f. Naturkunde
• D. Robinson, University of Houston
• R. Scherer, Northern Illinois University
• C. Siddoway, Colorado College

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-28-2021

Journal / Book Title

Geophysical Research Letters

Abstract

Major ice loss in the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is hypothesized to have triggered ice sheet collapses during past warm periods such as those in the Pliocene. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 379 recovered continuous late Miocene to Holocene sediments from a sediment drift on the continental rise, allowing assessment of sedimentation processes in response to climate cycles and trends since the late Miocene. Via seismic correlation to the shelf, we interpret massive prograding sequences that extended the outer shelf by 80 km during the Pliocene through frequent advances of grounded ice. Buried grounding zone wedges indicate prolonged periods of ice-sheet retreat, or even collapse, during an extended mid-Pliocene warm period from ∼4.2–3.2 Ma inferred from Expedition 379 records. These results indicate that the WAIS was highly dynamic during the Pliocene and major retreat events may have occurred along the Amundsen Sea margin.

Comments

This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

DOI

10.1029/2021GL093103

Journal ISSN / Book ISBN

85112368519 (Scopus)

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Gohl, Karsten; Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele; Gille-Petzoldt, Johanna; Hillenbrand, Claus Dieter; Klages, Johann P.; Bohaty, Steven M.; Passchier, Sandra; Frederichs, Thomas; Wellner, Julia S.; Lamb, Rachel; Leitchenkov, German; Klaus, A.; Kulhanek, D.; Bauersachs, T.; Courtillat, M.; Cowan, E.; De Lira Mota, M.; Esteves, M.; Fegyveresi, J.; Gao, L.; Halberstadt, A.; Horikawa, K.; Iwai, M.; Kim, J.; King, T.; Penkrot, M.; Prebble, J.; Rahaman, W.; Reinardy, B.; Renaudie, J.; Robinson, D.; Scherer, R.; and Siddoway, C., "Evidence for a Highly Dynamic West Antarctic Ice Sheet During the Pliocene" (2021). Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 673.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/673

Rights

© 2021 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. This article is being shared in accordance with the AGU self-archiving policy.

Published Citation

Gohl, K., Uenzelmann-Neben, G., Gille-Petzoldt, J., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Klages, J. P., Bohaty, S. M., et al. (2021). Evidence for a highly dynamic West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Pliocene. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL093103. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093103