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- Larter, Robert D., et al.
(author)
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Reconstruction of changes in the Amundsen Sea and BellingshausenSea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet since the Last GlacialMaximum
- 2013
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 100, s. 56-86
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Marine and terrestrial geological and marine geophysical data that constrain deglaciation since the LastGlacial Maximum (LGM) of the sector of theWest Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) draining into the AmundsenSea and Bellingshausen Sea have been collated and used as the basis for a set of time-slice reconstructions.The drainage basins in these sectors constitute a little more than one-quarter of the area ofthe WAIS, but account for about one-third of its surface accumulation. Their mass balance is becomingincreasingly negative, and therefore they account for an even larger fraction of currentWAIS discharge. Ifall of the ice in these sectors of the WAIS were discharged to the ocean, global sea level would rise byca 2 m.There is compelling evidence that grounding lines of palaeo-ice streams were at, or close to, thecontinental shelf edge along the Amundsen Sea and Bellingshausen Sea margins during the last glacialperiod. However, the few cosmogenic surface exposure ages and ice core data available from the interiorofWest Antarctica indicate that ice surface elevations there have changed little since the LGM. In the fewareas from which cosmogenic surface exposure ages have been determined near the margin of the icesheet, they generally suggest that there has been a gradual decrease in ice surface elevation since pre-Holocene times. Radiocarbon dates from glacimarine and the earliest seasonally open marine sedimentsin continental shelf cores that have been interpreted as providing approximate ages for post-LGMgrounding-line retreat indicate different trajectories of palaeo-ice stream recession in the Amundsen Seaand Bellingshausen Sea embayments. The areas were probably subject to similar oceanic, atmosphericand eustatic forcing, in which case the differences are probably largely a consequence of how topographicand geological factors have affected ice flow, and of topographic influences on snow accumulation andwarm water inflow across the continental shelf.Pauses in ice retreat are recorded where there are “bottle necks” in cross-shelf troughs in both embayments.The highest retreat rates presently constrained by radiocarbon dates from sediment cores arefound where the grounding line retreated across deep basins on the inner shelf in the Amundsen Sea,which is consistent with the marine ice sheet instability hypothesis. Deglacial ages from the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) and Eltanin Bay (southern Bellingshausen Sea) indicate that the ice sheet hadalready retreated close to its modern limits by early Holocene time, which suggests that the rapid icethinning, flow acceleration, and grounding line retreat observed in this sector over recent decades areunusual in the context of the past 10,000 years.
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| 2. |
- Nitsche, F. O., et al.
(author)
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Paleo ice flow and subglacial meltwater dynamics in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica
- 2013
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In: The Cryosphere. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1994-0416 .- 1994-0424. ; 7:1, s. 249-262
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Increasing evidence for an elaborate subglacial drainage network underneath modern Antarctic ice sheets suggests that basal meltwater has an important influence on ice stream flow. Swath bathymetry surveys from previously glaciated continental margins display morphological features indicative of subglacial meltwater flow in inner shelf areas of some paleo ice stream troughs. Over the last few years several expeditions to the Eastern Amundsen Sea embayment (West Antarctica) have investigated the paleo ice streams that extended from the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers. A compilation of high-resolution swath bathymetry data from inner Pine Island Bay reveals details of a rough seabed topography including several deep channels that connect a series of basins. This complex basin and channel network is indicative of meltwater flow beneath the paleo-Pine Island and Thwaites ice streams, along with substantial subglacial water inflow from the east. This meltwater could have enhanced ice flow over the rough bedrock topography. Meltwater features diminish with the onset of linear features north of the basins. Similar features have previously been observed in several other areas, including the Dotson-Getz Trough (Western Amundsen Sea embayment) and Marguerite Bay (SW Antarctic Peninsula), suggesting that these features may be widespread around the Antarctic margin and that subglacial meltwater drainage played a major role in past ice-sheet dynamics.
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