Journal
ANTARCTIC SCIENCE
Volume 26, Issue 6, Pages 674-686Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0954102014000613
Keywords
cosmogenic isotopes; ice stream dynamics; in situ C-14; marine ice sheet instability; Weddell Sea; West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Funding
- Australian Research Council [FL100100195, FT1201000004, LP120200724]
- UK National Environmental Research Council [AFI 05/03]
- Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
- British Antarctic Survey
- Victoria University of Wellington
- GNS Science
- Australian Research Council [LP120200724] Funding Source: Australian Research Council
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Determining the millennial-scale behaviour of marine-based sectors of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is critical to improve predictions of the future contribution of Antarctica to sea level rise. Here high-resolution ice sheet modelling was combined with new terrestrial geological constraints (in situ C-14 and Be-10 analysis) to reconstruct the evolution of two major ice streams entering the Weddell Sea over 20 000 years. The results demonstrate how marked differences in ice flux at the marine margin of the expanded Antarctic ice sheet led to a major reorganization of ice streams in the Weddell Sea during the last deglaciation, resulting in the eastward migration of the Institute Ice Stream, triggering a significant regional change in ice sheet mass balance during the early to mid Holocene. The findings highlight how spatial variability in ice flow can cause marked changes in the pattern, flux and flow direction of ice streams on millennial timescales in this marine ice sheet setting. Given that this sector of the WAIS is assumed to be sensitive to ocean-forced instability and may be influenced by predicted twenty-first century ocean warming, our ability to model and predict abrupt and extensive ice stream diversions is key to a realistic assessment of future ice sheet sensitivity.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available