Ice retreat in Wilkes Basin of East Antarctica during a warm interglacial

Nature
T BlackburnJ T Babbe

Abstract

Efforts to improve sea level forecasting on a warming planet have focused on determining the temperature, sea level and extent of polar ice sheets during Earth's past interglacial warm periods1-3. About 400,000 years ago, during the interglacial period known as Marine Isotopic Stage 11 (MIS11), the global temperature was 1 to 2 degrees Celsius greater2 and sea level was 6 to 13 metres higher1,3. Sea level estimates in excess of about 10 metres, however, have been discounted because these require a contribution from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet3, which has been argued to have remained stable for millions of years before and includes MIS114,5. Here we show how the evolution of 234U enrichment within the subglacial waters of East Antarctica recorded the ice sheet's response to MIS11 warming. Within the Wilkes Basin, subglacial chemical precipitates of opal and calcite record accumulation of 234U (the product of rock-water contact within an isolated subglacial reservoir) up to 20 times higher than that found in marine waters. The timescales of 234U enrichment place the inception of this reservoir at MIS11. Informed by the 234U cycling observed in the Laurentide Ice Sheet, where 234U accumulated during periods of ice stability6 and ...Continue Reading

References

May 1, 2007·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Jill A Mikucki, John C Priscu
Mar 16, 2012·Nature·Maureen E Raymo, Jerry X Mitrovica
Jun 27, 2014·Nature·Alberto V ReyesDavid J Ullman
Apr 25, 2015·Nature Communications·Masako YamaneHiroyuki Matsuzaki
Oct 16, 2015·Nature·N R GolledgeE G W Gasson
Apr 1, 2016·Nature·Robert M DeConto, David Pollard

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Citations

Nov 25, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Kim A JakobOliver Friedrich

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Datasets Mentioned

BETA
PRR39222
PRR50489

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