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Evidence for a Highly Dynamic West Antarctic Ice Sheet During the Pliocene
Author(s) -
Gohl Karsten,
UenzelmannNeben Gabriele,
GillePetzoldt Johanna,
Hillenbrand ClausDieter,
Klages Johann P.,
Bohaty Steven M.,
Passchier Sandra,
Frederichs Thomas,
Wellner Julia S.,
Lamb Rachel,
Leitchenkov German
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2021gl093103
Subject(s) - antarctic ice sheet , geology , ice sheet , ice shelf , oceanography , paleontology , antarctic sea ice , ice stream , holocene , arctic ice pack , sea ice , cryosphere
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.