Naish, Tim et al. (2009): Obliquity-paced Pliocene West Antarctic ice sheet oscillations

Leg/Site/Hole:
ODP 119
ODP 178
ODP 188
DSDP 28
Identifier:
2010-038309
georefid

10.1038/nature07867
doi

Creator:
Naish, Tim
Victoria University of Wellington, Antarctic Research Centre, Wellington, New Zealand
author

Powell, R.
Northern Illinois University, United States
author

Levy, R.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States
author

Wilson, G.
University of Otago, New Zealand
author

Scherer, R.
Universita di Siena, Italy
author

Talarico, F.
Ohio State University, United States
author

Krissek, L.
Alfred Wegener Institute, Federal Republic of Germany
author

Niessen, F.
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy
author

Pompilio, M.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, United States
author

Wilson, T.
Harvard University, United States
author

Carter, L.
Pennsylvania State University, United States
author

DeConto, R. M.
New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, United States
author

Huybers, P.
Appalachian State University, United States
author

McKay, R.
Johns Hopkins University, United States
author

Pollard, D.
Federal Institute of Geosciences & National Resources, Federal Republic of Germany
author

Ross, J.
Universita Milano-Bicocca, Italy
author

Winter, D.
Colorado School of Mines, United States
author

Barrett, P.
U. S. Geological Survey, United States
author

Browne, G.
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, United States
author

Cody, R.
Universita di Parma, Italy
author

Cowan, E.
Iowa State University, United States
author

Crampton, J.
Stanford University, United States
author

Dunbar, G.
University of Alberta, Canada
author

Florindo, F.
Louisiana State University, United States
author

Gebhardt, C.
CNR ISMAR, Italy
author

Graham, I.
Albion College, United States
author

Hannah, M.
Lameont-Doherty Earth Observatory, United States
author

Hansaraj, D.
author

Harwood, D.
author

Helling, D.
author

Henrys, S.
author

Hinnov, L.
author

Kuhn, G.
author

Kyle, P.
author

Laeufer, A.
author

Maffioli, P.
author

Magens, D.
author

Mandernack, K.
author

McIntosh, W.
author

Millan, C.
author

Morin, R.
author

Ohneiser, C.
author

Paulsen, T.
author

Persico, D.
author

Raine, I.
author

Reed, J.
author

Riesselman, C.
author

Sagnotti, Leonardo
author

Schmitt, D.
author

Sjunneskog, C.
author

Strong, P.
author

Taviani, M.
author

Vogel, S.
author

Wilch, T.
author

Williams, T.
author

Identification:
Obliquity-paced Pliocene West Antarctic ice sheet oscillations
2009
Nature (London)
Macmillan Journals, London, United Kingdom
458
7236
322-328
Thirty years after oxygen isotope records from microfossils deposited in ocean sediments confirmed the hypothesis that variations in the Earth's orbital geometry control the ice ages, fundamental questions remain over the response of the Antarctic ice sheets to orbital cycles. Furthermore, an understanding of the behaviour of the marine-based West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) during the 'warmer-than-present' early-Pliocene epoch (approx. 5-3 Myr ago) is needed to better constrain the possible range of ice-sheet behavior in the context of future global warming. Here we present a marine glacial record from the upper 600 m of the AND-1B sediment core recovered from beneath the northwest part of the Ross ice shelf by the ANDRILL programme and demonstrate well-dated, approx. 40-kyr cyclic variations in ice-sheet extent linked to cycles in insolation influenced by changes in the Earth's axial tilt (obliquity) during the Pliocene. Our data provide direct evidence for orbitally induced oscillations in the WAIS, which periodically collapsed, resulting in a switch from grounded ice, or ice shelves, to open waters in the Ross embayment when planetary temperatures were up to approx 3 degrees C warmer than today and atmospheric CO (sub 2) concentration was as high as approx. 400 p.p.m.v. (mod. auth. abst.)
English
Serial
Coverage:Geographic coordinates:
North:-34.0000
West:-180.0000East: 180.0000
South:-90.0000

Stratigraphy; ANDRILL; Antarctic ice sheet; Antarctica; carbon dioxide; Cenozoic; climate change; climate forcing; cores; cycles; debris; Deep Sea Drilling Project; glacial geology; ice rafting; icebergs; isotope ratios; isotopes; Leg 119; Leg 178; Leg 188; Leg 28; lithostratigraphy; Neogene; O-18/O-16; obliquity of the ecliptic; Ocean Drilling Program; orbital forcing; oxygen; paleoclimatology; paleoenvironment; Pliocene; Quaternary; sedimentary rocks; sediments; Southern Ocean; stable isotopes; Tertiary; West Antarctic ice sheet;

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