A large West Antarctic Ice Sheet explains early Neogene sea-level amplitude

J W Marschalek; L Zurli; F Talarico; T van de Flierdt; P Vermeesch; A Carter; F Beny; V Bout-Roumazeilles; F Sangiorgi; S R Hemming; L F Pérez; F Colleoni; J G Prebble; T E van Peer; M Perotti; A E Shevenell; I Browne; D K Kulhanek; R Levy; D Harwood; N B Sullivan; S R Meyers; E M Griffith; C-D Hillenbrand; E Gasson; M J Siegert; B Keisling; K J Licht; G Kuhn; J P Dodd; C Boshuis; L De Santis; R M McKay; IODP Expedition 374

doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04148-0

A large West Antarctic Ice Sheet explains early Neogene sea-level amplitude

Nature. 2021 Dec;600(7889):450-455. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04148-0. Epub 2021 Dec 15.

Authors

J W Marschalek¹, L Zurli², F Talarico², T van de Flierdt³, P Vermeesch⁴, A Carter⁵, F Beny⁶, V Bout-Roumazeilles⁶, F Sangiorgi⁷, S R Hemming⁸, L F Pérez^{9

10}, F Colleoni¹¹, J G Prebble¹², T E van Peer^{4

13}, M Perotti², A E Shevenell¹⁴, I Browne¹⁴, D K Kulhanek^{15

16}, R Levy^{12

16}, D Harwood¹⁷, N B Sullivan¹⁸, S R Meyers¹⁸, E M Griffith¹⁹, C-D Hillenbrand⁹, E Gasson²⁰, M J Siegert^{3

21}, B Keisling⁸, K J Licht²², G Kuhn²³, J P Dodd²⁴, C Boshuis⁷, L De Santis¹¹, R M McKay²⁵; IODP Expedition 374

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK. j.marschalek18@imperial.ac.uk.
² Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
³ Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁴ Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
⁶ Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, UMR 8187 CNRS/Univ Lille/ULCO, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
⁷ Department of Earth Sciences, Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
⁸ Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University Palisades, New York, NY, USA.
⁹ British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁰ Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Department of Marine Geology, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹¹ National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, Trieste, Italy.
¹² GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
¹³ National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, Southampton, UK.
¹⁴ College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA.
¹⁵ International Ocean Discovery Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
¹⁶ Institute of Geosciences, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
¹⁷ Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
¹⁹ School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
²⁰ Centre for Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall, UK.
²¹ Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
²² Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
²³ Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.
²⁴ Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
²⁵ Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.

PMID: 34912089
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04148-0

Abstract

Early to Middle Miocene sea-level oscillations of approximately 40-60 m estimated from far-field records^1-3 are interpreted to reflect the loss of virtually all East Antarctic ice during peak warmth². This contrasts with ice-sheet model experiments suggesting most terrestrial ice in East Antarctica was retained even during the warmest intervals of the Middle Miocene^4,5. Data and model outputs can be reconciled if a large West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) existed and expanded across most of the outer continental shelf during the Early Miocene, accounting for maximum ice-sheet volumes. Here we provide the earliest geological evidence proving large WAIS expansions occurred during the Early Miocene (~17.72-17.40 Ma). Geochemical and petrographic data show glacimarine sediments recovered at International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1521 in the central Ross Sea derive from West Antarctica, requiring the presence of a WAIS covering most of the Ross Sea continental shelf. Seismic, lithological and palynological data reveal the intermittent proximity of grounded ice to Site U1521. The erosion rate calculated from this sediment package greatly exceeds the long-term mean, implying rapid erosion of West Antarctica. This interval therefore captures a key step in the genesis of a marine-based WAIS and a tipping point in Antarctic ice-sheet evolution.

Publication types

Historical Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Antarctic Regions
Climate Models
History, Ancient
Ice Cover*
Sea Level Rise / history*
Seawater / analysis*