The case for a stable East Antarctic Ice Sheet: the background
The case for a stable East Antarctic Ice Sheet
Antarctica ; Climatic variation ; Glacial features ; Global change ; Ice sheet ; Sea level ; Tectonics ; Volcanism
There are two primary views concerning the stability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. After summarising the status of the two hypotheses, the AA. explain the rationale for this volume. Building on the Vega Symposium of April 1993, it presents
the case for the stability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and includes new work on terrestrial geomorphology and geology, marine cores and ice-sheet modelling.
This paper is part of the geologic foundation necessary to address 2 fundamental scientific questions. One concerns the contribution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to global sea-level changes at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The second key question
involves the stability (instability) of the marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet. An understanding of the response of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to a variety of forcing mechanisms can come from examining its past behavior. Answers to these questions
require detailed mapping and chronology of glacial deposits in order to reconstruct the former changes in ice-sheet extent and volume.
Late Tertiary Antarctic paleoclimate and ice-sheet dynamics inferred from surficial deposits in Wright Valley
The case for a stable East Antarctic Ice Sheet
Antarctica ; Cenozoic ; Deglaciation ; Glacial features ; Glacier mass balance ; Ice sheet ; Palaeoclimatology
The evidence of persistent cold paleoclimate contradicts the postulated Pliocene deglaciation of East Antarctica, which requires atmospheric temperatures 20°C warmer than present to produce melting ablation surfaces on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
. Furthermore, an East Antarctic outlet glacier has not expanded into east-central Wright Valley in at least the last 3.8 Ma, thus precluding ice-sheet overriding of the Dry Valleys region during this interval. Overall, Wright Valley data imply that the adjacent
East Antarctic Ice Sheet has been stable for at least the last 3.8 Ma.
The aim of this paper is to produce a detailed geologic record of late Cenozoic glacial and non-glacial sedimentation and paleoclimate change. The Quatermain Mountains are ideal for recording ice-sheet fluctuations and paleoclimate change because
they are adjacent to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and exhibit a suite of glacial erosional features, semi-arid landforms, and widespread drift and colluvium.
Proglacial lake-ice conveyors : a new mechanism for deposition of drift in polar environments
Glacial and paleoclimatic history of the Ross ice drainage system of Antarctica. Special issue
This paper describes a new mechanism observed in a modern perennially ice-covered proglacial lake that documents the movement of glacial debris beyond the grounding line across the surface of the lake. This mechanism accounts for the absence
of moraines and other ice-contact features on the valley floors, as well as for the presence of the other deposits and landforms mentioned above.
The purpose of this paper is to assess the degree of stability/instability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Pliocene by dating and mapping surficial deposits in middle Taylor Valley in the Dry Valleys region of southern Victoria Land.
Glacial and paleoclimatic history of the Ross ice drainage system of Antarctica. Special issue
The aim of this paper is to document the response of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) near the Dry Valleys to the excess warmth of the last interglaciation by establishing the behavior of Taylor Glacier. The AA. present a model for the deposition
Folded outwash occurs in 4 distinct clusters in an arcuate arrangement just west of the terminal Llanquihue moraines deposited by the Lago Llanquihue piedmont ice lobe at the last glacial maximum. The AA. report here on the analyses of an unusual