Exposure ages from mountain dipsticks in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica, indicate little change in ice sheet thickness since the Last Glacial Maximum | Macquarie University ResearchOnline

Home

Exposure ages from mountain dipsticks in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica, indicate little change in ice sheet thickness since the Last Glacial Maximum

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/22203

86 Visitors

102 Hits

0 Downloads

Title: Exposure ages from mountain dipsticks in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica, indicate little change in ice sheet thickness since the Last Glacial Maximum
Related: Geology, Vol. 35, Issue 6, p.551-554
DOI: 10.1130/G23503A.1
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Date: 2007
FoR/RFCD Code(s): 260114 Geomorphology 260115 Glaciology 260301 Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry 269901 Physical Geography
Author/Creator: Mackintosh, Andrew
Author/Creator: White, Duanne
Author/Creator: Fink, David
Author/Creator: Gore, Damian B
Author/Creator: Pickard, John
Author/Creator: Fanning, Patricia C
Description: Past changes in East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) volume are poorly known and difficult to measure, yet are critical for predicting the response of the ice sheet to modern climate change. In particular, it is important to identify the sources of sea-level rise since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and ascertain the present-day stability of the world's largest ice sheet. We present altitudinal transects of ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al exposure ages across the Framnes Mountains in Mac. Robertson Land that allow the magnitude and timing of EAIS retreat to be quantified. Our data show that the coastal EAIS thinned by at most 350 m in this region during the past 13 k.y. This reduction in ice-sheet volume occurred over a ~5 k.y. period, and the present ice-sheet profile was attained ca. 7 ka, in contrast to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which continues to retreat today. Combined with regional offshore and terrestrial geologic evidence, our data suggest that the reduction in EAIS volume since the LGM was smaller than that indicated by contemporary ice-sheet models and added little meltwater to the global oceans. Stability of the ice margin since the middle Holocene provides support for the hypothesis that EAIS volume changes are controlled by growth and decay of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets and associated global sea-level changes.
Description: 4 page(s)
Subject Keyword: 260114 Geomorphology
Subject Keyword: 260115 Glaciology
Subject Keyword: 260301 Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry
Subject Keyword: 269901 Physical Geography
Subject Keyword: East Antarctic Ice Sheet, Last Glacial Maximum, exposure dating, sea level, ice-sheet model, Meltwater Pulse 1A
Subject Keyword: East Antarctic Ice Sheet
Subject Keyword: Last Glacial Maximum
Subject Keyword: exposure dating
Subject Keyword: sea level
Subject Keyword: ice-sheet model
Subject Keyword: Meltwater Pulse 1A
Resource Type: journal article
Organisation: Macquarie University. Dept. of Physical Geography
Organisation: Macquarie University. Graduate School of the Environment

Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/22203
Identifier: ISSN:0091-7613
Identifier: mq-rm-2007002622
Language: eng
Reviewed

Macquarie University ResearchOnline

Search

Browse

Highlights

Resources