Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: One of Earth's most fundamental climate shifts, the greenhouse-icehouse transition 34 million years ago, initiated Antarctic ice sheet buildup, influencing global climate until today. However, the extent of the ice sheet during the Early Oligocene Glacial Maximum (~33.7 to 33.2 million years ago) that immediately followed this transition-a critical knowledge gap for assessing feedbacks between permanently glaciated areas and early Cenozoic global climate reorganization-is uncertain. In this work, we present shallow-marine drilling data constraining earliest Oligocene environmental conditions on West Antarctica's Pacific margin-a key region for understanding Antarctic ice sheet evolution. These data indicate a cool-temperate environment with mild ocean and air temperatures that prevented West Antarctic Ice Sheet formation. Climate-ice sheet modeling corroborates a highly asymmetric Antarctic ice sheet, thereby revealing its differential regional response to past and future climatic change.
Source: Science
Authors: J. P. Klages, C.-D. Hillenbrand, S. M. Bohaty, U. Salzmann, T. Bickert, G. Lohmann, H. S. Knahl, P. Gierz, L. Niu, J. Titschack, G. Kuhn, T. Frederichs, J. Müller, T. Bauersachs, R. D. Larter, K. Hochmuth, W. Ehrmann, G. Nehrke, F. J. Rodríguez-Tovar, G. Schmiedl, S. Spezzaferri, A. Läufer, F. Lisker, T. van de Flierdt, A. Eisenhauer, G. Uenzelmann-Neben, O. Esper, J. A. Smith, H. Pälike, C. Spiegel, R. Dziadek, T. A. Ronge, T. Freudenthal, K. Gohl
Institutions: Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, British Antarctic Survey, Heidelberg University, Northumbria University, University of Bremen, Senckenberg am Meer, RWTH Aachen University, University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, Leipzig University, Universidad de Granada, Universität Hamburg, University of Fribourg, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Imperial College London, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Texas A&M University
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4400314101