Southern Ocean warming and Wilkes Land ice sheet retreat during the mid Miocene
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Observations and model experiments highlight the importance of ocean heat in forcing ice
sheet retreat during the present and geological past, but past ocean temperature data are
virtually missing in ice sheet proximal locations. Here we document paleoceanographic
conditions and the (in)stability of the Wilkes Land subglacial basin (East Antarctica) during
the mid-Miocene (~17–13.4 million years ago) by studying sediment cores from offshore
Adélie Coast. Inland retreat of the ice sheet, temperate vegetation, and warm oligotrophic
waters characterise the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO; 17–14.8 Ma). After the MCO,
expansion of a marine-based ice sheet occurs, but remains sensitive to melting upon episodic
warm water incursions. Our results suggest that the mid-Miocene latitudinal temperature
gradient across the Southern Ocean never resembled that of the present day. We demonstrate
that a strong coupling of oceanic climate and Antarctic continental conditions existed
and that the East Antarctic subglacial basins were highly sensitive to ocean warming.
sheet retreat during the present and geological past, but past ocean temperature data are
virtually missing in ice sheet proximal locations. Here we document paleoceanographic
conditions and the (in)stability of the Wilkes Land subglacial basin (East Antarctica) during
the mid-Miocene (~17–13.4 million years ago) by studying sediment cores from offshore
Adélie Coast. Inland retreat of the ice sheet, temperate vegetation, and warm oligotrophic
waters characterise the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO; 17–14.8 Ma). After the MCO,
expansion of a marine-based ice sheet occurs, but remains sensitive to melting upon episodic
warm water incursions. Our results suggest that the mid-Miocene latitudinal temperature
gradient across the Southern Ocean never resembled that of the present day. We demonstrate
that a strong coupling of oceanic climate and Antarctic continental conditions existed
and that the East Antarctic subglacial basins were highly sensitive to ocean warming.
Date Issued
2018-01-22
Date Acceptance
2017-12-13
Citation
Nature Communications, 2018, 9
ISSN
2041-1723
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
Nature Communications
Volume
9
Copyright Statement
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give
appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative
Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party
material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless
indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the
article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory
regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/.
© The Author(s) 2018
Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give
appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative
Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party
material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless
indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the
article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory
regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/.
© The Author(s) 2018
License URL
Sponsor
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Grant Number
NE/H014144/1
NE/H025162/1
NE/I006257/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
ANTARCTIC CIRCUMPOLAR CURRENT
ISOPRENOID TETRAETHER LIPIDS
MEMBRANE-LIPIDS
EAST ANTARCTICA
DINOFLAGELLATE CYSTS
SIZE ANALYSIS
CARBON-CYCLE
EARLY EOCENE
TEX86 PROXY
CIRCULATION
MD Multidisciplinary
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
317