Articles | Volume 15, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4655-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4655-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
05 Oct 2021
Research article |
| 05 Oct 2021
| 05 Oct 2021
Did Holocene climate changes drive West Antarctic grounding line retreat and readvance?
Sarah U. Neuhaus
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz,
Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
Slawek M. Tulaczyk
Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz,
Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
Nathan D. Stansell
Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
Jason J. Coenen
Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
Reed P. Scherer
Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
Jill A. Mikucki
Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee Knoxville,
Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Ross D. Powell
Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
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Gavin Piccione, Terrence Blackburn, Paul Northrup, Slawek Tulaczyk, and Troy Rasbury
The Cryosphere, 19, 2247–2261, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2247-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2247-2025, 2025
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Growth of microorganisms in the Southern Ocean is limited by low iron levels. Iron delivered from beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet is one agent that fertilizes these ecosystems, but it is unclear how this nutrient source changes through time. Here, we measured the age and chemistry of a rock that records the iron concentration of Antarctic basal water. We show that increased dissolution of iron from rocks below the ice sheet can substantially enhance iron discharge during cold climate periods.
Tal Y. Shutkin, Bryan G. Mark, Nathan D. Stansell, Rolando Cruz Encarnación, Henry H. Brecher, Zhengyu Liu, Bidhyananda Yadav, and Forrest S. Schoessow
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Queshque Glacier, a tropical glacier located in central Peru, has lost about 22.5 million cubic meters of water since 2008. Despite a possible increase in recent snowfall, our research shows that ice loss has been caused by steadily warming temperatures. We also see that the formation of a new lake at the base of the glacier has sped up Queshque’s rate of retreat. We find that changes in glacier water storage are increasingly related to conditions in the Pacific Ocean during the austral summer.
Joseph A. Ruggiero, Reed P. Scherer, Joseph Mastro, Cesar G. Lopez, Marcus Angus, Evie Unger-Harquail, Olivia Quartz, Amy Leventer, and Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
J. Micropalaeontol., 43, 323–336, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-323-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-323-2024, 2024
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We quantify sea surface temperature (SST) in the past Southern Ocean using the diatom Fragilariopsis kerguelensis that displays variable population with SST. We explore the use of this relatively new proxy by applying it to sediment assemblages from the Sabrina Coast and Amundsen Sea. We find that Amundsen Sea and Sabrina Coast F. kerguelensis populations are different from each other. An understanding of F. kerguelensis dynamics may help us generate an SST proxy to apply to ancient sediments.
Heather Furlong and Reed Paul Scherer
J. Micropalaeontol., 43, 269–282, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-269-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-269-2024, 2024
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Diatom assemblages are vital components of the Antarctic ecosystem and nutrient supply chain, and they are often utilized as paleoclimate proxies to better understand past climatic changes. We demonstrate enhanced diatom production and accumulation in the outer Amundsen Sea during a Mid-Pliocene interglacial that coincides with pulses of ice-rafted terrestrial debris, providing compelling evidence that iceberg calving seeds diatom productivity in the Southern Ocean.
Serena N. Dameron, R. Mark Leckie, David Harwood, Reed Scherer, and Peter-Noel Webb
J. Micropalaeontol., 43, 187–209, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-187-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-43-187-2024, 2024
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In 1977-79, the Ross Ice Shelf Project recovered ocean sediments ~ 450 km south of the present-day ice shelf calving front. Within these sediments are microfossils, which are used to recreate the history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and address how the ice sheet responded to past times of extreme warmth. The microfossils reveal the WAIS collapsed multiple times in the past 17 million years. These results inform predictions of future WAIS response to rising global temperatures.
Ricardo Garza-Girón and Slawek M. Tulaczyk
The Cryosphere, 18, 1207–1213, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1207-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1207-2024, 2024
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By analyzing temperature time series over more than 20 years, we have found a discrepancy between the 2 m temperature values reported by the ERA5 reanalysis and the automatic weather stations in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.
Hilary A. Dugan, Peter T. Doran, Denys Grombacher, Esben Auken, Thue Bording, Nikolaj Foged, Neil Foley, Jill Mikucki, Ross A. Virginia, and Slawek Tulaczyk
The Cryosphere, 16, 4977–4983, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4977-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4977-2022, 2022
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In the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, a deep groundwater system has been hypothesized to connect Don Juan Pond and Lake Vanda, both surface waterbodies that contain very high concentrations of salt. This is unusual, since permafrost in polar landscapes is thought to prevent subsurface hydrologic connectivity. We show results from an airborne geophysical survey that reveals widespread unfrozen brine in Wright Valley and points to the potential for deep valley-wide brine conduits.
Tun Jan Young, Carlos Martín, Poul Christoffersen, Dustin M. Schroeder, Slawek M. Tulaczyk, and Eliza J. Dawson
The Cryosphere, 15, 4117–4133, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4117-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4117-2021, 2021
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If the molecules that make up ice are oriented in specific ways, the ice becomes softer and enhances flow. We use radar to measure the orientation of ice molecules in the top 1400 m of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide. Our results match those from an ice core extracted 10 years ago and conclude that the ice flow has not changed direction for the last 6700 years. Our methods are straightforward and accurate and can be applied in places across ice sheets unsuitable for ice coring.
Krista F. Myers, Peter T. Doran, Slawek M. Tulaczyk, Neil T. Foley, Thue S. Bording, Esben Auken, Hilary A. Dugan, Jill A. Mikucki, Nikolaj Foged, Denys Grombacher, and Ross A. Virginia
The Cryosphere, 15, 3577–3593, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3577-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3577-2021, 2021
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Lake Fryxell, Antarctica, has undergone hundreds of meters of change in recent geologic history. However, there is disagreement on when lake levels were higher and by how much. This study uses resistivity data to map the subsurface conditions (frozen versus unfrozen ground) to map ancient shorelines. Our models indicate that Lake Fryxell was up to 60 m higher just 1500 to 4000 years ago. This amount of lake level change shows how sensitive these systems are to small changes in temperature.
Slawek M. Tulaczyk and Neil T. Foley
The Cryosphere, 14, 4495–4506, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4495-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4495-2020, 2020
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Much of what we know about materials hidden beneath glaciers and ice sheets on Earth has been interpreted using radar reflection from the ice base. A common assumption is that electrical conductivity of the sub-ice materials does not influence the reflection strength and that the latter is controlled only by permittivity, which depends on the fraction of water in these materials. Here we argue that sub-ice electrical conductivity should be generally considered when interpreting radar records.
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Short summary
We estimate the timing of post-LGM grounding line retreat and readvance in the Ross Sea sector of Antarctica. Our analyses indicate that the grounding line retreated over our field sites within the past 5000 years (coinciding with a warming climate) and readvanced roughly 1000 years ago (coinciding with a cooling climate). Based on these results, we propose that the Siple Coast grounding line motions in the middle to late Holocene were driven by relatively modest changes in regional climate.
We estimate the timing of post-LGM grounding line retreat and readvance in the Ross Sea sector...
