Millennial-scale instability of the antarctic ice sheet during the last glaciation
Records of ice-rafted detritus (IRD) concentration in deep-sea cores from the southeast Atlantic Ocean reveal millennial-scale pulses of IRD delivery between 20,000 and 74,000 years ago. Prominent IRD layers correlate across the Polar Frontal Zone, suggesting episodes of Antarctic Ice Sheet instability. Carbon isotopes (delta(13)C) of benthic foraminifers, a proxy of deepwater circulation, reveal that South Atlantic IRD events coincided with strong increases in North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) production and inferred warming (interstadials) in the high-latitude North Atlantic. Sea level rise or increased NADW production associated with strong interstadials may have resulted in destabilization of grounded ice shelves and possible surging in the Weddell Sea region of West Antarctica.
Kanfoush
SL
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 9.
Hodell
DA
Charles
CD
Guilderson
TP
Mortyn
PG
Ninnemann
US