title: The emergence of modern sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean.
abstract: Arctic sea ice coverage is shrinking in response to global climate change and summer ice-free conditions in the Arctic Ocean are predicted by the end of the century. The validity of this prediction could potentially be tested through the reconstruction of the climate of the Pliocene epoch (5.33-2.58 million years ago), an analogue of a future warmer Earth. Here we show that, in the Eurasian sector of the Arctic Ocean, ice-free conditions prevailed in the early Pliocene until sea ice expanded from the central Arctic Ocean for the first time ca. 4 million years ago. Amplified by a rise in topography in several regions of the Arctic and enhanced freshening of the Arctic Ocean, sea ice expanded progressively in response to positive ice-albedo feedback mechanisms. Sea ice reached its modern winter maximum extension for the first time during the culmination of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation, ca. 2.6 million years ago.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Marine Geology, Geological Survey of Norway, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway [2] Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE), Department of Geology, University of Tromsø, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knies
authors.affiliation: Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cabedo-Sanz
authors.affiliation: Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK.
authors.forename: Simon T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Belt
authors.affiliation: Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE), Department of Geology, University of Tromsø, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Soma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baranwal
authors.affiliation: 1] Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain [2] Department of Earth Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fietz
authors.affiliation: 1] Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain [2] Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosell-Melé