Obliquity-paced Pliocene West Antarctic ice sheet oscillations

T. Naish (), R. Powell, R. Levy, G. Wilson, R. Scherer, F. Talarico, L. Krissek, F. Niessen, M. Pompilio, T. Wilson, L. Carter, R. DeConto, P. Huybers, R. McKay, D. Pollard, J. Ross, D. Winter, P. Barrett, G. Browne, R. Cody, E. Cowan, J. Crampton, G. Dunbar, N. Dunbar, F. Florindo, C. Gebhardt, I. Graham, M. Hannah, D. Hansaraj, D. Harwood, D. Helling, S. Henrys, L. Hinnov, G. Kuhn, P. Kyle, A. Läufer, P. Maffioli, D. Magens, K. Mandernack, W. McIntosh, C. Millan, R. Morin, C. Ohneiser, T. Paulsen, D. Persico, I. Raine, J. Reed, C. Riesselman, L. Sagnotti, D. Schmitt, C. Sjunneskog, P. Strong, M. Taviani, S. Vogel, T. Wilch and T. Williams
Additional contact information
T. Naish: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, PO Box 600, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
R. Powell: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA
R. Levy: ANDRILL Science Management Office, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0340, USA
G. Wilson: University of Otago, PO Box 56, Leith Street, Dunedin, Otago 9001, New Zealand
R. Scherer: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA
F. Talarico: Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, I-53100 Siena, Italy
L. Krissek: Ohio State University, 275 Mendenhall Lab, 125 South Oval Mall, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
F. Niessen: Alfred Wegener Institute, Postfach 12 01 6, Am Alten Hafen 26, D-27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
M. Pompilio: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via della Faggiola 32, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
T. Wilson: Ohio State University, 275 Mendenhall Lab, 125 South Oval Mall, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
L. Carter: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, PO Box 600, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
R. DeConto: 233 Morrell Science Centre, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-9297, USA
P. Huybers: Harvard University, Massachusetts 02138, USA
R. McKay: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, PO Box 600, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
D. Pollard: Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
J. Ross: New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA
D. Winter: ANDRILL Science Management Office, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0340, USA
P. Barrett: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, PO Box 600, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
G. Browne: GNS Science, 1 Fairway Drive, PO Box 30-368, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand
R. Cody: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, PO Box 600, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
E. Cowan: Appalachian State University, ASU Box 32067, Boone, North Carolina 28608-2067, USA
J. Crampton: GNS Science, 1 Fairway Drive, PO Box 30-368, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand
G. Dunbar: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, PO Box 600, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
N. Dunbar: New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA
F. Florindo: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata 605, I-00143 Rome, Italy
C. Gebhardt: Alfred Wegener Institute, Postfach 12 01 6, Am Alten Hafen 26, D-27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
I. Graham: GNS Science, 1 Fairway Drive, PO Box 30-368, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand
M. Hannah: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, PO Box 600, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
D. Hansaraj: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, PO Box 600, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
D. Harwood: ANDRILL Science Management Office, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0340, USA
D. Helling: Alfred Wegener Institute, Postfach 12 01 6, Am Alten Hafen 26, D-27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
S. Henrys: GNS Science, 1 Fairway Drive, PO Box 30-368, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand
L. Hinnov: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
G. Kuhn: Alfred Wegener Institute, Postfach 12 01 6, Am Alten Hafen 26, D-27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
P. Kyle: New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA
A. Läufer: Federal Institute of Geosciences & Natural Resources, BGR, Stilleweg 2, D-30655 Hannover, Germany
P. Maffioli: Università Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 4, I-20126 Milano, Italy
D. Magens: Alfred Wegener Institute, Postfach 12 01 6, Am Alten Hafen 26, D-27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
K. Mandernack: Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois Street, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
W. McIntosh: New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA
C. Millan: Ohio State University, 275 Mendenhall Lab, 125 South Oval Mall, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
R. Morin: US Geological Survey, Mail Stop 403, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA
C. Ohneiser: University of Otago, PO Box 56, Leith Street, Dunedin, Otago 9001, New Zealand
T. Paulsen: University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901, USA
D. Persico: Università degli Studi di Parma, Via Usberti 157/A, I-43100 Parma, Italy
I. Raine: GNS Science, 1 Fairway Drive, PO Box 30-368, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand
J. Reed: ANDRILL Science Management Office, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0340, USA
C. Riesselman: School of Earth Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
L. Sagnotti: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata 605, I-00143 Rome, Italy
D. Schmitt: Mailstop #615, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G7, Canada
C. Sjunneskog: Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
P. Strong: GNS Science, 1 Fairway Drive, PO Box 30-368, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand
M. Taviani: CNR, ISMAR – Bologna, Via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
S. Vogel: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA
T. Wilch: Albion College, Albion, Michigan 49224, USA
T. Williams: Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, New York 10964, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 458, issue 7236, 322-328

Abstract: When the ice sheet melted Changes in Earth's orbit are known to influence climate shifts from cold glacials to warm interglacials. How the vast West Antarctic ice sheet responds to these fluctuations is uncertain but, because its collapse could raise sea levels by about 5 metres, of great interest. Naish et al. have analysed the AND-1B ocean sediment core, extracted from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf as part of the ANDRILL drilling project, and find evidence that the ice sheet collapsed periodically during the early Pliocene (3-5 million years ago), when atmospheric CO2 levels were similar to, or slightly higher than today's. The pattern of collapse suggests an influence of approximately 40,000-year cycles in the tilt of Earth's rotational axis (obliquity). Also in this issue of Nature, in a numerical modelling study focused on the past 5 million years in Antarctica, David Pollard and Robert DeConto combine ice sheet (land-supported) and ice shelf (water-supported) modelling approaches to simulate the movement of the grounding line — the border between land and sea ice. Their results show that over the past 5 million years, the West Antarctic ice sheet transitioned between full, intermediate, and collapsed states in just a few thousand years. This means that the ice sheet is likely to disintegrate if ocean temperatures in the area rise by 5 C.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07867

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