The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Decadal-scale onset and termination of Antarctic ice-mass loss during the last deglaciation

Decadal-scale onset and termination of Antarctic ice-mass loss during the last deglaciation
Decadal-scale onset and termination of Antarctic ice-mass loss during the last deglaciation
Emerging ice-sheet modeling suggests once initiated, retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) can continue for centuries. Unfortunately, the short observational record cannot resolve the tipping points, rate of change, and timescale of responses. Iceberg-rafted debris data from Iceberg Alley identify eight retreat phases after the Last Glacial Maximum that each destabilized the AIS within a decade, contributing to global sea-level rise for centuries to a millennium, which subsequently re-stabilized equally rapidly. This dynamic response of the AIS is supported by (i) a West Antarctic blue ice record of ice-elevation drawdown >600 m during three such retreat events related to globally recognized deglacial meltwater pulses, (ii) step-wise retreat up to 400 km across the Ross Sea shelf, (iii) independent ice sheet modeling, and (iv) tipping point analysis. Our findings are consistent with a growing body of evidence suggesting the recent acceleration of AIS mass loss may mark the beginning of a prolonged period of ice sheet retreat and substantial global sea level rise.
2041-1723
Weber, Michael E.
17f8a8e3-8d43-4065-bb67-8a2a6f93745e
Golledge, Nicholas R.
6e5f88b4-366b-49f9-81fe-3354a1bd7d88
Fogwill, Chris J.
3bad6ae9-5a6d-467e-b523-9d5ed0147455
Turney, Chris S.M.
5149b57c-77c2-4375-97a2-a4f00aa74d97
Thomas, Zoë A.
4b512d3a-3478-4270-9fdd-61256aa640d3
Weber, Michael E.
17f8a8e3-8d43-4065-bb67-8a2a6f93745e
Golledge, Nicholas R.
6e5f88b4-366b-49f9-81fe-3354a1bd7d88
Fogwill, Chris J.
3bad6ae9-5a6d-467e-b523-9d5ed0147455
Turney, Chris S.M.
5149b57c-77c2-4375-97a2-a4f00aa74d97
Thomas, Zoë A.
4b512d3a-3478-4270-9fdd-61256aa640d3

Weber, Michael E., Golledge, Nicholas R., Fogwill, Chris J., Turney, Chris S.M. and Thomas, Zoë A. (2021) Decadal-scale onset and termination of Antarctic ice-mass loss during the last deglaciation. Nature Communications, 12 (1), [6683]. (doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27053-6).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Emerging ice-sheet modeling suggests once initiated, retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) can continue for centuries. Unfortunately, the short observational record cannot resolve the tipping points, rate of change, and timescale of responses. Iceberg-rafted debris data from Iceberg Alley identify eight retreat phases after the Last Glacial Maximum that each destabilized the AIS within a decade, contributing to global sea-level rise for centuries to a millennium, which subsequently re-stabilized equally rapidly. This dynamic response of the AIS is supported by (i) a West Antarctic blue ice record of ice-elevation drawdown >600 m during three such retreat events related to globally recognized deglacial meltwater pulses, (ii) step-wise retreat up to 400 km across the Ross Sea shelf, (iii) independent ice sheet modeling, and (iv) tipping point analysis. Our findings are consistent with a growing body of evidence suggesting the recent acceleration of AIS mass loss may mark the beginning of a prolonged period of ice sheet retreat and substantial global sea level rise.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 2 November 2021
Published date: 18 November 2021
Additional Information: Funding Information: Funding for this research was provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG–Priority Programme 527, Grant We2039/14-1 (M.E.W.). N.R.G is supported by fellowship VUW1501 from the Royal Society Te Aparangi. C.J.F. and C.S.M.T. and Z.A.T. are supported by their respective Australian Research Council (ARC) fellowships as well as ARC grant DP210103621 (to all). Fieldwork at the Patriot Hills site was undertaken under ARC Linkage Project (LP120200724), supported by Linkage Partner Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions whose support we gratefully acknowledge. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 476096
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/476096
ISSN: 2041-1723
PURE UUID: 5ba1e116-0d0b-45aa-ae4f-94bd09e37803
ORCID for Zoë A. Thomas: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2323-4366

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 12 Apr 2023 14:06
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:16

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Michael E. Weber
Author: Nicholas R. Golledge
Author: Chris J. Fogwill
Author: Chris S.M. Turney
Author: Zoë A. Thomas ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×