Ice sheet–free West Antarctica during peak early Oligocene glaciation

Klages, J.P.; Hillenbrand, C.-D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0240-7317; Bohaty, S.M.; Salzmann, U.; Bickert, T.; Lohmann, G.; Knahl, H.S.; Gierz, P.; Niu, L.; Titschack, J.; Kuhn, G.; Frederichs, T.; Müller, J.; Bauersachs, T.; Larter, R.D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8414-7389; Hochmuth, K.; Ehrmann, W.; Nehrke, G.; Rodríguez-Tovar, F.J.; Schmiedl, G.; Spezzaferri, S.; Läufer, A.; Lisker, F.; van de Flierdt, T.; Eisenhauer, A.; Uenzelmann-Neben, G.; Esper, O.; Smith, J.A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1333-2544; Pälike, H.; Spiegel, C.; Dziadek, R.; Ronge, T.A.; Freudenthal, T.; Gohl, K.. 2024 Ice sheet–free West Antarctica during peak early Oligocene glaciation. Science. 13, pp. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj3931

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This is the author’s accepted manuscript. The definitive version was published in Science on 4 July 2024, DOI: 10.1126/science.adj3931.
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Official URL: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj393...

Abstract/Summary

One of Earth’s most fundamental climate shifts – the greenhouse-icehouse transition 34 Ma ago – initiated Antarctic ice-sheet build-up, influencing global climate until today. However, the extent of the ice sheet during the Early Oligocene Glacial Maximum (~33.7–33.2 Ma) that immediately followed this transition, a critical knowledge gap for assessing feedbacks between permanently glaciated areas and early Cenozoic global climate reorganization, is uncertain. Here, we present shallow-marine drilling data constraining earliest Oligocene environmental conditions on West Antarctica’s Pacific margin – a key region for understanding Antarctic ice sheet-evolution. These data indicate a cool-temperate environment, with mild ocean and air temperatures preventing West Antarctic Ice Sheet formation. Climate-ice sheet modeling corroborates a highly asymmetric Antarctic ice sheet, thereby revealing its differential regional response to past and future climatic change.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj3931
ISSN:	0036-8075
Date made live:	05 Jul 2024 10:17 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532354

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj3931

ISSN:

0036-8075

Date made live:

05 Jul 2024 10:17 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532354