A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene

Zundel, M.; Spiegel, C.; Mark, C.; Millar, I.L.; Chew, D.; Klages, J.P.; Gohl, K.; Hillenbrand, C.-D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0240-7317; Najman, Y.; Salzmann, U.; Ehrmann, W.; Titschack, J.; Bauersachs, T.; Uenzelmann-Neben, G.; Bickert, T.; Müller, J.; Larter, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8414-7389; Lisker, F.; Bohaty, S.M.; Kuhn, G.. 2024 A large-scale transcontinental river system crossed West Antarctica during the Eocene. Science Advances, 10 (23), eadn6056. 16, pp. 10.1126/sciadv.adn6056

Before downloading, please read NORA policies.

Preview

Text (Open Access Paper) Copyright © 2024 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY). sciadv.adn6056.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (7MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

Extensive ice coverage largely prevents investigations of Antarctica’s unglaciated past. Knowledge about environmental and tectonic development before large-scale glaciation, however, is important for understanding the transition into the modern icehouse world. We report geochronological and sedimentological data from a drill core from the Amundsen Sea shelf, providing insights into tectonic and topographic conditions during the Eocene (~44 to 34 million years ago), shortly before major ice sheet buildup. Our findings reveal the Eocene as a transition period from >40 million years of relative tectonic quiescence toward reactivation of the West Antarctic Rift System, coinciding with incipient volcanism, rise of the Transantarctic Mountains, and renewed sedimentation under temperate climate conditions. The recovered sediments were deposited in a coastal-estuarine swamp environment at the outlet of a >1500-km-long transcontinental river system, draining from the rising Transantarctic Mountains into the Amundsen Sea. Much of West Antarctica hence lied above sea level, but low topographic relief combined with low elevation inhibited widespread ice sheet formation.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1126/sciadv.adn6056
ISSN:	2375-2548
Date made live:	10 Jun 2024 14:17 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527962

Actions (login required)

View Item

Document Downloads

More statistics for this item...