Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat

Kate Ashley; Robert McKay; Johan Etourneau; Francis Jimenez-Espejo; Alan Condron; Anna Albot; Xavier Crosta; Christina Riesselman; Osamu Seki; Guillaume Massé; Nicholas Golledge; Edward Gasson; Daniel Lowry; Nicholas Barrand; Katelyn Johnson; Nancy Bertler; Carlota Escutia; Robert Dunbar; James Bendle

doi:10.5194/cp-17-1-2021

Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat

Kate Ashley, Robert McKay, Johan Etourneau, Francis Jimenez-Espejo, Alan Condron, Anna Albot, Xavier Crosta, Christina Riesselman, Osamu Seki, Guillaume Massé, Nicholas Golledge, Edward Gasson, Daniel Lowry, Nicholas Barrand, Katelyn Johnson, Nancy Bertler, Carlota Escutia, Robert Dunbar, James Bendle^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Over recent decades Antarctic sea-ice extent has increased, alongside widespread ice shelf thinning and freshening of waters along the Antarctic margin. In contrast, Earth system models generally simulate a decrease in sea ice. Circulation of water masses beneath large-cavity ice shelves is not included in current Earth System models and may be a driver of this phenomena. We examine a Holocene sediment core off East Antarctica that records the Neoglacial transition, the last major baseline shift of Antarctic sea ice, and part of a late-Holocene global cooling trend. We provide a multi-proxy record of Holocene glacial meltwater input, sediment transport, and sea-ice variability. Our record, supported by high-resolution ocean modelling, shows that a rapid Antarctic sea-ice increase during the mid-Holocene (∼ 4.5 ka) occurred against a backdrop of increasing glacial meltwater input and gradual climate warming. We suggest that mid-Holocene ice shelf cavity expansion led to cooling of surface waters and sea-ice growth that slowed basal ice shelf melting. Incorporating this feedback mechanism into global climate models will be important for future projections of Antarctic changes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-19
Number of pages	19
Journal	Climate of the Past
Volume	17
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1-2021
Publication status	Published - 5 Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Financial support. This research has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (CENTA PhD; NE/L002493/1 and Standard Grant Ne/I00646X/1), Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS/FF2/60 no. L-11523), NZ Marsden Fund (grant nos. 18-VUW-089 and 15-VUW-131), NSF (grant nos. PLR-1443347 and ACI-1548562), the U.S. Dept. of Energy (grant no. DE-SC0016105), ERC (StG ICEPROXY, 203441; ANR CLIMICE, FP7 Past4Future, 243908), L’Oréal-UNESCO New Zealand For Women in Science Fellowship, University of Otago Research Grant, the IODP U.S. Science Support Program, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant no. CTM2017-89711-C2-1-P), and the European Union (FEDER).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Royal Society of Chemistry. All rights reserved.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Global and Planetary Change
Stratigraphy
Palaeontology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

Ashley, K., McKay, R., Etourneau, J., Jimenez-Espejo, F., Condron, A., Albot, A., Crosta, X., Riesselman, C., Seki, O., Massé, G., Golledge, N., Gasson, E., Lowry, D., Barrand, N., Johnson, K., Bertler, N., Escutia, C., Dunbar, R., & Bendle, J. (2021). Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat. Climate of the Past, 17(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1-2021

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title = "Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat",

abstract = "Over recent decades Antarctic sea-ice extent has increased, alongside widespread ice shelf thinning and freshening of waters along the Antarctic margin. In contrast, Earth system models generally simulate a decrease in sea ice. Circulation of water masses beneath large-cavity ice shelves is not included in current Earth System models and may be a driver of this phenomena. We examine a Holocene sediment core off East Antarctica that records the Neoglacial transition, the last major baseline shift of Antarctic sea ice, and part of a late-Holocene global cooling trend. We provide a multi-proxy record of Holocene glacial meltwater input, sediment transport, and sea-ice variability. Our record, supported by high-resolution ocean modelling, shows that a rapid Antarctic sea-ice increase during the mid-Holocene (∼ 4.5 ka) occurred against a backdrop of increasing glacial meltwater input and gradual climate warming. We suggest that mid-Holocene ice shelf cavity expansion led to cooling of surface waters and sea-ice growth that slowed basal ice shelf melting. Incorporating this feedback mechanism into global climate models will be important for future projections of Antarctic changes.",

author = "Kate Ashley and Robert McKay and Johan Etourneau and Francis Jimenez-Espejo and Alan Condron and Anna Albot and Xavier Crosta and Christina Riesselman and Osamu Seki and Guillaume Mass{\'e} and Nicholas Golledge and Edward Gasson and Daniel Lowry and Nicholas Barrand and Katelyn Johnson and Nancy Bertler and Carlota Escutia and Robert Dunbar and James Bendle",

note = "Funding Information: Financial support. This research has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (CENTA PhD; NE/L002493/1 and Standard Grant Ne/I00646X/1), Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS/FF2/60 no. L-11523), NZ Marsden Fund (grant nos. 18-VUW-089 and 15-VUW-131), NSF (grant nos. PLR-1443347 and ACI-1548562), the U.S. Dept. of Energy (grant no. DE-SC0016105), ERC (StG ICEPROXY, 203441; ANR CLIMICE, FP7 Past4Future, 243908), L{\textquoteright}Or{\'e}al-UNESCO New Zealand For Women in Science Fellowship, University of Otago Research Grant, the IODP U.S. Science Support Program, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant no. CTM2017-89711-C2-1-P), and the European Union (FEDER). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Royal Society of Chemistry. All rights reserved.",

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Ashley, K, McKay, R, Etourneau, J, Jimenez-Espejo, F, Condron, A, Albot, A, Crosta, X, Riesselman, C, Seki, O, Massé, G, Golledge, N, Gasson, E, Lowry, D, Barrand, N, Johnson, K, Bertler, N, Escutia, C, Dunbar, R & Bendle, J 2021, 'Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat', Climate of the Past, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1-2021

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T1 - Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat

AU - Ashley, Kate

AU - McKay, Robert

AU - Etourneau, Johan

AU - Jimenez-Espejo, Francis

AU - Condron, Alan

AU - Albot, Anna

AU - Crosta, Xavier

AU - Riesselman, Christina

AU - Seki, Osamu

AU - Massé, Guillaume

AU - Golledge, Nicholas

AU - Gasson, Edward

AU - Lowry, Daniel

AU - Barrand, Nicholas

AU - Johnson, Katelyn

AU - Bertler, Nancy

AU - Escutia, Carlota

AU - Dunbar, Robert

AU - Bendle, James

N1 - Funding Information: Financial support. This research has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (CENTA PhD; NE/L002493/1 and Standard Grant Ne/I00646X/1), Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS/FF2/60 no. L-11523), NZ Marsden Fund (grant nos. 18-VUW-089 and 15-VUW-131), NSF (grant nos. PLR-1443347 and ACI-1548562), the U.S. Dept. of Energy (grant no. DE-SC0016105), ERC (StG ICEPROXY, 203441; ANR CLIMICE, FP7 Past4Future, 243908), L’Oréal-UNESCO New Zealand For Women in Science Fellowship, University of Otago Research Grant, the IODP U.S. Science Support Program, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant no. CTM2017-89711-C2-1-P), and the European Union (FEDER). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Royal Society of Chemistry. All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/1/5

Y1 - 2021/1/5

N2 - Over recent decades Antarctic sea-ice extent has increased, alongside widespread ice shelf thinning and freshening of waters along the Antarctic margin. In contrast, Earth system models generally simulate a decrease in sea ice. Circulation of water masses beneath large-cavity ice shelves is not included in current Earth System models and may be a driver of this phenomena. We examine a Holocene sediment core off East Antarctica that records the Neoglacial transition, the last major baseline shift of Antarctic sea ice, and part of a late-Holocene global cooling trend. We provide a multi-proxy record of Holocene glacial meltwater input, sediment transport, and sea-ice variability. Our record, supported by high-resolution ocean modelling, shows that a rapid Antarctic sea-ice increase during the mid-Holocene (∼ 4.5 ka) occurred against a backdrop of increasing glacial meltwater input and gradual climate warming. We suggest that mid-Holocene ice shelf cavity expansion led to cooling of surface waters and sea-ice growth that slowed basal ice shelf melting. Incorporating this feedback mechanism into global climate models will be important for future projections of Antarctic changes.

AB - Over recent decades Antarctic sea-ice extent has increased, alongside widespread ice shelf thinning and freshening of waters along the Antarctic margin. In contrast, Earth system models generally simulate a decrease in sea ice. Circulation of water masses beneath large-cavity ice shelves is not included in current Earth System models and may be a driver of this phenomena. We examine a Holocene sediment core off East Antarctica that records the Neoglacial transition, the last major baseline shift of Antarctic sea ice, and part of a late-Holocene global cooling trend. We provide a multi-proxy record of Holocene glacial meltwater input, sediment transport, and sea-ice variability. Our record, supported by high-resolution ocean modelling, shows that a rapid Antarctic sea-ice increase during the mid-Holocene (∼ 4.5 ka) occurred against a backdrop of increasing glacial meltwater input and gradual climate warming. We suggest that mid-Holocene ice shelf cavity expansion led to cooling of surface waters and sea-ice growth that slowed basal ice shelf melting. Incorporating this feedback mechanism into global climate models will be important for future projections of Antarctic changes.

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Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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