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Windblown Pliocene diatoms and East Antarctic ice sheet retreat
Scherer, R.P.; DeConto, R.M.; Pollard, D.; Alley, R.B. (2016). Windblown Pliocene diatoms and East Antarctic ice sheet retreat. Nature Comm. 7(12957): 9 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12957
In: Nature Communications. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2041-1723; e-ISSN 2041-1723, more
Peer reviewed article  

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Keyword
    Marine/Coastal

Authors  Top 
  • Scherer, R.P.
  • DeConto, R.M.
  • Pollard, D.
  • Alley, R.B.

Abstract
    Marine diatoms in tillites along the Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs) have been used to suggest a diminished East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) during Pliocene warm periods. Updated ice-sheet modelling shows significant Pliocene EAIS retreat, creating marine embayments into the Wilkes and Aurora basins that were conducive to high diatom productivity and rapid accumulation of diatomaceous sediments. Here we show that subsequent isostatic uplift exposed accumulated unconsolidated marine deposits to wind erosion. We report new atmospheric modelling utilizing Pliocene climate and derived Antarctic landscapes indicating that prevailing mid-altitude winds transported diatoms towards the TAMs, dominantly from extensive emerged coastal deposits of the Aurora Basin. This result unifies leading ideas from competing sides of a contentious debate about the origin of the diatoms in the TAMs and their link to EAIS history, supporting the view that parts of the EAIS are vulnerable to relatively modest warming, with possible implications for future sea-level rise.

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