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West Antarctic ice retreat and paleoceanography in the Amundsen Sea in the warm early Pliocene

Mass loss from polar ice sheets is poorly constrained in estimates of future global sea-level rise. Today, the marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing mass at an accelerating rate, most notably in the Thwaites and Pine Island glacier drainage basins. Early Pliocene surface temperatures were...

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Main Authors: Passchier, Sandra (Author) , Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter (Author) , Hemming, Sidney (Author) , Ehrmann, Werner (Author) , Frederichs, Thomas (Author) , Bohaty, Steven M. (Author) , Leon, Ronald (Author) , Libman-Roshal, Olga (Author) , Mino-Moreira, Lisbeth (Author) , Gohl, Karsten (Author) , Wellner, Julia (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 01 July 2025
In: Nature Communications
Year: 2025, Volume: 16, Pages: 1-18
ISSN:2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-60772-8
Online Access:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60772-8
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60772-8
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Author Notes:Sandra Passchier, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Sidney Hemming, Werner Ehrmann, Thomas Frederichs, Steve M. Bohaty, Ronald Leon, Olga Libman-Roshal, Lisbeth Mino-Moreira, Karsten Gohl & Julia Wellner
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Summary:Mass loss from polar ice sheets is poorly constrained in estimates of future global sea-level rise. Today, the marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing mass at an accelerating rate, most notably in the Thwaites and Pine Island glacier drainage basins. Early Pliocene surface temperatures were about 4 °C warmer than preindustrial and maximum sea level stood ~20 m above present. Using data from a sediment archive on the Amundsen Sea continental rise, we investigate the impact of prolonged Pliocene ocean warmth on the ice-sheet−ocean system. We show that, in contrast to today, during peak ocean warming ~4.6 − 4.5 Ma, terrigenous muds accumulated rapidly under a weak bottom current regime after spill-over of dense shelf water with high suspended load down to the rise. From sediment provenance data we infer major retreat of the Thwaites Glacier system at ~4.4 Ma several hundreds of km inland from its present grounding line position, highlighting the potential for major Earth System changes under prolonged future warming.
Item Description:Gesehen am 28.11.2025
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-60772-8

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