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Here we summarize the motivation and issues surrounding the responses of ice sheets and sea level to past climate warming as part of the PALeo constraints on SEA level rise (PALSEA) working group. Papers in this special issue of Quaternary Science Reviews focus on the timescale of glaciations during the late Pliocene, the magnitude of ice-sheet fluctuations and volume leading up to and during the last glacial maximum, the timing and persistence of ice-sheet impacts on deglacial and future relative sea-level change, and relative sea-level change during peak interglacial climate. A more dynamic cryosphere is noted under both late Pliocene and last glacial cycle climate conditions, while relative sea-level changes during the last deglaciation appear to correspond closely with individual ice-sheet deglaciation. Lastly, relative sea-level change during peak interglacial conditions may have fluctuated by as much as a meter, although the sources of such variability (Greenland, Antarctica or elsewhere) remain elusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remains of a small volcanic centre are preserved on a thin bedrock ridge at Harrow Peaks, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The outcrop is interpreted as a monogenetic tuff cone relict formed by a hydrovolcanic (phreatomagmatic) eruption of mafic magma at 642 ± 20 ka (by Ar-Ar), corresponding to the peak of the Marine Isotope Stage 16 (MIS16) glacial. Although extensively dissected and strewn with glacial erratics, the outcrop shows no evidence for erosion by ice. From interpretation of the lithofacies and eruptive mechanisms, the weight of the evidence suggests that eruptions took place under a cold-based (frozen-bed) ice sheet. This is the first time that a tuff cone erupted under cold ice has been described. The most distinctive feature of the lithofacies is the dominance of massive lapilli tuff rich in fine ash matrix and abraded lapilli. The lack of stratification is probably due to repeated eruption through a conduit blasted through the ice covering the vent. The ice thickness is uncertain but it might have been as little as 100 m and the preserved tephra accumulated mainly as a crater (or ice conduit) infill. The remainder of the tuff cone edifice was probably deposited supraglacially and underwent destruction by ice advection and, particularly, collapse during a younger interglacial. Dating using Be cosmogenic exposure of granitoid basement erratics indicates that the erratics are unrelated to the eruptive period. The Be ages suggest that the volcanic outcrop was most recently exposed by ice decay at c. 20.8 ± 0.8 ka (MIS2) and the associated ice was thicker than at 642 ka and probably polythermal rather than cold-based, which is normally assumed for the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a study which discovered the active glaciological bodies sharing similar basal conditions for surface lakes. It refers to the unrelated subglacial lakes under the ice streams of Antartica and the supraglacial lakes observed in Iceland ice sheet. The Antarctic ice streams derive water from energy dissipation due to basal friction, while the Gleenland ice sheet derive water from atmospherically driven surface melting. It implies that glacial bodies can share common basal conditions and basal lakes can exist in tandem.

Abstract: Marine Isotope Stage 31 (MIS-31) is one of the major interglacials of the early Pleistocene ~1.08 to 1.06Ma. Data from proximal sediment cores around several sectors of Antarctica indicate strong sea surface warming and ice shelf and sea ice retreat. Benthic deep-sea-core δ18O values at this time are some of the lowest of the Pleistocene, indicating both deep sea warming and reduced global ice volume. A coeval alignment of orbital parameters produces one of the strongest high-latitude summer insolation anomalies of the last several million years. Here we use a 3-D ice sheet-shelf model to simulate the evolution of Antarctic ice sheets through the event, and a global climate model to simulate temperatures and sea ice during peak Antarctic warmth. The ice model predicts nearly complete collapse and subsequent recovery of marine ice in West Antarctica, and the ice and climate model results agree well with proximal sediment core data in the Ross Embayment recovered by the ANDRILL and Cape Roberts drilling projects. The dominant forcing is found to be variations in sub-ice-shelf oceanic melting, with insignificant surface melting of terrestrial ice flanks even during peak warmth. Implications are noted in light of other observations and theories of Pliocene–Pleistocene Antarctic ice sheet variability that do involve surface melt. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Pine Island Glacier drains portions of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the Amundsen Sea. During the Last Glacial Maximum the glacier extended nearly 500 km from its present location onto the outer continental shelf. Unusually restricted sea-ice cover during the austral summer of 2010 allowed for a systematic multibeam swath-bathymetric and chirp sonar survey of the mid-shelf section of Pine Island Trough. The mapped glacial landforms reveal new information about the paleo-Pine Island Ice Stream''s dynamic retreat from the mid-shelf area and confirm previous suggestion of a retreat in distinct steps. The periods of grounding line stability during the overall retreat phase are marked by sediment accumulations, i.e. grounding zone wedges. These wedges are here mapped in sufficient detail to characterize spatial dimensions and estimate the volume of deposited sediment. Considering a range of sediment flux rates from the paleo-Pine Island Ice Stream we estimate that the largest and most clearly defined grounding zone wedge, located at about 73°S in the surveyed area, took between 600 and 2000 years to form. The ice stream retreated landward of this wedge before 12.3 cal ka BP. The swath-bathymetric imagery of landforms in Pine Island Trough includes glacial features that suggest that retreat between periods of grounding line stability may be associated with episodes of ice shelf break-up. The depths of grounding line wedges decrease in a landward direction, from 740 to 670 m, and record elevation of the grounding line as it stepped landward. In all, the grounding line elevation varied by only ∼80 m over a distance of just over 100 km, implying a low ice sheet profile during retreat. Finally, we revisited seismic reflection profile NB9902, acquired along Pine Island Trough in 1999, in combination with the newly acquired swath-bathymetric imagery from 2010. Together these data show that the ice stream paused during its retreat to form grounding zone wedges at an area in central Pine Island Trough where a high in dipping bedrock strata exists and the glacial trough is narrow, forming a bathymetric “bottle neck”. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cores acquired by the ANDRILL McMurdo Ice Shelf Project (AND-1B) provide the basis for a new sedimentation model for glacimarine depositional sequences that reflect cyclic glacial–interglacial fluctuations of a marine-based ice sheet in the western Ross Embayment over the past 2.0 Ma. Notwithstanding periodic erosion during advances of the ice sheet, uncertainties inherent to the sedimentological interpretation, and a limited number of chronological datums, it is clear that subglacial to grounding-zone sedimentation was dominant at the AND-1B site during the Late Pleistocene with interglacials being represented only by thin intervals of ice-shelf sediment. Each sequence is characterised by subglacial, massive diamictite that pass upwards into glacimarine diamictites and mudstones. This provides the first direct evidence that the marine-based Antarctic Ice Sheet has oscillated between a grounded and floating state at least 7 times in the Ross Embayment over the last 780ka, implying a Milankovitch orbital influence. An unconformity in AND-1B, that spans most (∼200 kyr) of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition is inferred to represent widespread expansion of a marine-based ice sheet in the Ross Embayment at 0.8 Ma. Prior to 1.0 Ma, interglacial periods are characterised by open-water conditions at the drill site with high abundances of volcanoclastic deposits and occasional diatomaceous sediments. These may have responded to precession (∼20-kyr) or obliquity (∼40-kyr) orbital control. The occurrence of 6.7 m of phonolitic glass reworked from Mt Erebus in interglacial deposits beneath Last Glacial Maximum till requires open ocean or ice shelf conditions in the western Ross Sea around the drill site within the past 250 ka and implies a Ross Ice Shelf similar to or less extensive than today during Marine Isotope Stage 7 or 5. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present a new reconstruction of the Antarctic Ice Sheets between 20 ka BP and the present day. Our reconstruction is derived using a numerical model to generate a physically-consistent ice surface across the whole of the continent. We define the extent of the ice sheet at five time slices; 20, 15, 10, 5 and 0 ka BP, assuming an equilibrium state for the 20 ka BP time slice, and a transient state for the deglacial time slices. The evolution of the ice sheet within the numerical model is driven by variations in temperature, accumulation rate, and relative sea level. In order to reconstruct the concave profile of the ice sheet in marine-grounded regions, such as the Ross and Weddell Seas, we force our model to develop channels of faster flow by defining greater basal sliding along the trajectory of former ice streams. We find a strong dependence upon the basal sliding parameters, and also the position of the grounding line. We use an extensive data base of geological and glaciological data to constrain our ice-sheet reconstruction. Grounding-line extent is prescribed from marine geological data and we test ice-sheet thickness against onshore geological data at 62 sites. Of the five time slices considered, our 20 ka BP reconstruction is the best constrained by data and has an RMS misfit of 147.6 m when compared to observations of ice thickness change between 20 ka BP and the present day. Across all time slices there are large regions of the ice-sheet which are poorly constrained, especially after 20 ka BP. We estimate the spatial distribution of uncertainty in our ice-sheet reconstruction, and note that the solutions are least reliable in regions of complex topography. We predict that the Antarctic Ice Sheets contributed 9 ± 1.5 m of eustatic sea level to the global ocean between 20 ka BP and the present, and our reconstruction with minimum misfit contributes ∼8 m eustatic sea level during this period. These values, which we argue are an upper bound, are lower than many previous estimates. The reconstructed pattern of ice unloading can serve as a new input for glacial isostatic models. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New diatom-biostratigraphic age data derived from piston core were used to constrain the chronology for a seismic-based interpretation of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) advance and retreat from the North Basin outer shelf in western Ross Sea. The data demonstrates that grounded ice occupied the outer shelf on at least ten occasions during the last 2.0Ma of the Pleistocene. Although the biostratigraphic resolution is low, the constraints permit correlations to coeval section recently drilled in South McMurdo Sound at the AND-1B drill site. Our interpretation of regional-scale correlations suggests that the Pleistocene dynamics of the WAIS involved grounding-line translations in excess of 600km. However, the data also suggests that only two major advances of grounded ice occurred since ~0.71Ma. In other words, several of the late Pleistocene sediment cycles at AND-1B must represent only minor advance and retreat of grounded ice to and from South McMurdo Sound. The results prove false the long-standing tacit assumption that the WAIS experienced major advances in association with peak glacials and eustatic lowstands during the last 700ka of the Pleistocene. These results show that piston cores can be used to constrain the timing of pre-Holocene grounding events. These data also highlight the need for regional-scale correlations to distinguish between major versus minor grounding-line translations of grounded ice in the marine setting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present new isobases constraining the Holocene isostatic uplift of the South Shetland Islands, northern Antarctic Peninsula, based on evidence from raised shorelines. Holocene shorelines were described and surveyed at fifteen sites to determine the spatial variability of relative sea level (RSL) change across the South Shetland Islands, and provide new spatial RSL change corrections for the region. Results show that the highest shoreline is a transgressive feature, correlated by geomorphological evidence on most exposed coastlines of the archipelago. Its surveyed height was corrected for local variability in wave energy by subtracting the measured altitude of the present day shoreline. These corrected surveyed heights of the highest raised beach were modelled using quadratic polynomial trend surface analysis to constrain differing rates of regional isostatic uplift. We present two isobase models of isostatic uplift since formation of the highest Holocene raised beach circa 7360–7000 years ago. These models suggests a maximum uplift of ca 20 m was centred on an area north of Greenwich Island, with isobases implying an elongate zone of uplift orientated east-southeast to west-northwest along the spine of the island chain. This corresponds well with previously published geomorphologically based estimates of palaeo ice-extent and the deglaciation history of the South Shetland Islands and gives new context to the palaeo ice-extent and glacial history of the region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Subglacial conditions of large polar ice sheets remain poorly understood, despite recent advances in satellite observation. Major uncertainties related to basal conditions, such as the temperature field, are due to an insufficient knowledge of geothermal heat flow. Here, a hybrid method is presented that combines numerical modeling of the ice sheet thermodynamics with a priori information using a simple assimilation technique. Additional data are essentially vertical temperature profiles measured in the ice sheet at selected spots, as well as the distribution of subglacial lakes. In this way, geothermal heat-flow datasets are improved to yield calculated temperatures in accord with observations in areas where information is available. Results of the sensitivity experiments show that 55% of the grounded part of the Antarctic ice sheet is at pressure melting point. Calculated basal melt rates are approximately 65Gtyear−1, which is 3% of the total surface accumulation. Although these sensitivity experiments exhibit small variations in basal melt rates, the impact on the ice age of basal layers is quite important. In areas that are characterized by relatively low melt rates, this may lead to standard deviations up to 50% (in a model run over a period of 106 years). Subglacial water flow is concentrated underneath the large outlet glaciers of Antarctica. The larger subglacial lakes are perched at the head of these subglacial water systems. An exception, however, is the lake system of the Recovery Ice Stream Catchment, that receives a substantial amount of subglacial melt water from the upstream catchment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Antarctic and Greenland ice-core records reveal large fluctuations of dust input on both orbital and millennial time-scales with potential global climate implications. At least during glacial periods, the Antarctic dust fluctuations appear to be largely controlled by environmental changes in southern South America. We compare dust flux records from two Antarctic ice-cores to variations in the composition of the terrigenous supply at ODP Site 1233 located off southern Chile and known to record fluctuations in the extent of the northern part of the Patagonian ice-sheet (NPIS) during the last glacial period (Marine Isotope Stage, MIS, 4 to 2). Within age uncertainties, millennial-scale glacial advances (retreats) of the NPIS correlate to Antarctic dust maxima (minima). In turn, NPIS fluctuations were closely related to offshore sea surface temperature (SST) changes. This pattern suggests a causal link involving changes in temperature, in rock flour availability, in latitudinal extensions of the westerly winds and in foehn winds in the southern Pampas and Patagonia. We further suggest that the long-term trend of dust accumulation is partly linked to the sea-level related changes in the size if the Patagonian source area due to the particular morphology of the Argentine shelf. We suggest that sea-level drops at the beginning of MIS 4 and MIS 2 were important for long-term dust increases, while changes in the Patagonian dust source regions primarily control the early dust decrease during the MIS 4/3 transition and Termination 1. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The retreat history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) since the Last Glacial Maximum is important for understanding the process of rapid deglaciation, constraining models that seek to predict the future trajectory of the ice sheet, and for estimating rates of sea-level change. Here we report new glacial geologic data from the southwestern Weddell Sea embayment that demonstrate that this part of the WAIS was thinner than previously suggested, and that there was progressive thinning of the ice sheet by 230-480 m since ca. 15 ka. We use geomorphological data and a numerical ice sheet model to reconstruct the ice sheet in the Weddell Sea at the Last Glacial Maximum. The volume of this ice would have added between 1.4 and 2.0 m to postglacial sea-level rise and would not have been suffi cient to contribute signifi cantly to meltwater pulse 1A, a rapid rise in sea level ∼14,200 yr ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim is to investigate the evolution of the subglacial landscape of Antarctica using an ice sheet and erosion model. We identify different stages of continental glaciation and model the erosion processes associated with each stage. The model links erosion to the basal thermal regime and indicates that much of the Antarctic interior may have been subject to less than 200m of erosion. The depth of erosion reflects the presence or absence of warm-based ice and the consistency of ice flow direction. This information, linked with knowledge about landscapes of glaciation in the northern hemisphere and some simple but robust assumptions about initial topography, is used to generate a map of the subglacial Antarctic landscape in which much of the lowland interior resembles the landscapes of areal scouring typical of the Laurentian and Scandinavian shields. Near the continental margins selective linear erosion has overdeepened pre-existing river valleys by as much as 2.8km. High elevation plateaus adjacent to such drainage systems have survived largely unmodified under cold-based ice. High erosion rates result from steep thermal gradients in basal ice. Mountain regions such as the Gamburtsev Mountains, uplands in Dronning Maud Land and massifs in West Antarctica are likely to bear features of local alpine glaciation. Such landscapes may have been protected under cold-based ice for the last 34Myrs or possibly longer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Marine sediment cores from the former Larsen A Ice Shelf area reveal three lithological units deposited during ice sheet advance and retreat from the continental shelf. The uppermost Unit 1 consists of a diatom-bearing silty clay with sparse ice-rafted debris (IRD). Clasts include rock types which can all be matched to onshore outcrops along the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Most clasts are very angular, angular or subangular. The clasts in this unit are interpreted as supraglacial or englacial debris deposited below an ice shelf distal from the grounding line and/or by icebergs in an open marine setting during the Holocene. In the underlying Units 2 and 3 clast lithologies are quite different and mainly comprise Cretaceous and Jurassic sedimentary rocks. These lithologies were derived locally from the continental shelf (the Larsen Basin) rather than the limited onshore outcrops. Of the 2750 clasts studied in Units 2 and 3, most are subrounded or subangular, and some are striated. Unit 2 is interpreted as being deposited beneath an ice shelf proximal to the grounding line. Unit 3 is interpreted as subglacial diamict deposited by grounded ice flowing across the shelf during the last glacial period. The availability of sedimentary rocks at the seabed may have facilitated the development of a deforming till layer with low shear strength (i.e. soft or deformation till) within Unit 3. There are no consistent differences in clast composition or roundness between the deformation till, which was probably deposited at the base of an ice stream, and an underlying till with high shear strength (i.e. stiff till). On the inner shelf where the bedrock lies very close to the seabed, clast composition in the subglacial diamicts affords a way of identifying the presence of Mesozoic stratigraphic units. The contrasting provenance of the coarse fraction between Unit 1 and Units 2 and 3 is used to interpret ice sheet basal thermal regime and produce a conceptual model of changing palaeo-flow directions between glacial and interglacial periods. Grain roundness and petrology are shown to be a potent method for interpreting different glacial/interglacial processes and environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent geological observations in the northern mid-latitudes of Mars show evidence for past glacial activity during the late Amazonian, similar to the integrated glacial landsystems in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. The large accumulation of ice (many hundreds of meters) required to create the observed glacial deposits points to significant atmospheric precipitation, snow and ice accumulation, and glacial flow. In order to understand the climate scenario required for these conditions, we used the LMD (Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique) Mars GCM (General Circulation Model), which is able to reproduce the present-day water cycle, and to predict past deposition of ice consistent with geological observations in many cases. Prior to this analysis, however, significant mid-latitude glaciation had not been simulated by the model, run under a range of parameters. In this analysis, we studied the response of the GCM to a wider range of orbital configurations and water ice reservoirs, and show that during periods of moderate obliquity (ϵ =25–35°) and high dust opacity (τ dust =1.5–2.5), broad-scale glaciation in the northern mid-latitudes occurs if water ice deposited on the flanks of the Tharsis volcanoes at higher obliquity is available for sublimation. We find that high dust contents of the atmosphere increase its water vapor holding capacity, thereby moving the saturation region to the northern mid-latitudes. Precipitation events are then controlled by topographic forcing of stationary planetary waves and transient weather systems, producing surface ice distribution and amounts that are consistent with the geological record. Ice accumulation rates of ∼10mmyr−1 lead to the formation of a 500–1000m thick regional ice sheet that will produce glacial flow patterns consistent with the geological observations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ice-sheet development in Antarctica was a result of significant and rapid global climate change about 34 million years ago. Ice-sheet and climate modelling suggest reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide (less than three times the pre-industrial level of 280 parts per million by volume) that, in conjunction with the development of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, led to cooling and glaciation paced by changes in Earth’s orbit. Based on the present subglacial topography, numerical models point to ice-sheet genesis on mountain massifs of Antarctica, including the Gamburtsev mountains at Dome A, the centre of the present ice sheet. Our lack of knowledge of the present-day topography of the Gamburtsev mountains means, however, that the nature of early glaciation and subsequent development of a continental-sized ice sheet are uncertain. Here we present radar information about the base of the ice at Dome A, revealing classic Alpine topography with pre-existing river valleys overdeepened by valley glaciers formed when the mean summer surface temperature was around 3 °C. This landscape is likely to have developed during the initial phases of Antarctic glaciation. According to Antarctic climate history (estimated from offshore sediment records) the Gamburtsev mountains are probably older than 34 million years and were the main centre for ice-sheet growth. Moreover, the landscape has most probably been preserved beneath the present ice sheet for around 14 million years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now almost 30 years since John Mercer () first presented the idea that climate change could eventually cause a rapid deglaciation, or “collapse,” of a large part of the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS), raising world sea levels by 5 m and causing untold economic and social impacts. This idea, apparently simple and scientifically plausible, created a vision of the future, sufficiently alarming that it became a paradigm for a generation of researchers and provided an icon for the green movement. Through the 1990s, however, a lack of observational evidence for ongoing retreat in WAIS and improved understanding of the complex dynamics of ice streams meant that estimates of likelihood of collapse seemed to be diminishing. In the last few years, however, satellite studies over the relatively inaccessible Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica have shown clear evidence of ice sheet retreat showing all the features that might have been predicted for emergent collapse. These studies are re-invigorating the paradigm, albeit in a modified form, and debate about the future stability of WAIS. Since much of WAIS appears to be unchanging, it may, no longer be reasonable to suggest there is an imminent threat of a 5-m rise in sea level resulting from complete collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, but there is strong evidence that the Amundsen Sea embayment is changing rapidly. This area alone, contains the potential to raise sea level by around ~1.5 m, but more importantly it seems likely that it could, alter rapidly enough, to make a significant addition to the rate of sea-level rise over coming two centuries. Furthermore, a plausible connection between contemporary climate change and the fate of the ice sheet appears to be developing. The return of the paradigm presents a dilemma for policy-makers, and establishes a renewed set of priorities for the glaciological community. In particular, we must establish whether the hypothesized instability in WAIS is real, or simply an oversimplification resulting from inadequate understanding of the feedbacks that allow ice sheets to achieve equilibrium: and whether there is any likelihood that contemporary climate change could initiate collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-resolution deuterium profile is now available along the entire European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C ice core, extending this climate record back to marine isotope stage 20.2, ∼800,000 years ago. Experiments performed with an atmospheric general circulation model including water isotopes support its temperature interpretation. We assessed the general correspondence between Dansgaard-Oeschger events and their smoothed Antarctic counterparts for this Dome C record, which reveals the presence of such features with similar amplitudes during previous glacial periods. We suggest that the interplay between obliquity and precession accounts for the variable intensity of interglacial periods in ice core records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose that from ∼3 to 1 million years ago, ice volume changes occurred in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, each controlled by local summer insolation. Because Earth's orbital precession is out of phase between hemispheres, 23,000-year changes in ice volume in each hemisphere cancel out in globally integrated proxies such as ocean δ18O or sea level, leaving the in-phase obliquity (41,000 years) component of insolation to dominate those records. Only a modest ice mass change in Antarctica is required to effectively cancel out a much larger northern ice volume signal. At the mid-Pleistocene transition, we propose that marine-based ice sheet margins replaced terrestrial ice margins around the perimeter of East Antarctica, resulting in a shift to in-phase behavior of northern and southern ice sheets as well as the strengthening of 23,000-year cyclicity in the marine δ18O record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine and rift sediments exert a fundamental control on ice stream flow in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and hence on its mass balance and stability. In contrast, most ice streams in the much larger East Antarctic Ice Sheet are thought to be relatively stable features resting on till, perhaps underlain by crystalline rock. Any geological controls on East Antarctic Ice Sheet enhanced flow remain largely unknown. We present aerogeophysical evidence indicating that a region of enhanced ice flow in the interior of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is underlain by subglacial sediments ∼3 km thick and that these are influencing the flow regime of the overlying ice. We show that subglacial sediments are important in modulating ice dynamics, not just for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, but also for its much larger neighbor, and suggest that the sedimentary basin identified here may contain information on the Neogene glacial history of this part of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An emerging body of evidence from studies of the last glacial/interglacial cycle suggests that the East and West Antarctic ice sheets have not advanced and retreated in concert. The West Antarctic ice sheet advanced to the outer shelf in most regions during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The retreat from the shelf commenced shortly after the LGM and continued into the late Holocene. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet in Ross and Amundsen seas slid across a deforming bed, at least during the final phases of extended glaciation. This implies that at this time the ice sheet had a low profile. Differences in the number and locations of grounding-zone wedges and smaller grounding zone features from trough to trough imply that individual West Antarctic Ice Sheet ice streams retreated episodically.Details concerning the expansion, retreat, and behavior of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) are more sparse. The picture emerging is that the EAIS did not expand to the continental shelf edge during the LGM; rather, it achieved a maximum extent of a mid-shelf position in some locations, while in other areas the ice terminus was situated near its present location. The timing of retreat along sectors within the EAIS appears diachronous, and in places occurred prior to the LGM. The Antarctic Peninsula shelf contained considerably more ice during the LGM than previously proposed.The results presented in this paper support more recent published ice-sheet models that call for greater contributions of melting ice from West Antarctica, including the Antarctic Peninsula, to the post-glacial rise in sea level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Presents the preliminary results of seismic analysis concerning the late Quaternary glacial history of Ross Sea in Antarctica, as of December 1995. Concerns over the stability of marine-based ice sheets within the scientific community; Efforts of a cruise in reconstructing the history of Ross Sea subsequent to the last glacial maximum; Information on the grounding zones identified in western Ross sea.

Accurate models of past Antarctic ice sheet behaviour require realistic reconstructions of the evolution of bedrock topography. However, other than a preliminary attempt to reconstruct Antarctic topography at the Eocene–Oligocene boundary, the long-term evolution of Antarctica's subglacial topography throughout its glacial history has not previously been quantified. Here, we derive new reconstructions of Antarctic topography for four key time slices in Antarctica's climate and glacial history: the Eocene–Oligocene boundary (ca. 34 Ma), the Oligocene–Miocene boundary (ca. 23 Ma), the mid-Miocene climate transition (ca. 14 Ma), and the mid-Pliocene warm period (ca. 3.5 Ma). To reconstruct past topography, we consider a series of processes including ice sheet loading, volcanism, thermal subsidence, horizontal plate motion, erosion, sedimentation and flexural isostatic adjustment, and validate our models where possible using onshore and offshore geological constraints. Our reconstructions show that the land area of Antarctica situated above sea level was ~25% larger at the Eocene–Oligocene boundary than at the present-day. Offshore sediment records and terrestrial constraints indicate that the incision of deep subglacial topographic troughs around the margin of East Antarctica occurred predominantly in the Oligocene and early Miocene, whereas in West Antarctica erosion and sedimentation rates accelerated after the mid-Miocene. Changes to the topography after the mid-Pliocene were comparatively minor. Our new palaeotopography reconstructions provide a critical boundary condition for models seeking to understand past behaviour of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and have implications for estimating changes in global ice volume, temperature, and sea level across major Cenozoic climate transitions. • We reconstruct Antarctic palaeotopography for four key time slices since ca. 34 Ma. • We account for glacial erosion, sedimentation, tectonics, volcanism and isostasy. • We constrain our model using onshore geological data and offshore sediment volumes. • Antarctic topography has become on average progressively lower-lying since 34 Ma. • These reconstructions provide new boundary conditions for modelling past ice sheets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the complete recovery of a recessional sequence of glacial marine sediments obtained from the Ross Sea in Antarctica. Assessment of the water content data of the samples collected by researchers; Significance of the coarse muddy gravel with abundant till pellets; Composition of the calving line found toward the edge of the ice shelf.

The article explores how the Antarctic ice sheet has changed in recent years by tracking mass changes. The methods for measuring mass changes mentioned in the article include subtracting the melt and ice flow from the total snowfall, sensing changes in the strength of gravity using pairs of satellites, and repeat mapping of surface elevations from satellites. A study cited in this article, which applied the repeated mapping method, showed that a correction must be made for changes in the density of the firn layer on the ice sheet surface.

Examines research that studied the cores of large polar ice sheets to describe glacial-interglacial cycles. Extent of the core record; Research by Petit et al in this issue; Previous research; Details about the four transitions from glacial to warm epochs evident from Vostok drillings in Antarctica; Interplay between greenhouse gases and climate; Role of CO2 in temperature increases; Mechanisms governing global climate change. INSET: Box 1: Ice cores south and north.

Presents evidence for thicker ice in interior West Antarctica. Factors which suggest that coastal interior portions of the west antarctic ice sheet were on the order of several hundred meters or more thicker during the Late Pleistocene glacial maximum than they are now; General level of the ice sheet at Mount Waesche; Indication of an ice-sheet surface that was higher than present at Mount Waesche.