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Thwaites Glacier (TG) is more vulnerable to unstable retreat than any other part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This is due to its upstream-dipping bed, the absence of a large ice shelf buttressing its flow and the deep bathymetric troughs that route relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) to its margin. Over the past 30 years the mass balance of TG has become increasingly negative, suggesting that unstable retreat may have already begun. The International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) is an initiative jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation and the Natural Environment Research Council in the UK to improve knowledge of the boundary conditions and drivers of change at TG in order improve projections of its future contribution to sea level. The ITGC is funding a range of projects that are conducting on-ice and marine research, and applying numerical models to utilize results in order to predict how the glacier will change and contribute to sea level over coming decades to centuries.RV Nathaniel B Palmer cruise NBP20-02, taking place from January­ to March 2020, will be the second ITGC multi-disciplinary research cruise, building on results from NBP19-02, which took place last year. Thwaites Offshore Research Project (THOR) aims during NBP20-02 include: extending the bathymetric survey in front of TG, collecting sediment cores at sites selected from the survey data, and acquiring high-resolution seismic profiles to determine the properties of the former bed of TG that is now exposed. The detailed bathymetric data will reveal the dimensions and routing of troughs that conduct CDW to the glacier front and will image seabed landforms that provide information about past ice flow and processes at the bed when TG was more extensive. The sediment cores, together with ones collected recently beneath the ice shelf via hot-water drilled holes, will be analysed to establish a history of TG retreat, subglacial meltwater release, and CDW incursions extending back over decades, centuries and millennia before the short instrumental record. Thwaites-Amundsen Regional Survey and Network Project (TARSAN) researchers will reach islands and ice floes via zodiac boats to attach satellite data relay loggers to Elephant and Weddell seals. The loggers record ocean temperature and salinity during the seals’ dives, greatly increasing the spatial extent and time span of oceanographic observations. In addition to work that is part of the THOR and TARSAN projects, another cruise objective is to recover and redeploy long-term oceanographic moorings in the Amundsen Sea. We will present initial results from NBP20-02.

The geometry of the sea floor immediately beyond Antarctica's marine-terminating glaciers is a fundamental control on warm-water routing, but it also describes former topographic pinning points that have been important for ice-shelf buttressing. Unfortunately, this information is often lacking due to the inaccessibility of these areas for survey, leading to modelled or interpolated bathymetries being used as boundary conditions in numerical modelling simulations. At Thwaites Glacier (TG) this critical data gap was addressed in 2019 during the first cruise of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) project. We present more than 2000 km2 of new multibeam echo-sounder (MBES) data acquired in exceptional sea-ice conditions immediately offshore TG, and we update existing bathymetric compilations. The cross-sectional areas of sea-floor troughs are under-predicted by up to 40 % or are not resolved at all where MBES data are missing, suggesting that calculations of trough capacity, and thus oceanic heat flux, may be significantly underestimated. Spatial variations in the morphology of topographic highs, known to be former pinning points for the floating ice shelf of TG, indicate differences in bed composition that are supported by landform evidence. We discuss links to ice dynamics for an overriding ice mass including a potential positive feedback mechanism where erosion of soft erodible highs may lead to ice-shelf ungrounding even with little or no ice thinning. Analyses of bed roughnesses and basal drag contributions show that the sea-floor bathymetry in front of TG is an analogue for extant bed areas. Ice flow over the sea-floor troughs and ridges would have been affected by similarly high basal drag to that acting at the grounding zone today. We conclude that more can certainly be gleaned from these 3D bathymetric datasets regarding the likely spatial variability of bed roughness and bed composition types underneath TG. This work also addresses the requirements of recent numerical ice-sheet and ocean modelling studies that have recognised the need for accurate and high-resolution bathymetry to determine warm-water routing to the grounding zone and, ultimately, for predicting glacier retreat behaviour.

Climate change, sea-level rise, and human activities present major concerns for coastal environments. Paleoenvironmental records allow us to extend the instrumented record and study recent environmental impacts in a long-term context with natural pre-industrial conditions. Here, we investigate grain size, stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes, elemental composition, and diatom abundance in sediments to construct a 7000-year paleoenvironmental history of Weeks Bay, Alabama, a NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve. Four major floods of the Fish River since 1986 CE are independently identified in the Weeks Bay sediment record, validating the bay setting as an archive of flood events. Thirty-four flood events were identified over the last 5000 years, with two periods of intense flood activity coinciding with the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age, indicating association of relatively short-term climate events and enhanced storm activity. Further, multiple paleoenvironmental proxies indicate marine conditions during formation of the bay ~6600 calendar years Before Present (cal yr BP) and a brackish transition as the estuary became restricted ~2000 cal yr BP. High total organic carbon/nitrogen values indicate nitrogen limitation in Weeks Bay. Increase in organic content, diatoms, and redox- and nutrient-associated elemental proxies over the last 300 years, with dramatic increase in algal abundance since the 1980s, strongly suggest that human activities (i.e. land clearing, agriculture) increased ecological feedbacks in the bay. Comparing past and present environmental conditions of coastal estuaries advances our understanding of estuarine response to climate change and sea level, floods, and human activities, which is important for environmental management and wetland conservation policy.

The geometry of the sea floor beyond Thwaites Glacier (TG) is a major control on the routing of warm ocean waters towards the ice stream’s grounding zone, which has led to increased mass loss through sub-ice-shelf melting and resulting accelerated ice flow. Nearshore topographic highs act as pinning points for the Thwaites Ice Shelf and potentially provide barriers to warm water incursions. To date, few vessels have been able to access this area due to persistent sea-ice and iceberg cover. This critical data gap was addressed in 2019 during the first cruise of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) project, with more than 2000 km2 of new multibeam echo-sounder data (MBES) were acquired offshore TG. Here, these data along with legacy MBES datasets are compiled to produce a set of standalone bathymetric grids for the inner Amundsen Sea shelf beyond both Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers. At TG, the bathymetry is dominated by a > 1200 m deep, structurally-controlled trough and discontinuous ridge, on which the Eastern Ice Shelf is pinned. The geometry and composition of the ridge varies spatially with some parts having distinctive flat-topped morphologies produced as their tops were planed-off by erosion at the base of the seaward-moving Thwaites Ice Shelf, suggesting a positive feedback mechanism for ice-shelf ungrounding. Knowing that this offshore area is a former bed for TG, we applied a novel spectral approach to investigate bed roughness and find that derived power spectra can be approximated using an inverse-square law, a result that is consistent with spectra for bed profiles from the modern TG. Using existing ice-flow theory, we also make a first assessment of the form drag (basal drag contribution) for ice flow over this topography. Ice flowing over the sea-floor troughs and ridges would have been affected by similarly high basal drag to that acting in the grounding zone today. We show that the sea-floor bathymetry is an analogue for extant bed areas of TG and that more can be gleaned from these 3D bathymetric datasets regarding the likely spatial variability of bed roughness and bed composition types underneath TG. Comparisons with existing regional bathymetric compilations for the area show that high-frequency (finer than 5 km) bathymetric variability beyond Antarctic ice shelves can only be resolved by observations such as MBES and that without these data calculations of the capacity of bathymetric troughs, and thus oceanic heat flux, may be significantly underestimated. This work meets the requirements of recent numerical ice-sheet and ocean modelling studies that have recognised the need for accurate and high-resolution bathymetry to determine warm water routing to the grounding zone and, ultimately, for predicting glacier retreat behaviour.

Mosasaurs were widespread predators of the vast Cretaceous seas, and it is debated whether these extinct marine reptiles migrated to coastal environments to feed or reproduce. Here we investigate the potential for migration of mosasaurs through novel high-resolution sclerochronology that samples incremental growth lines in fossil mosasaur teeth and extracts oxygen isotopes from pristine enamel. Oxygen isotope trends of consecutive teeth are spliced to reconstruct one to seven month-long life histories of Platecarpus tympaniticus and Clidastes propython mosasaurs, respectively, collected from time-equivalent chalk deposits of the Western Interior Seaway and Mississippi Embayment of North America. The records of all individuals—two adults and one juvenile—are characterized by semi-regular depletions in oxygen isotope values, indicating travel from marine to freshwater coastal environments. Weekly to bi-weekly consumption of freshwater by two genera at diverse life stages implies that mosasaur osmoregulatory function was similar to their living sea snake relatives that drink freshwater periodically.

Ferrero Bay, located in eastern Pine Island Bay (PIB) of the Amundsen Sea Embayment, is one of the largest and southernmost fjords yet studied in Antarctica. High-resolution multibeam swath bathymetric data, chirp sonar sub-bottom profiles, and three Kasten cores were collected in Ferrero Bay during the IB Oden Southern Ocean 2009–2010 cruise (OSO0910). Core KC-15 from the inner bay yielded two carbonate ages providing a minimum age for ice sheet recession from this sector of PIB by ~11 cal. kyr BP. In total, seven additional acid insoluble organic (AIO) fraction radiocarbon ages provide a linear age model with an R2 of 0.99. Variations in magnetic susceptibility, grain size, total organic carbon (TOC) and nitrogen, diatom abundance, and foraminiferal assemblage and abundance are used to interpret glacial history and paleoceanographic conditions. Grounding line retreat was characterized by advection of planktic foraminifera beneath an ice shelf that may have extended across the middle continental shelf. Following initial deglaciation, the Cosgrove Ice Shelf covered Ferrero Bay, and productivity was virtually absent during the mid-Holocene, while benthic foraminifera indicate periodic incursion of warm Circumpolar Deep Water. The ice shelf persisted until 2.3 cal. kyr BP, when TOC and diatom abundance increased as the bay opened and coastal areas deglaciated. Abundant diatoms demonstrate open marine conditions and seasonal sea ice during the recent open water phase, while high benthic foraminiferal abundance indicates active benthos. The retreat of the Cosgrove Ice Shelf was out of phase with Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves and ice-core proxy temperatures, implying that it did not respond to Holocene climate events but rather to the influence of Circumpolar Deep Water and possibly to internal glacial dynamics.

Diatom assemblages from 33 core-tops, collected along a 2500 km transect of the northern Antarctic Peninsula and Pine Island Bay areas, were examined for their use as paleoenvironmental proxies. Environmental affinities of assemblages were interpreted within a broad geographical context and a wide range of ecological conditions. Four major assemblages were identified: three pelagic assemblages related to different sea-ice duration, SST, and other conditions affecting primary production, and one benthic and epiphytic-dominated assemblage typical of near-shore, shallow-water habitats. Chaetoceros resting spores are an important component of diatom assemblages. Their high concentrations may reflect increased primary production and are associated with low total assemblage diversities. The lowest diversities are observed at sites with increased resting spore percentages. Along the NW coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, sedimentation rates strongly influence total diatom concentrations. By contrast, relative abundances of Chaetoceros resting spores remain mostly unaffected by terrigenous flux and may serve as a reliable proxy for primary production. This broad sampling of Antarctic coastal environments fills a gap in our knowledge of phytoplankton communities in polar regions and helps establish the framework for reconstructing paleoenvironments from the paleorecord.

The sediment record offshore James Ross Island, northeast Antarctic Peninsula presents an unparalleled opportunity to directly compare marine and terrestrial climate records spanning the Holocene in maritime Antarctica. An 11 m drill core was collected between Herbert Sound and Croft Bay as part of the SHALDRIL NBP-0502 initiative and produced the southernmost sediment record from the eastern side of the AP. Thirty-eight radiocarbon ages are used to construct an age model of centennial-scale resolution. Multi-proxy records, including magnetic susceptibility, pebble content, particle size, total organic carbon, and diatom assemblages, were interrogated in the context of nearby Holocene-age ice core, lake, and drift records from James Ross Island. Differences in the timing and expression of Holocene events reflect marine controls on tidewater glaciers, such as water mass configurations and sea ice. Glacial behavior mimics ice core paleotemperatures during the Holocene, with the exception of distinct ocean warming events. Herbert Sound was fully occupied by grounded ice during the Last Glacial Maximum, and experienced rapid lift-off, followed by a floating ice phase. The canopy of floating ice receded by 10 ± 2.4 cal kyr BP, presumably in response to Early Holocene warming. Herbert Sound and Croft Bay fully deglaciated by 7.2 cal kyr BP, when the Mid Holocene Hypsithermal commenced and the sound became open and productive. An extreme peak in productivity ∼6.1 cal kyr BP indicates an oceanic warming event that is not reflected in atmospheric temperature or lacustrine sediment records. Increase in sea ice cover and ice rafting mark the onset of the Neoglacial ∼2.5 cal kyr BP, when pronounced atmospheric cooling is documented in the James Ross Island ice core. Our comparison facilitates more holistic understanding of atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere interactions that may aid predictions of glacial response to future warming and sea-level scenarios.

The catastrophic break-ups of the floating Larsen A and B ice shelves (Antarctica) in 1995 and 2002 and associated acceleration of glaciers that flowed into these ice shelves were among the most dramatic glaciological events observed in historical time. This raises a question about the larger West Antarctic ice shelves. Do these shelves, with their much greater glacial discharge, have a history of collapse? Here we describe features from the seafloor in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica, which we interpret as having been formed during a massive ice shelf break-up and associated grounding line retreat. This evidence exists in the form of seafloor landforms that we argue were produced daily as a consequence of tidally influenced motion of mega-icebergs maintained upright in an iceberg armada produced from the disintegrating ice shelf and retreating grounding line. The break-up occurred prior to ca. 12 ka and was likely a response to rapid sea-level rise or ocean warming at that time.

The 4th Polar Marine Diatom Workshop (PMDW) was hosted by Jenny Pike at the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Cardiff University, UK. These workshops were founded in 2005, when it became clear th...