West Antarctic Ice Sheet grounding events on the Ross Sea outer continental shelf during the middle Miocene

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

9-15-2003

Abstract

New seismic-stratigraphic analysis of the Ross Sea continental shelf suggests that there were a at least five shelf-wide grounding events of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) during the middle Miocene. Although the number of WAIS grounding events generally matches the number of extreme δ 18O enrichments and eustatic lowstands, these results do not support the long-standing assumption that West Antarctica was substantially ice-free. Instead, seismicstratigraphic evidence from the Ross Sea shelf documents waxing and waning of a well-developed WAIS in the marine environment at least on the Pacific sector of the West Antarctic continental shelf. © 2003 Eisevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology

First Page

169

Last Page

186

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