Geological Society of America

T192 Glacial Geology and Cryogenic Processes (Posters)

Tuesday, 11 October 2011
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Hall C

LARISSA: UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AN ICE SHELF SYSTEM

Paper number: T192-15
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Authors

Scott Ishman Presenting Author
Southern Illinois Univ, Carbondale, IL
Eugene W. Domack
Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
Amy Leventer
Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
Stefanie Brachfeld
Montclair State Univ, Upper Montclair, NJ
Caroline Lavoie
GEMAR/RIMA - Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), Trieste, N/A
Bruce Huber
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia University, Palisades, NY
Julia Wellner
University of Houston, Houston, TX
Ilona Matulaitis
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL

Abstract

The LARISSA (LARsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica) Project is one of the initial projects of the Antarctic Integrated System Science (AISS) Program of the US National Science Foundation. LARISSA is an international research program that brings together an interdisciplinary team that transcends the boundaries of marine and Quaternary geology, cryosphere and oceans and marine ecology. Using the Larsen Ice Shelf System as a microcosm, LARISSA is focused on the impact of climate change on an ice shelf system from its source to its terminus, and the oceanographic and ecosystem responses to ice shelf collapse.

Here we present initial findings that illustrate glacial and oceanographic response to climate change. Swath mapping, sedimentologic, micropaleontologic, and oceanographic data from cores collected from the Larsen Ice Shelf system (LIS) and western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) margin indicate both temporal and spatial variability throughout the Holocene along an east-west transect across the Antarctic Peninsula and from within the LIS, between the Larsen-A (LIS-A) and Larsen-B (LIS-B) embayments. Deglaciation of the WAP outer continental shelf and LIS regions is consistent, occurring at approximately 11-11.5 ka, and the WAP and northern LIS show mid-Holocene primary productivity highs. However, the WAP ice shelf collapse history leads that of the LIS suggesting different atmospheric and oceanographic conditions. Additionally, LIS-A responded significantly to mid-Holocene warming while LIS-B showed little response. These data and forthcoming data from ice cores, glaciological modeling and planktonic and benthic ecosystems will provide the information necessary to better understand atmosphere/ice/ocean/ecosystem dynamics in order to help predict future changes in the larger ice shelf systems of the Antarctic.