Geological Society of America

22 D14. Paleoclimatology/Oceanography (Posters)

Friday, 20 March 2020
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Grand Ballroom A–D

AN EXPANDED VIEW ON MID- TO LATE PLIOCENE WEST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET DYNAMICS

Paper number: 22-8
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Authors

Christiana Destry Rosenberg Presenting Author
Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY
Tim van Peer
University of Southampton, Southampton
Harold Jones
Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY
Laura DeSantis
Instituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), Sgonico
IODP Expedition 374 Scientists
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Molly O. Patterson
Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY
Natalia Varela
Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences, Blacksburg, VA
Brian W. Romans
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Jeanine Ash
Rice UniversityMS-126, Houston, TX
Denise K. Kulhanek
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Benjamin Andrew Keisling
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
Robert M. McKay
Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington
Georgia Grant
GNS Science Research Institute, Lower Hutt

Abstract

The mid-Pliocene provides an analogue towards understanding the sensitivity and feedbacks associated with the Earth’s climate system under scenarios expected to occur in the near future (e.g., 2100). One of the largest uncertainties concerning both the climate of the mid-Pliocene, and future projections surrounds the response of the Antarctic ice sheet to a global climate system that exceeds a 2°C warming compared to pre-industrial values. This is particularly true for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and marine based sectors of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). Paleo-calibrated numerical ice sheet modelling studies suggest these regions may contribute up to 30-60 cm of global sea level rise (GSLR) by 2100: despite the sophisticated nature of these modeling studies, there is still a fundamental lack of understanding concerning the role of natural forcing factors on ice sheet dynamics such as the role of incoming solar radiation during periods of ice sheet advance and retreat. Established sedimentological techniques (e.g., grain size) have been used to develop a continuous and high-resolution record of mid- to Late Pliocene (3.3 to 2.5 Ma) ice sheet discharge events, in order to investigate the role of external periodic forcing, quasi-periodic millennial-scale forcing, and non-periodic processes on WAIS dynamics.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 52, No. 2

doi: 10.1130/abs/2020SE-344881

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