Glacial history of the NE Antarctic Peninsula region over centennial to millennial timescales
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Geology
Abstract
When glaciers and ice sheets melt, they release large volumes of fresh water into the oceans. The release of fresh water into the oceans not only raises sea level but also influences deep sea circulation and therefore regional climate. On the Antarctic continent, the largest freshwater store on the planet, glaciers are bufferered from the oceans by large ice shelves. These ice shelves form when glaciers reach sea level and spread out to form a floating or grounded shelf. Recent media coverage of Twentieth Century Antarctic ice shelf collapse has focused the world's attention on this topic and it has been suggested that many ice shelves, particularly around the Antarctic Peninsula, are now becoming unsable as a resut of global temperature rise. Against this background, it is important that we understand the behaviour of Antarctic glaciers and ice shelves in the past, present and future. The aim of this project is therefore to reconstruct the outline and evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet through the Quaternary Period (the last two million years). We will do this using a variety of different methods including mapping of glaciers and associated landforms from satellite imagery and in the field; collecting samples of rock from glacial moraines for dating with cosmogenic isotope dating; and comparing our evidence on land to previous studies from offshore cores that record past fluctuations of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet. Obtaining dates for the timing of periods of growth and decay of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet will enable us to reconstruct the former fluctuations of this ice mass and therefore to make predictions about its possibe future behaviour. We will also be in a position to draw conclusions about whether or not the ice shelves surrounding the Antarctic Ice Sheet have collapsed in the past.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Mark Williams (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Davies B
(2014)
Modelled glacier response to centennial temperature and precipitation trends on the Antarctic Peninsula
in Nature Climate Change
Glasser N
(2014)
Ice-stream initiation, duration and thinning on James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Hambrey, MJ
(2013)
Antarctic palaeoenvironments and earth-surface processes
Whitehouse N
(2010)
How fragmented was the British Holocene wildwood? Perspectives on the "Vera" grazing debate from the fossil beetle record
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Description | 1. First inventory of glaciers in northern Antarctic Peninsula and assessment of environmental/geographical factors, as a baseline for monitoring future changes 2. Most up-to-date reconstruction of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet at LGM and assessment of its evolution over c. 40 million years 3. First land-system assessment of ice-sheet behaviour in a semi-arid polar environment 4. First modelled response of glaciers to temperature and precipitation changes in northern Antarctic Peninsula, showing temperature is primary affecting factor, not precipitation as previously thought (published in Nature Climate Change) |
Exploitation Route | Two papers were cited in the IPCC 2013 |
Sectors | Education,Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
URL | http://AntarcticGlaciers.org |
Description | 1. Numerous scientific publications 2. Presentations at conferences and to the public 3. Numerous media interviews 4. Two papers cited in the IPCC 2013 5. Input to personal blogs for public consumption |
First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
Sector | Education |
Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |