Glacial history of the NE Antarctic Peninsula region over centennial to millennial timescales
Lead Research Organisation:
Aberystwyth University
Department Name: Inst of Geography and Earth Sciences
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.
Publications
Carrivick J
(2016)
Distributed ice thickness and glacier volume in southern South America
in Global and Planetary Change
Carrivick J
(2017)
Late-Holocene changes in character and behaviour of land-terminating glaciers on James Ross Island, Antarctica
in Journal of Glaciology
Davies B
(2017)
Accelerating shrinkage of Patagonian glaciers from the Little Ice Age (~AD 1870) to 2011
in Journal of Glaciology
Jennings S
(2021)
Geomorphology of Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island, Antarctica
in Journal of Maps
Davies B
(2014)
Modelled glacier response to centennial temperature and precipitation trends on the Antarctic Peninsula
in Nature Climate Change
Davies B
(2017)
Ice-dammed lateral lake and epishelf lake insights into Holocene dynamics of Marguerite Trough Ice Stream and George VI Ice Shelf, Alexander Island, Antarctic Peninsula
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Glasser N
(2014)
Ice-stream initiation, duration and thinning on James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Davies B
(2012)
Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet evolution during the Cenozoic Era
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Davies B
(2012)
Variable glacier response to atmospheric warming, northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-2009
in The Cryosphere
Bethan Davies (Author)
(2011)
Glacial history of the NE Antarctic Peninsula region over centennial to millennial timescales
Bethan Davies (Author)
(2010)
Glacial history of the NE Antarctic Peninsula region over centennial to millennial timescales.
Bethan Davies (Author)
(2012)
Glacial history of Prince Gustav Channel and James Ross Island
Jennings S
(2021)
Geomorphology of Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island, Antarctica
Hambrey, M.J.; Barker, P.F.; Barrett, P.J.; Bowman, V.; Davies, B.; Smellie, J.L.; Tranter, Martyn
(2013)
Antarctic Palaeoenvironments and Earth-Surface Processes
Bethan Davies (Author)
(2011)
A glacial-periglacial-paraglacial landsystem on James Ross Island, NE Antarctic Peninsula
Bethan Davies (Author)
(2012)
A terrestrial record of deglaciation and ice-stream drawdown in Prince Gustav Channel, NE Antarctic Peninsula.
Bethan Davies (Author)
(2012)
Landscape evolution and ice-sheet behaviour in a semi-arid polar environment: James Ross Island, NE Antarctic Peninsula
Bethan Davies (Author)
(2011)
Glacier response to atmospheric warming 1988-2009, northern Antarctic Peninsula.
Bethan Davies (Author)
(2012)
Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet dynamics during the LGM and Holocene
Description | • First inventory of glaciers in northern Antarctic Peninsula and assessment of environmental/geographical factors, as a baseline for monitoring future changes • Most up-to-date reconstruction of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet at LGM and assessment of its evolution over c. 40 million years • First land-system assessment of ice-sheet behaviour in a semi-arid polar environment • 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 | Numerical ice-sheet modelling Oceanography Climatology Estimating past and future sea-level change |
Sectors | Environment |
URL | http://www.AntarcticGlaciers.org |
Description | Determining the thinning history and ice dynamics of the NE Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet since the Last Glacial Maximum. |
Amount | £7,550 (GBP) |
Funding ID | No. 9118/0412. |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Department | NERC SUERC CIAF Cosmogenic Isotope Analysis Facility |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2012 |
End | 01/2013 |
Description | Determining the thinning history and ice dynamics of the NE Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet since the Last Glacial Maximum. |
Amount | £7,550 (GBP) |
Funding ID | No. 9118/0412. |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Department | NERC SUERC CIAF Cosmogenic Isotope Analysis Facility |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2012 |
End | 05/2013 |
Description | Glacial history of the NE Antarctic Peninsula on centennial to millennial timescales from cosmogenic nuclide dating. |
Amount | £29,450 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 9035/0407 |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Department | NERC SUERC CIAF Cosmogenic Isotope Analysis Facility |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2011 |
End | 06/2012 |
Description | Glacial history of the NE Antarctic Peninsula on centennial to millennial timescales from cosmogenic nuclide dating. |
Amount | £29,450 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 9035/0407 |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Department | NERC SUERC CIAF Cosmogenic Isotope Analysis Facility |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2011 |
End | 05/2012 |
Description | ISMASS workshop travel grant |
Amount | £1,290 (GBP) |
Organisation | Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 07/2012 |
End | 07/2012 |
Description | ISMASS workshop travel grant |
Amount | £1,290 (GBP) |
Organisation | Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2012 |
End | 06/2012 |
Description | Understanding Holocene glacier dynamics in the NE Antarctic Peninsula and projecting future glacier behaviour under a warming climate |
Amount | £7,350 (GBP) |
Organisation | Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2013 |
End | 06/2013 |
Description | Understanding Holocene glacier dynamics in the NE Antarctic Peninsula and projecting future glacier behaviour under a warming climate |
Amount | £7,350 (GBP) |
Organisation | Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2013 |
End | 08/2013 |
Description | Glaciation and climate change in Antarctica |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Public lecture to the Guildford Geographical Association, attended by sixth form Geography students from schools region-wide. Talk given annually in September to regional schools in Guildford. Annual lecture in September |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013,2014 |
Description | Lecture (Geological Society of London) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | London Lecture Series presented to the Geological Society of London by Dr Bethan Davies as part of invited named lecture series. The title of the talk was "Glaciation of the Antarctic Peninsula: past, present and future" |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |