Antarctic climate history at the onset of glaciation: Was there ice in the greenhouse?

During the extremely warm global 'greenhouse' period ~50 million years ago, Antarctica was mostly ice free and hosted temperate forests. Subsequent cooling over many millions of years resulted in a steady deterioration of Antarctic climate at the end of the Eocene Epoch, eventually culminating in widespread glaciation at the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch (~34 million years ago). Both climate variability prior to ice-sheet development and possible existence of glaciers, or even small ice sheets, during greenhouse intervals are debated. Recent studies support glacial activity in the lead up to major glaciation, but, controversially, more substantial ice cover in East Antarctica during earlier (and warmer) time intervals of the Eocene has also been interpreted.

This project will gain new insight into the early climate history of Antarctica through application of established sedimentological, mineralogical, and geochemical methods, along with development and application of novel proxy and core imaging methods for reconstructing Antarctic palaeoclimates and variations through time. The project will focus on the investigation of new drillcore sequences to be recovered on upcoming International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 379 to the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica (Jan-Mar 2019), combined with study of existing drillcores distributed around the Antarctic margin from past scientific drilling projects.