Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 3 January 2003:
Vol. 299. no. 5603, pp. 99 - 102
DOI: 10.1126/science.1077998
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Holocene Deglaciation of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica

John O. Stone, Gregory A. Balco, David E. Sugden, Marc W. Caffee, Louis C. Sass III, Seth G. Cowdery, Christine Siddoway

Surface exposure ages of glacial deposits in the Ford Ranges of western Marie Byrd Land indicate continuous thinning of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by more than 700 meters near the coast throughout the past 10,000 years. Deglaciation lagged the disappearance of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere by thousands of years and may still be under way. These results provide further evidence that parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet are on a long-term trajectory of decline. West Antarctic melting contributed water to the oceans in the late Holocene and may continue to do so in the future.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
First exposure ages from the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica: The Late Quaternary context for recent thinning of Pine Island, Smith, and Pope Glaciers.
J. S. Johnson, M. J. Bentley, and K. Gohl (2008)
Geology 36, 223-226
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Isotopic variability in the intertidal acorn barnacle Semibalanus balanoides: a potentially novel sea-level proxy indicator.
K. F. Craven, M. I. Bird, W. E. N. Austin, and J. Wynn (2008)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 303, 173-185
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence for a rapid sea-level rise 7600 yr ago.
S.-Y. Yu, B. E. Berglund, P. Sandgren, and K. Lambeck (2007)
Geology 35, 891-894
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Exposure ages from mountain dipsticks in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica, indicate little change in ice-sheet thickness since the Last Glacial Maximum.
A. Mackintosh, D. White, D. Fink, D. B. Gore, J. Pickard, and P. C. Fanning (2007)
Geology 35, 551-554
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cosmogenic glacial dating, 20 years and counting.
P. Bierman (2007)
Geology 35, 575-576
   Full Text »    PDF »
The environment and evolution of the West Antarctic ice sheet: setting the stage.
R. Bindschadler (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 1583-1605
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Geological and geomorphological insights into Antarctic ice sheet evolution.
D. E Sugden, M. J Bentley, and C. O Cofaigh (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 1607-1625
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cosmogenic exposure dating of late Pleistocene moraine stabilization in Alaska.
J. P. Briner, D. S. Kaufman, W. F. Manley, R. C. Finkel, and M. W. Caffee (2005)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 117, 1108-1120
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Retreating Glacier Fronts on the Antarctic Peninsula over the Past Half-Century.
A. J. Cook, A. J. Fox, D. G. Vaughan, and J. G. Ferrigno (2005)
Science 308, 541-544
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Decoding the dipstick: Thickness of Siple Dome, West Antarctica, at the Last Glacial Maximum.
E.D. Waddington, H. Conway, E.J. Steig, R.B. Alley, E.J. Brook, K.C. Taylor, and J.W.C. White (2005)
Geology 33, 281-284
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ice Flow Direction Change in Interior West Antarctica.
M. J. Siegert, B. Welch, D. Morse, A. Vieli, D. D. Blankenship, I. Joughin, E. C. King, G. J.-M. C. L. Vieli, A. J. Payne, and R. Jacobel (2004)
Science 305, 1948-1951
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cosmogenic nuclides 10Be and 26Al imply limited Antarctic Ice Sheet thickening and low erosion in the Shackleton Range for >1 m.y..
C.J. Fogwill, M.J. Bentley, D.E. Sugden, A.R. Kerr, and P.W. Kubik (2004)
Geology 32, 265-268
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ross Sea mylonites and the timing of intracontinental extension within the West Antarctic rift system.
C. S. Siddoway, S. L. Baldwin, P. G. Fitzgerald, C. M. Fanning, and B. P. Luyendyk (2004)
Geology 32, 57-60
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)