Abstract
Two theories of glaciation have received considerable attention, the Milankovitch orbital theory1,2 in which climatic change is ascribed to latitude-dependent variations in solar radiation that accompany changes in the Earth's orbital parameters, and the Antarctic surge hypothesis3–6, in which a large Antarctic ice sheet ‘surges’ into the Southern Ocean thereby increasing the Earth's albedo, and the resultant cooling triggers the growth of ice in the Northern Hemisphere. The interval which encompasses the peaks of the last interglacial maximum at ∼125 kyr (ref. 7) and its subsequent decline, with cooling of the North Atlantic8 and rapid fall of sea level9,10, presumably also includes the event that triggered the succeeding ice age. The raised coral reefs of Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, contain a particularly good record of the interval 140–105 kyr (ref. 11), from which we present oxygen isotope and sea-level data which seem to require an Antarctic surge at 120 kyr, and which also have a bearing on the role of the Milankovitch factor.
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Aharon, P., Chappell, J. & Compston, W. Stable isotope and sea-level data from New Guinea supports Antarctic ice-surge theory of ice ages. Nature 283, 649–651 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/283649a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/283649a0
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