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Relative sea-level rise around East Antarctica during Oligocene glaciation

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 380–384 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

During the middle and late Eocene (∼ 48–34 Myr ago), the Earth’s climate cooled1,2 and an ice sheet built up on Antarctica. The stepwise expansion of ice on Antarctica3,4 induced crustal deformation and gravitational perturbations around the continent. Close to the ice sheet, sea level rose5,6 despite an overall reduction in the mass of the ocean caused by the transfer of water to the ice sheet. Here we identify the crustal response to ice-sheet growth by forcing a glacial-hydro isostatic adjustment model7 with an Antarctic ice-sheet model. We find that the shelf areas around East Antarctica first shoaled as upper mantle material upwelled and a peripheral forebulge developed. The inner shelf subsequently subsided as lithosphere flexure extended outwards from the ice-sheet margins. Consequently the coasts experienced a progressive relative sea-level rise. Our analysis of sediment cores from the vicinity of the Antarctic ice sheet are in agreement with the spatial patterns of relative sea-level change indicated by our simulations. Our results are consistent with the suggestion8 that near-field processes such as local sea-level change influence the equilibrium state obtained by an ice-sheet grounding line.

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Figure 1: East Antarctic ice-sheet evolution and rsl changes at four model run times and relative to the pre-glacial state.
Figure 2: Rsl predictions at the sites considered in this study according to different Earth models and relative to the pre-glacial state.
Figure 3: Sedimentary records considered in this study and inferred qualitative rsl changes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, Project Number ALW-GO-A0/02-05). P.S. acknowledges financial support from the Academy Professorship awarded by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) to H. Oerlemans. C.E. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education grant No. CTM2011-24079. A.J.P.H. acknowledges financial support from Statoil. S.P. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs (Award Number ANT-1245283). The authors are grateful to IODP for the samples collected during Expedition 318 to Wilkes Land. This research has been sponsored by the COST Action ES0701. The authors are grateful to VPRO TV and the Beagle Series. Further support was provided by the US National Foundation under awards ANT-0424589, 1043018 and OCE-1202632.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Paolo Stocchi

    Present address: Present address: IMAU Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands,

  2. Bert L. A. Vermeersen

    Present address: Present address: TU Delft Climate Institute, Astrodynamics and Space Missions, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands (B.L.A.V.),

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, The Netherlands

    Paolo Stocchi, Bert L. A. Vermeersen & Henk Brinkhuis

  2. Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-UGR, 18100 Armilla, Spain

    Carlota Escutia

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Alexander J. P. Houben, Peter K. Bijl & Henk Brinkhuis

  4. Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), 3584 CB Utrecht, Princetonlaan 6, The Netherlands

    Alexander J. P. Houben

  5. Department of Geosciences, University of Massachussets, Amherst, Massachussets 01003, USA

    Robert M. DeConto

  6. Dipartimento Geo TeCA, Università degli Studi di Urbino ‘Carlo Bo’, Località Crocicchia, 61029 Urbino, Italy

    Simone Galeotti

  7. Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey 07043, USA

    Sandra Passchier

  8. Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802 Pennsylvania, USA

    David Pollard

  9. NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, The Netherlands

    Henk Brinkhuis

  10. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Henk Brinkhuis & Peter K. Bijl

  11. Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-UGR, 18100 Armilla, Spain

    Carlota Escutia

  12. United States Implementing Organization, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, Texas A&M University, 1000 Discovery Drive, College Station, Texas 77845, USA

    Adam Klaus

  13. Aachen University, Institute for Applied Geophysics and Geothermal Energy, Mathieustraße 6, D-52074 Aachen, Germany

    Annick Fehr

  14. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10964, USA

    Trevor Williams

  15. School of Geographical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Aston Webb Building, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT Edgbaston, UK

    James A. P. Bendle

  16. Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK

    Steven M. Bohaty

  17. Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois Street, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

    Stephanie A. Carr

  18. Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2115, USA

    Robert B. Dunbar

  19. Universidad de Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain

    Jose Abel Flores

  20. Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Granada, Campus Fuentenueva s/n, 18002 Granada, Spain

    Jhon J. Gonzàlez

  21. Department of Geology, Western Michigan University, 1187 Rood Hall, 1903 West Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008, USA

    Travis G. Hayden

  22. Department of Natural Science, Kochi University, Kochi 780-8520, 2-5-1 Akebono-cho, Japan

    Masao Iwai

  23. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, D2-2 (510), Japan

    Francisco J. Jimenez-Espejo

  24. Marine and Core Research Center, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, B200 Monobe, Japan

    Kota Katsuki

  25. Petroleum and Marine Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources, 30 Gajeong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea

    Gee Soo Kong

  26. Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, PO Box 600, New Zealand

    Robert M. McKay

  27. Education Department, Daito Bunka University, 1-9-1 Takashima-daira, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 175-8571, Japan

    Mutsumi Nakai

  28. Department of Geology, University of South Florida, Tampa, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33620, SCA 528, USA

    Matthew P. Olney

  29. Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, 252 Mallory Hall, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey 07043, USA

    Sandra Passchier

  30. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, New York 11367, USA

    Stephen F. Pekar

  31. Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964, USA

    Stephen F. Pekar

  32. Paleoenvironmental Dynamics Group, Institute of Geosciences, University of Frankfurt, Altenhoeferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany

    Jörg Pross

  33. USGS, 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr, Reston, Virginia 20192-0002, USA

    Christina Riesselman

  34. MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Leobener Strasse, 28359 Bremen, Germany

    Ursula Röhl

  35. Department of Geology, Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya 321-8505, 350 Mine-Machi, Japan

    Toyosaburo Sakai

  36. Polar Studies Division, Geological Survey of India, NH 5P, NIT, Faridabad 121001, India

    Prakash Kumar Shrivastava

  37. Department of Geology, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway

    Catherine E. Stickley

  38. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, Science Building No. 1, room 852, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan

    Saiko Sugisaki

  39. Geosciences Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California, San Diego, LaJolla, California 92093-0220, USA

    Lisa Tauxe

  40. State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China

    Shouting Tuo

  41. Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ London, UK

    Tina van de Flierdt

  42. School of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia

    Kevin Welsh

  43. Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan

    Masako Yamane

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Contributions

P.S., C.E., H.B., B.L.A.V., A.J.P.H. and P.K.B. designed the research. P.S. and B.L.A.V. performed the GIA simulations. A.J.P.H., P.K.B., S.G., S.P. and C.E. compiled and generated field data. C.E. generated seismic stratigraphy data. R.M.D. and D.P. generated the ice-sheet model. All authors contributed to writing the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Paolo Stocchi or Bert L. A. Vermeersen.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Stocchi, P., Escutia, C., Houben, A. et al. Relative sea-level rise around East Antarctica during Oligocene glaciation. Nature Geosci 6, 380–384 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1783

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