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Onset of deglacial warming in West Antarctica driven by local orbital forcing

Abstract

The cause of warming in the Southern Hemisphere during the most recent deglaciation remains a matter of debate1,2. Hypotheses for a Northern Hemisphere trigger, through oceanic redistributions of heat, are based in part on the abrupt onset of warming seen in East Antarctic ice cores and dated to 18,000 years ago, which is several thousand years after high-latitude Northern Hemisphere summer insolation intensity began increasing from its minimum, approximately 24,000 years ago3,4. An alternative explanation is that local solar insolation changes cause the Southern Hemisphere to warm independently2,5. Here we present results from a new, annually resolved ice-core record from West Antarctica that reconciles these two views. The records show that 18,000 years ago snow accumulation in West Antarctica began increasing, coincident with increasing carbon dioxide concentrations, warming in East Antarctica and cooling in the Northern Hemisphere6 associated with an abrupt decrease in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation7. However, significant warming in West Antarctica began at least 2,000 years earlier. Circum-Antarctic sea-ice decline, driven by increasing local insolation, is the likely cause of this warming. The marine-influenced West Antarctic records suggest a more active role for the Southern Ocean in the onset of deglaciation than is inferred from ice cores in the East Antarctic interior, which are largely isolated from sea-ice changes.

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Figure 1: Antarctic Isotope Records.
Figure 2: Timing of rapid change in Antarctica.
Figure 3: Global records of deglaciation.
Figure 4: Antarctic δ18O response to sea-ice decrease.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by US National Science Foundation (NSF). The authors appreciate the support of the WAIS Divide Science Coordination Office (M. Twickler and J. Souney) for the collection and distribution of the WAIS Divide ice core; Ice Drilling and Design and Operations (K. Dahnert) for drilling; the National Ice Core Laboratory (B. Bencivengo) for curating the core; Raytheon Polar Services (M. Kippenhan) for logistics support in Antarctica; and the 109th New York Air National Guard for airlift in Antarctica. We also thank C. Buizert and S. Marcott for discussions. The following individual NSF grants supported this work: 0944197 (E.D.W., H. Conway); 1043092, 0537930 (E.J.S.); 0944348, 0944191, 0440817, 0440819, 0230396 (K.C.T.); 0538427, 0839093 (J.R.M.); 1043518 (E.J.B.); 1043500 (T.S.); 05379853, 1043167 (J.W.C.W.); 1043528, 0539578 (R.B.A.); 0539232 (K.M.C., G.D.C.); 1103403 (R.L.E., H. Conway); 0739780 (R.E.); 0637211 (G.H.); 0538553, 0839066 (J.C.-D.), 0538657, 1043421 (J.P.S.); 1043313 (M.K.S.); 0801490 (G.J.W). Other support came from a NASA NESSF award (T.J.F.), the USGS Climate and Land Use Change Program (G.D.C., J.J.F.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41230524 to H. Cheng) and the Singapore National Research Foundation (NRFF2011-08 to X.W.).

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The manuscript was written by T.J.F., E.J.S. and B.R.M. K.C.T. organized the WAIS Divide Project. T.J.F., K.C.T and T.J.P. made the electrical measurements and developed the electrical timescale with K.C.M. E.J.S., J.W.C.W., A.J.S., P.N., B.H.V. and S.W.S. measured the stable-isotope record. J.R.M., M.S., O.J.M. and R.E. developed the chemistry timescale and measured Na. E.J.B., T.S., L.E.M., J.S.E. and J.E.L. made the methane measurements. G.D.C. and K.M.C. measured the borehole temperature profile. J.C.-D. and D.F. provided an independent timescale for the brittle ice. Q.D., S.W.S. and E.J.S. performed the climate modelling. T.J.F., E.D.W., H. Conway and K.M.C. performed the ice-flow modelling to determine the accumulation rate. H. Cheng, R.L.E., X.W., J.P.S. and T.J.F. made comparisons with the Hulu cave timescale. M.K.S., J.J.F., J.M.F., D.E.V. and R.B.A. examined the physical properties of the core. W.M., J.J. and N.M. designed the drill. G.H. designed core-processing techniques. A.J.O., B.H.V., D.E.V., K.C.T., T.J.P. and G.J.W. led collection and processing of the core in the field.

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Correspondence to T. J. Fudge.

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WAIS Divide Project Members. Onset of deglacial warming in West Antarctica driven by local orbital forcing. Nature 500, 440–444 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12376

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