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Pleistocene bimodal response of Antarctic ice

Nature volume 287, pages 214–216 (1980)Cite this article

Abstract

Extent and volume of the Antarctic ice sheet have important roles in modulating global atmospheric and oceanographic processes and have significant implications for world sea levels1. The history of ice sheet variations in Antarctica has mainly been founded on studies in the ice free (Dry) valleys of southern Victoria Land (Fig. 1). A detailed glacial chronology by Denton and co-workers2–4 is based on the premise that Taylor Glacier and neighbouring Wright Upper Glacier are outlets of the East Antarctic ice sheet and that, “the extent of Taylor Glacier reflects the height of this ice sheet, and, since it terminates on land, records of its former positions provide one of the few indications of former heights of the ice sheet”5. That the East Anarctic ice sheet reached its maximum dimensions during each of the last four world-wide interglacials is an important conclusion of this work2. New geophysical data from Taylor Glacier and the adjacent ice sheet in Victoria Land, Antarctica are presented here which challenge these suppositions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1ER, UK

    David J. Drewry

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  1. David J. Drewry
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Drewry, D. Pleistocene bimodal response of Antarctic ice. Nature 287, 214–216 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/287214a0

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