Abstract
THE response of the Antarctic ice sheets to increased global temperatures is an important unresolved issue in the assessment of future climate change. In particular, considerable controversy exists as to whether the East Antarctic ice sheet suffered extensive deglaciation during the mid-Pliocene epoch (∼3 Myr ago), when temperatures were only slightly warmer than today. Although the ice sheet is widely assumed to have existed in something like its present form for the past 14 Myr (ref. 1), marine diatoms eroded from the Antarctic interior have been found in glacial till deposits high in the Transantarctic Mountains2,3, and have been bio-stratigraphically dated at ∼3 Myr before present. This age has been disputed4 because it implies marine deposition in the Antarctic interior, and hence substantial deglaciation, at a time when other evidence has been marshalled for the persistence of cold, polar conditions4. Here we report K–Ar and 40Ar/<39 Ar ages for a volcanic ash bed in diatom-bearing glaciomarine strata cored in Ferrar Fiord (East Antarctica) by the CIROS-2 drill-hole5, which confirm the age of the diatoms at ∼3 Myr, and hence also confirm the mid-Pliocene deglaciation.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kennett, J. P. Marine Geology (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1982).
Webb, P. N., Harwood, D. M., McKelvey, B. C., Mercer, J. H. & Stott, L. D. Geology 12, 287–291 (1984).
Webb, P. N. & Harwood, D. M. Quat. Sci. Rev. 10, 215–223 (1991).
Clapperton, C. M. & Sugden, D. E. Quat. Sci. Rev. 9, 253–272 (1990).
Pyne, A. R., Robinson, P. H. & Barrett, P. J. Antarctic Data Ser. 11 (Res. School Earth Sci., Victoria Univ., Wellington, 1985).
Shackleton, N. J. & Kennett, J. P. in Init. Rep. DSDP 29 (eds Kennett, J. P. & Houtz, R. E.) 743–756 (U.S. Govt Printing Office, Washington DC, 1975).
Kennett, J. P. & Shackleton, N. J. Nature 260, 513–515 (1976).
Marchant, D. R., Lux, D. R., Swisher, C. C. III & Denton, G. H. Antarct. J. U.S. 25, 58–59 (1990).
Webb, P. N. J. foram. Res. 4, 188–199 (1974).
Webb, P. N. & Wrenn, J. in Antarctic Geoscience (ed. Craddock, J. C.) 1117–1122 (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1982).
Ishman, S. E. & Webb, P. N. Rev. Paleobiol. Spec. Vol. 2, Pt 2, 523–551 (1988).
Kyle, P. R. in Dry Valley Drilling Project, Am. geophys. Un. Antarct. Res. Series 33 (ed. McGinnis, L. D.) 403–412 (1981).
Webb, P. N. & Andreasen, J. Antarct. J. U.S. 21, 59–61 (1986).
Harwood, D. M. thesis, Ohio State Univ. (1986).
Ciesielski, P. F. Init. Rep. DSDP 71 (eds Ludwig, W. J. et al.) (U.S. Govt Printing Office, Washington DC, 1983).
Burckle, L. H., Gayley, R. I., Ram, M. & Petit, J.-R. Geology 16, 326–329 (1988).
Harwood, D. M. et al. in Proc. ODP, Scient. Results 120 (eds Wise, S. W. Jr et al.) 813–848, (Ocean Drilling Program, College Station, Texas, 1992).
McKelvey, B. C., Webb, P. N., Harwood, D. M. & Mabin, M. C. G. in Geological Evolution of Antarctica (eds Thomson, M. R. A., Crame, J. A. & Thomson, J. W.) 675–682 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1991)
Mayewski, P. A. & Goldthwait, R. P. Am. geophys. Un. Antarct. Research Ser 36, 275–324 (1985).
Denton, G. H., Hughes, T. & Burckle, L. H. in Geology of Antarctica (ed. Tingey, R. J.) 365–419 (Clarendon, Oxford, 1991).
Burckle, L. H. & Pokras, E. M. Antarct. Sci. 3, 389–403 (1991).
Barrett, P. J. & Hambrey, M. J. Sedimentology 39, 109–123 (1992).
Le Bas, M. J., Le Maitre, R. W., Streckeisen, A. & Zanettin, B. J. Petrology 27, 745–750 (1986).
Warren, G. in Antarct. Map Folio Ser. (eds Bushnell, V. C. & Craddock, C.) Folio 12, Geology Sheet 14 (Am. geogr. Soc., New York, 1970).
Swisher, C. C. & Prothero, D. R. Science 249, 760–762 (1990).
Lo Bello, P., Fraud, G., Hall, C. M., York, D., Lavina, P. & Bernat, M. Chem Geol. 66, 61–71 (1987).
Fleck, R. J., Sutter, J. F. & Elliot, D. H. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 41, 15–32 (1977).
Hill, R. S., Harwood, D. M. & Webb, P. N. 8th Gondwana Symp., Hobart, Australia (abstr.) (1991).
Barrett, P. J. in Antarctica and Global Climate Change (eds Harris, C. & Stonehouse, B.) 35–50 (Belhaven, Cambridge, 1991).
Behrendt, J. C. & Cooper, A. K. Geology 19, 315–319 (1991).
Adams, C. J. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys. 18, 443–467 (1965).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barrett, P., Adams, C., Mclntosh, W. et al. Geochronological evidence supporting Antarctic deglaciation three million years ago. Nature 359, 816–818 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/359816a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/359816a0
This article is cited by
-
Windblown Pliocene diatoms and East Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat
Nature Communications (2016)
-
Dangerous anthropogenic interference, dangerous climatic change, and harmful climatic change: non-trivial distinctions with significant policy implications
Climatic Change (2007)
-
Geological record and reconstruction of the late Pliocene impact of the Eltanin asteroid in the Southern Ocean
Nature (1997)
-
Examination of Antarctic prokaryotic diversity through molecular comparisons
Biodiversity and Conservation (1996)
-
Stabilists strike again
Nature (1995)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.