Ice sheet–free West Antarctica during peak early Oligocene glaciation

Johann P. Klages; Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand; Steven M. Bohaty; Ulrich Salzmann; Torsten Bickert; Gerrit Lohmann; Hanna S. Knahl; Paul Gierz; Lu Niu; Jürgen Titschack; Gerhard Kuhn; Thomas Frederichs; Juliane Müller; Thorsten Bauersachs; Robert D. Larter; Katharina Hochmuth; Werner Ehrmann; Gernot Nehrke; Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar; Gerhard Schmiedl; Silvia Spezzaferri; Andreas Läufer; Frank Lisker; Tina Van De Flierdt; Anton Eisenhauer; Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben; Oliver Esper; James A. Smith; Heiko Pälike; Cornelia Spiegel; Ricarda Dziadek; T. A. Ronge; Tim Freudenthal; Karsten Gohl

doi:10.1126/science.adj3931

Ice sheet–free West Antarctica during peak early Oligocene glaciation

Johann P. Klages^*, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Steven M. Bohaty, Ulrich Salzmann, Torsten Bickert, Gerrit Lohmann, Hanna S. Knahl, Paul Gierz, Lu Niu, Jürgen Titschack, Gerhard Kuhn, Thomas Frederichs, Juliane Müller, Thorsten Bauersachs, Robert D. Larter, Katharina Hochmuth, Werner Ehrmann, Gernot Nehrke, Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar, Gerhard SchmiedlSilvia Spezzaferri, Andreas Läufer, Frank Lisker, Tina Van De Flierdt, Anton Eisenhauer, Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben, Oliver Esper, James A. Smith, Heiko Pälike, Cornelia Spiegel, Ricarda Dziadek, T. A. Ronge, Tim Freudenthal, Karsten Gohl

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography and Environmental Sciences Department

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Abstract

One of Earth's most fundamental climate shifts, the greenhouse-icehouse transition 34 million years ago, initiated Antarctic ice sheet buildup, influencing global climate until today. However, the extent of the ice sheet during the Early Oligocene Glacial Maximum (~33.7 to 33.2 million years ago) that immediately followed this transition-a critical knowledge gap for assessing feedbacks between permanently glaciated areas and early Cenozoic global climate reorganization-is uncertain. In this work, we present shallow-marine drilling data constraining earliest Oligocene environmental conditions on West Antarctica's Pacific margin-a key region for understanding Antarctic ice sheet evolution. These data indicate a cool-temperate environment with mild ocean and air temperatures that prevented West Antarctic Ice Sheet formation. Climate-ice sheet modeling corroborates a highly asymmetric Antarctic ice sheet, thereby revealing its differential regional response to past and future climatic change.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	322-327
Number of pages	6
Journal	Science
Volume	385
Issue number	6706
Early online date	4 Jul 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj3931
Publication status	Published - 19 Jul 2024

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Klages, J. P., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Bohaty, S. M., Salzmann, U., Bickert, T., Lohmann, G., Knahl, H. S., Gierz, P., Niu, L., Titschack, J., Kuhn, G., Frederichs, T., Müller, J., Bauersachs, T., Larter, R. D., Hochmuth, K., Ehrmann, W., Nehrke, G., Rodríguez-Tovar, F. J., ... Gohl, K. (2024). Ice sheet–free West Antarctica during peak early Oligocene glaciation. Science, 385(6706), 322-327. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj3931

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title = "Ice sheet–free West Antarctica during peak early Oligocene glaciation",

abstract = "One of Earth's most fundamental climate shifts, the greenhouse-icehouse transition 34 million years ago, initiated Antarctic ice sheet buildup, influencing global climate until today. However, the extent of the ice sheet during the Early Oligocene Glacial Maximum (~33.7 to 33.2 million years ago) that immediately followed this transition-a critical knowledge gap for assessing feedbacks between permanently glaciated areas and early Cenozoic global climate reorganization-is uncertain. In this work, we present shallow-marine drilling data constraining earliest Oligocene environmental conditions on West Antarctica's Pacific margin-a key region for understanding Antarctic ice sheet evolution. These data indicate a cool-temperate environment with mild ocean and air temperatures that prevented West Antarctic Ice Sheet formation. Climate-ice sheet modeling corroborates a highly asymmetric Antarctic ice sheet, thereby revealing its differential regional response to past and future climatic change.",

author = "Klages, {Johann P.} and Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand and Bohaty, {Steven M.} and Ulrich Salzmann and Torsten Bickert and Gerrit Lohmann and Knahl, {Hanna S.} and Paul Gierz and Lu Niu and J{\"u}rgen Titschack and Gerhard Kuhn and Thomas Frederichs and Juliane M{\"u}ller and Thorsten Bauersachs and Larter, {Robert D.} and Katharina Hochmuth and Werner Ehrmann and Gernot Nehrke and Rodr{\'i}guez-Tovar, {Francisco J.} and Gerhard Schmiedl and Silvia Spezzaferri and Andreas L{\"a}ufer and Frank Lisker and {Van De Flierdt}, Tina and Anton Eisenhauer and Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben and Oliver Esper and Smith, {James A.} and Heiko P{\"a}like and Cornelia Spiegel and Ricarda Dziadek and Ronge, {T. A.} and Tim Freudenthal and Karsten Gohl",

year = "2024",

month = jul,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1126/science.adj3931",

language = "English",

volume = "385",

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Klages, JP, Hillenbrand, C-D, Bohaty, SM, Salzmann, U, Bickert, T, Lohmann, G, Knahl, HS, Gierz, P, Niu, L, Titschack, J, Kuhn, G, Frederichs, T, Müller, J, Bauersachs, T, Larter, RD, Hochmuth, K, Ehrmann, W, Nehrke, G, Rodríguez-Tovar, FJ, Schmiedl, G, Spezzaferri, S, Läufer, A, Lisker, F, Van De Flierdt, T, Eisenhauer, A, Uenzelmann-Neben, G, Esper, O, Smith, JA, Pälike, H, Spiegel, C, Dziadek, R, Ronge, TA, Freudenthal, T & Gohl, K 2024, 'Ice sheet–free West Antarctica during peak early Oligocene glaciation', Science, vol. 385, no. 6706, pp. 322-327. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj3931

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ice sheet–free West Antarctica during peak early Oligocene glaciation

AU - Klages, Johann P.

AU - Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter

AU - Bohaty, Steven M.

AU - Salzmann, Ulrich

AU - Bickert, Torsten

AU - Lohmann, Gerrit

AU - Knahl, Hanna S.

AU - Gierz, Paul

AU - Niu, Lu

AU - Titschack, Jürgen

AU - Kuhn, Gerhard

AU - Frederichs, Thomas

AU - Müller, Juliane

AU - Bauersachs, Thorsten

AU - Larter, Robert D.

AU - Hochmuth, Katharina

AU - Ehrmann, Werner

AU - Nehrke, Gernot

AU - Rodríguez-Tovar, Francisco J.

AU - Schmiedl, Gerhard

AU - Spezzaferri, Silvia

AU - Läufer, Andreas

AU - Lisker, Frank

AU - Van De Flierdt, Tina

AU - Eisenhauer, Anton

AU - Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele

AU - Esper, Oliver

AU - Smith, James A.

AU - Pälike, Heiko

AU - Spiegel, Cornelia

AU - Dziadek, Ricarda

AU - Ronge, T. A.

AU - Freudenthal, Tim

AU - Gohl, Karsten

PY - 2024/7/19

Y1 - 2024/7/19

N2 - One of Earth's most fundamental climate shifts, the greenhouse-icehouse transition 34 million years ago, initiated Antarctic ice sheet buildup, influencing global climate until today. However, the extent of the ice sheet during the Early Oligocene Glacial Maximum (~33.7 to 33.2 million years ago) that immediately followed this transition-a critical knowledge gap for assessing feedbacks between permanently glaciated areas and early Cenozoic global climate reorganization-is uncertain. In this work, we present shallow-marine drilling data constraining earliest Oligocene environmental conditions on West Antarctica's Pacific margin-a key region for understanding Antarctic ice sheet evolution. These data indicate a cool-temperate environment with mild ocean and air temperatures that prevented West Antarctic Ice Sheet formation. Climate-ice sheet modeling corroborates a highly asymmetric Antarctic ice sheet, thereby revealing its differential regional response to past and future climatic change.

AB - One of Earth's most fundamental climate shifts, the greenhouse-icehouse transition 34 million years ago, initiated Antarctic ice sheet buildup, influencing global climate until today. However, the extent of the ice sheet during the Early Oligocene Glacial Maximum (~33.7 to 33.2 million years ago) that immediately followed this transition-a critical knowledge gap for assessing feedbacks between permanently glaciated areas and early Cenozoic global climate reorganization-is uncertain. In this work, we present shallow-marine drilling data constraining earliest Oligocene environmental conditions on West Antarctica's Pacific margin-a key region for understanding Antarctic ice sheet evolution. These data indicate a cool-temperate environment with mild ocean and air temperatures that prevented West Antarctic Ice Sheet formation. Climate-ice sheet modeling corroborates a highly asymmetric Antarctic ice sheet, thereby revealing its differential regional response to past and future climatic change.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85199223527&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1126/science.adj3931

DO - 10.1126/science.adj3931

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 385

SP - 322

EP - 327

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6706

ER -

Ice sheet–free West Antarctica during peak early Oligocene glaciation

Abstract

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