Six million years of glacial history recorded in volcanic lithofacies of the James Ross Island Volcanic Group, Antarctic Peninsula

Smellie, John L.; Johnson, Joanne S.; McIntosh, William C.; Esser, Richard; Guðmundsson, M. T.; Hambrey, Michael J.; Vries, Benjamín van Wyk de

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.08.011

Cited by 133 publications

(133 citation statements)

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“…Strata of late Miocene age were not sampled as part of the SHALDRIL project; however, late Miocene glacial deposits do occur on Seymour Island (23) and on James Ross Island (27)(28)(29). The extent of these glaciations has remained uncertain, but seismic records from the continental shelves on the western and eastern sides of the AP imaged glacial unconformities that are interpreted to be of late Miocene age (6,30,31).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Progressive Cenozoic cooling and the demise of Antarctica’s last refugium

Anderson

Warny

Askin³

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

122

117

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The Antarctic Peninsula is considered to be the last region of Antarctica to have been fully glaciated as a result of Cenozoic climatic cooling. As such, it was likely the last refugium for plants and animals that had inhabited the continent since it separated from the Gondwana supercontinent. Drill cores and seismic data acquired during two cruises (SHALDRIL I and II) in the northernmost Peninsula region yield a record that, when combined with existing data, indicates progressive cooling and associated changes in terrestrial vegetation over the course of the past 37 million years. Mountain glaciation began in the latest Eocene (approximately 37–34 Ma), contemporaneous with glaciation elsewhere on the continent and a reduction in atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. This climate cooling was accompanied by a decrease in diversity of the angiosperm-dominated vegetation that inhabited the northern peninsula during the Eocene. A mosaic of southern beech and conifer-dominated woodlands and tundra continued to occupy the region during the Oligocene (approximately 34–23 Ma). By the middle Miocene (approximately 16–11.6 Ma), localized pockets of limited tundra still existed at least until 12.8 Ma. The transition from temperate, alpine glaciation to a dynamic, polythermal ice sheet took place during the middle Miocene. The northernmost Peninsula was overridden by an ice sheet in the early Pliocene (approximately 5.3–3.6 Ma). The long cooling history of the peninsula is consistent with the extended timescales of tectonic evolution of the Antarctic margin, involving the opening of ocean passageways and associated establishment of circumpolar circulation.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Progressive Cenozoic cooling and the demise of Antarctica’s last refugium

Anderson

Warny

Askin³

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

122

117

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“…Such a search may be in vain, since the new SST data at ODP Site 1088 suggest that in the case of an operant bipolar seesaw in the Messinian much of the melting may have been located in the Northern Hemisphere, where the presence of IRD at the TG12-TG11 transition will also need to be confirmed. If the suggestion that a large scale deglaciation occurring in the Northern hemisphere is confirmed, it would support the proposal, based on evidence on the Antarctic Peninsula, that although parts of the glacial cover in Antarctica have fluctuated in thickness, the ice sheet became progressively thicker toward the present, with no clear evidence for complete melting during the last 7.5 Ma (Smellie et al, 2008) (Naish et al, (2008). However, this result cannot exclude the possibility of smaller scale melting events after the late Miocene.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Evidence from Antarctica currently suffers from dating uncertainties, but terrestrial outcrops are available from this period. These are of great (Jonkers et al, 2002), (Pirrie et al, 1997) (Smellie et al, 2006), (Hambrey et al, 2008) (Smellie et al, 2008). In the Northern Hemisphere, in addition to long marine sequences recovered through ODP drilling (Jansen and Sjoholm, 1991) (Larsen et al, 1994),the best exposed outcrop repository of late Cenozoic glaciomarine rocks is the Yakataga Formation (Gulf of Alaska), which dates the earliest marine tidewater glacier incursions to no older than the late Miocene (Lagoe et al, 1993).…”

Section: Messinan Ice-sheets Evolutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insight into the latest Messinian (5.7–5.2Ma) palaeoclimatic events from two deep-sea Atlantic Ocean ODP Sites

Vautravers

2014

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Abstract:The results of a multi-proxy study, including quantitative planktonic foraminifera faunal analysis, geochemistry of foraminifera tests, and lithogenic counts (IRD) Highlights: Major oceanographic/climatologic event at the Late Messinian TG12/TG11 transition. Potential for a pre-Quaternary seesaw mechanism. Location of the ice-sheet capable of producing a large deglaciation to be identified.

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“…Some 10 million years of late Neogene and Quaternary history is recorded in the JRIVG Smellie et al 2008;Hambrey et al 2008;Smellie et al 2009 Table 2). Sr/ Sr chronology has also been used on calcitic bivalve shells collected from diamicts (Table 2).…”

Section: James Ross Island Antarctic Peninsulamentioning

confidence: 99%