Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-68ccn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T05:49:11.993Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Magnitude and Proximate Cause of Ice-Sheet Growth Since 35,000 yr B.P.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Isaac J. Winograd
Isaac J. Winograd*
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 432 National Center, Reston, Virginia, 20192
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The magnitude of late Wisconsinan (post-35,000 yr B.P.) ice-sheet growth in the Northern Hemisphere is not well known. Ice volume at ∼35,000 yr B.P. may have been as little as 20% or as much as 70% of the volume present at the last glacial maximum (LGM). A conservative evaluation of glacial–geologic, sea level, and benthic δ18O data indicates that ice volume at ∼35,000 yr B.P. was approximately 50% of that extant at the LGM (∼20,000 yr B.P.); that is, it doubled in about 15,000 yr. On the basis of literature for the North Atlantic and a sea-surface temperature (SST) data compilation, it appears that this rapid growth may have been forced by low-to-mid-latitude SST warming in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with attendant increased moisture transport to high latitudes. The SST ice-sheet growth notion also explains the apparent synchroneity of late Wisconsinan mountain glaciation in both hemispheres.

Keywords

Northern Hemisphere ice sheetsice-sheet growthsea-surface temperaturelatest Wisconsinanlatest Pleistoceneice ages
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 56 , Issue 3 , November 2001 , pp. 299 - 307
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, J.T Association of ice sheets and sea level with global warming: A geological perspective on aspects of global change. Bradley, R.S Global Changes of the Past. (1989). Univ. Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder. 321 339.Google Scholar
Bard, E, Hamelin, B, Fairbanks, R.G, and Zindler, A Calibration of the 14C timescale over the past 30,000 years using mass spectrometric U-Th ages from Barbados corals. Nature 345, (1990). 405 410.Google Scholar
Bareille, G, Grousset, F.E, Labracherie, M, Labeyrie, L.D, and Petit, J.R Origin of detrital fluxes in the southeast Indian Ocean during the last climatic cycles. Paleoceanography 9, (1994). 799 819.Google Scholar
Batifol, F, Boutron, C, and De Angelis, M Changes in copper, zinc and cadmium concentration in Antarctic ice during the past 40,000 years. Nature 337, (1989). 544 546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumann, K.-H, Lackschewitz, K.S, Mangerud, J, Spielhagen, R.F, Wolf-Welling, T.C.W, Henrich, R, and Kassens, H Reflections of Scandinavian ice sheet fluctuations in Norwegian Sea sediments during the past 150,000 years. Quaternary Research 43, (1995). 185 197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behl, R.J, and Kennett, J.P Brief interstadial events in the Santa Barbara basin, NE Pacific, during the past 60 kyr. Nature 379, (1996). 243 246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blunier, T, and Brook, E.J Timing of millennial-scale climate change in Antarctica and Greenland during the last glacial period. Science 291, (2001). 109 112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broecker, W.S, and Denton, G.H The role of ocean-atmosphere reorganizations in glacial cycles. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 53, (1989). 2465 2501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cane, M., and Clement, A. C. (1999). A role for the tropical Pacific coupled ocean-atmosphere system on Milankovitch and millennial timescales. Part II: Global impacts. In Mechanisms of Global Climate Change at Millennial Time Scales Clark, P. U., Webb, R. S., and Keigwin, L. D., Eds., Geophysical Monograph 112, pp. 373–383. Am. Geophys. Union, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Cann, J.H, Belperio, A.P, Gostin, V.A, and Rice, R.L Contemporary benthic foraminifera in Gulf St. Vincent, South Australia, and a refined late Pleistocene sea-level history. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 40, (1993). 197 211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cann, J.H, Belperio, A.P, and Murray-Wallace, C.V Late Quaternary paleosealevels and paleoenvironments inferred from foraminifera, northern Spencer Gulf, South Australia. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 30, (2000). 29 53.Google Scholar
Cayre, O, Lancelot, Y, and Vincent, E Paleoceanographic reconstructions from planktonic foraminifera off the Iberian Margin: Temperature, salinity, and Heinrich events. Paleoceanography 14, (1999). 384 396.Google Scholar
Chapman, M.R, and Maslin, M.A Low-latitude forcing of meridional temperature and salinity gradients in the subpolar North Atlantic and the growth of glacial ice sheets. Geology 27, (1999). 875 878.Google Scholar
Chapman, M.R, and Shackleton, N.J Millennial-scale fluctuations in North Atlantic heat flux during the last 150,000 years. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 159, (1998). 57 70.Google Scholar
Chappell, J, Omura, A, Esat, T, McCulloch, M, Pandolfi, J, Ota, Y, and Pillans, B Reconciliation of late Quaternary sea levels derived from coral terraces at Huon Peninsula with deep sea oxygen isotope records. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 141, (1996). 227 236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clapperton, C Interhemispheric synchroneity of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 2 glacier fluctuations along the American cordilleras transect. Journal of Quaternary Science 15, (2000). 435 468.Google Scholar
Clapperton, C.M, Sugden, D.E, Kaufman, D.S, and McCulloch, R.D The last glaciation in the central Magellan Strait, southernmost Chile. Quaternary Research 44, (1995). 133 148.Google Scholar
Clark, P.U, Clague, J.J, Curry, B.B, Dreimanis, A, Hicock, S.R, Miller, G.H, Berger, G.W, Eyles, N, Lamothe, M, Miller, B.B, Mott, R.J, Oldale, R.N, Stea, R.R, Szabo, J.P, Thorleifson, L.H, and Vincent, J.S Initiation and development of the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets following the last interglaciation. Quaternary Science Reviews 12, (1993). 79 114.Google Scholar
Cortijo, E, Lehman, S, Keigwin, L, Chapman, M, Paillard, D, and Labeyrie, L Changes in meridional temperature and salinity gradients in the North Atlantic Ocean (30°–72°N) during the last interglaciation. Paleoceanography 14, (1999). 23 33.Google Scholar
Crowley, T.J Temperature and circulation changes in the eastern North Atlantic during the last 150,000 years: Evidence from the planktonic foraminiferal record. Marine Micropaleontology 6, (1981). 97 129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Angelis, M, Barkov, N.I, and Petrov, V.N Aerosol concentrations over the last climatic cycle (160 kyr) from an Antarctic ice core. Nature 325, (1987). 318 321.Google Scholar
Denton, G.H, Heusser, C.J, Lowell, T.V, Moreno, P.I, Andersen, B.G, Heusser, L.E, Schluchter, C, and Marchant, D.R Interhemispheric linkage of paleoclimate during the last glaciation. Geografiska Annaler 81A, (1999). 107 153.Google Scholar
Fairbanks, R.G The age and origin of the “Younger Dryas climate event” in Greenland ice cores. Paleoceanography 5, (1990). 937 948.Google Scholar
Forsstrom, L, and Punkari, M Initiation of the last glaciation in Northern Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews 16, (1997). 1197 1215.Google Scholar
Fuhrer, K, Wolff, E.W, and Johnsen, S.J Timescales for dust variability in the Greenland ice core project (GRIP) ice core in the last 100,000 years. Journal of Geophysical Research 104, (1999). 31,043 31,052.Google Scholar
Hebbeln, D, and Wefer, G Late Quaternary paleoceanography in the Fram Strait. Paleoceanography 12, (1997). 65 78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hebbeln, D, Dokken, T, Andersen, E.S, Hald, M, and Elverhoi, A Moisture supply for northern ice-sheet growth during the last glacial maximum. Nature 370, (1994). 357 360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herbert, T.D, Yasuda, M, and Burnett, C Glacial-interglacial sea surface temperature record inferred from alkenone unsaturation indices, Site 893, Santa Barbara Basin. Kennett, J.P, Baldauf, J.G, and Lyle, M Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results. (1995). Ocean Drilling Program, Texas A&M Univ. 257 264.Google Scholar
Hesse, P.P The record of continental dust from Australia in Tasman Sea sediments. Quaternary Science Reviews 13, (1994). 257 272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ikehara, M, Kawamura, K, Ohkouchi, N, Murayama, M, Nakamura, T, and Taira, A Variations of terrestrial input and marine productivity in the Southern Ocean (48°S) during the last two deglaciations. Paleoceanography 15, (2000). 170 180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Imbrie, J, Berger, A, Boyle, E.A, Clemens, S.C, Duffy, A, Howard, W.R, Kukla, G, Kutzbach, J, Martinson, D.G, McIntyre, A, Mix, A.C, Molfino, B, Morley, J.J, Peterson, L.C, Pisias, N.G, Prell, W.L, Raymo, M.E, Shackleton, N.J, and Toggweiler, J.R On the structure and origin of major glaciation cycles 2. The 100,000-year cycle. Paleoceanography 8, (1993). 699 735.Google Scholar
Imbrie, J., Hays, J. D., McIntyre, A., Mix, A. C., Morley, J. J., Pisias, N. G., Prell, W. L., and Shackleton, N. J. (1984). The orbital theory of Pleistocene climate: Support from a revised chronology of the marine δ18O record. In Milankovitch and Climate Berger, A., Imbrie, J., Hays, J., Kukla, G., and Saltzman, B., Eds., Part 1, pp. 269–305. Reidel, Boston.Google Scholar
Jasper, J.P, Hayes, J.M, Mix, A.C, and Prahl, F.G Photosynthetic fractionation of 13C and concentration of dissolved CO2 in the central equatorial Pacific during the last 255,000 years. Paleoceanography 9, (1994). 781 798.Google Scholar
Johnson, R.G Ice age initiation by an ocean-atmosphere circulation change in the Labrador Sea. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 148, (1997). 367 379.Google Scholar
Khodri, M, Leclainche, Y, Ramstein, G, Braconnot, P, Marti, O, and Cortijo, E Simulating the amplification of orbital forcing by ocean feedbacks in the last glaciation. Nature 410, (2001). 570 574.Google Scholar
Kirst, G.J, Schneider, R.R, Muller, P.J, von Storch, I, and Wefer, G Late Quaternary temperature variability in the Benguela Current system derived from alkenones. Quaternary Research 52, (1999). 92 103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kukla, G., and Gavin, J. (1992). Insolation regime of the warm to cold transitions.. In Start of a Glacial Kukla, G. J. and Went, E., Eds., pp. 307–339. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
Lambeck, K, and Bard, E Sea-level change along the French Mediterranean coast for the past 30,000 years. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 175, (2000). 203 222.Google Scholar
Lambeck, K, and Chappell, J Sea level change through the last glacial cycle. Science 292, (2001). 679 686.Google Scholar
Lowell, T.V, Heusser, C.J, Andersen, B.G, Moreno, P.I, Hauser, A, Heusser, L.E, Schluchter, C, Marchant, D.R, and Denton, G.H Interhemispheric correlation of late Pleistocene glacial events. Science 269, (1995). 1541 1549.Google Scholar
Martinson, D.G, Pisias, N.G, Hays, J.D, Imbrie, J, Moore, T.C Jr., and Shackleton, N.J Age dating and the orbital theory of the ice ages: Development of a high resolution 0 to 300,000-year chronostratigraphy. Quaternary Research 27, (1987). 1 29.Google Scholar
Mayewski, P.A, Meeker, L.D, Twickler, M.S, Whitlow, S, Yang, Q, Lyons, W.B, and Prentice, M Major features and forcing of high latitude northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation using a 110,000-year-long glaciochemical series. Journal of Geophysical Research 102, (1997). 26,345 26,366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McManus, J.F, Oppo, D.W, and Cullen, J.L A 0.5 million-year record of millenial-scale climate variability in the North Atlantic. Science 283, (1999). 971 975.Google Scholar
Miller, G.H, and de Vernal, A Will greenhouse warming lead to Northern Hemisphere ice-sheet growth?. Nature 355, (1992). 244 246.Google Scholar
Mix, A.C, Bard, E, and Schneider, R Environmental processes of the ice age land, oceans, and glaciers (EPILOG). Quaternary Science Reviews 20, (2001). 627 657.Google Scholar
Murray-Wallace, C.V, Belperio, A.P, Gostin, V.A, and Cann, J.H Amino acid racemization and radiocarbon dating of interstadial marine strata (oxygen isotope stage 3), Gulf St. Marine Geology 110, (1993). 83 92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mylroie, J.E, and Carew, J.L Solution conduits as indicators of late Quaternary sea level position. Quaternary Science Reviews 7, (1988). 55 64.Google Scholar
Olsen, L, Mejdahl, V, and Selvik, S.F Middle and late Pleistocene stratigraphy, chronology, and glacial history in Finnmark, north Norway. Norges Geologiske Undersokelse Bulletin 429, (1996). Google Scholar
Petit, J.R, Jouzel, J, Raynaud, D, Barkov, N.I, Barnola, J.-M, Basile, I, Bender, M, Chappellaz, J, Davis, M, Delaygue, G, Delmotte, M, Kotlyakov, V.M, Legrand, M, Lipenkov, V.Y, Lorius, C, Pepin, L, Ritz, C, Saltzman, E, and Stievenard, M Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature 399, (1999). 429 436.Google Scholar
Rea, D.K The paleoclimatic record provided by eolian deposition in the deep sea: The geologic history of wind. Reviews of Geophysics 32, (1994). 159 195.Google Scholar
Repenning, C.A Global warming debate. National Geographic Research and Exploration 9, (1993). 389 390.Google Scholar
Repenning, C.A Beringian climate during intercontinental dispersal: A mouse eye view. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, (2001). 25 40.Google Scholar
Richards, D.A, Smart, P.L, and Edwards, R.L Maximum sea levels for the last glacial period from U-series ages of submerged speleothems. Nature 367, (1994). 357 360.Google Scholar
Rodriguez, A.B, Anderson, J.B, Banfield, L.A, Taviani, M, Abdulah, K, and Snow, J.N Identification of a −15 m middle Wisconsin shoreline on the Texas inner continental shelf. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, and Paleoecology 158, (2000). 25 43.Google Scholar
Ruddiman, W.F, and McIntyre, A Warming of the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean during Northern Hemisphere ice-sheet growth. Science 204, (1979). 173 175.Google Scholar
Ruddiman, W.F, McIntyre, A, Niebler-Hunt, V, and Durazzi, J.T Oceanic evidence for the mechanism of rapid Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Quaternary Research 13, (1980). 33 64.Google Scholar
Sarnthein, M, Jansen, E, Weinelt, M, Arnold, M, Duplessy, J.C, Erlenkeuser, H, Flatoy, A, Johannessen, G, Johannessen, T, Jung, S, Koc, N, Labeyrie, L, Maslin, M, Pflaumann, U, and Schulz, H Variations in Atlantic surface ocean paleoceanography, 50°-80° N: A time slice record of the last 30,000 years. Paleoceanography 10, (1995). 1063 1094.Google Scholar
Schneider, R.R, Muller, P.J, and Acheson, R Atlantic alkenone sea-surface temperature records. Abrantes, F, and Mix, A Reconstructing Ocean History; A Window into the Future. (1999). Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht/Norwell. 33 55.Google Scholar
Shackleton, N.J The 100,000 year ice-age cycle identified and found to lag temperature, carbon dioxide, and orbital eccentricity. Science 289, (2000). 1897 1902.Google Scholar
Sejrup, H.P, Haflidason, H, Aarseth, I, King, E, Forsberg, C.F, Long, D, and Rokoengen, K Late Weichselian glaciation history of the northern North Sea. Boreas 23, (1994). 1 13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, G.C World climate during the Quaternary Period. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 60, (1934). 425 478.Google Scholar
Simpson, G.C Ice ages. Nature 141, (1938). 591 598.Google Scholar
Simpson, G.C Further studies in world climate. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 83, (1957). 459 485.Google Scholar
Skene, K.I, Piper, D.J.W, Aksu, A.E, and Syvitski, J.P.M Evaluation of the global oxygen isotope curve as a proxy for Quaternary sea level by modeling of delta progradation. Journal of Sedimentary Research 68, (1998). 1077 1092.Google Scholar
Stokes, W.L Another look at the Ice Age. Science 122, (1955). 815 821.Google Scholar
Stumpf, A.J, Broster, B.E, and Levson, V.M Multiphase flow of the Late Wisconsinan Cordilleran ice sheet in western Canada. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 112, (2000). 1850 1863.Google Scholar
Ukkonen, P, Lunkka, J.P, Jungner, H, and Donner, J New radiocarbon dates from Finnish mammoths indicating large ice-free areas in Fennoscandia during the Middle Weichselian. Journal of Quaternary Science 14, (1999). 711 714.Google Scholar
Valen, V, Mangerud, J, Larsen, E, and Hufthammer, A.K Sedimentology and stratigraphy in the cave Hamnsundhelleren, western Norway. Journal of Quaternary Science 11, (1996). 185 201.Google Scholar
Yokoyama, Y, Lambeck, K, DeDeckker, P, Johnston, P, and Fifield, L.K Timing of the Last Glacial Maximum from observed sea-level minima. Nature 406, (2000). 713 716.Google Scholar
Young, R.R, Burns, J.A, Smith, D.G, Arnold, L.D, and Rains, R.B A single late Wisconsin, Laurentide glaciation, Edmonton area and southwestern Alberta. Geology 22, (1994). 683 686.Google Scholar
Yung, Y.L, Lee, T, Wang, C.-H, and Shieh, Y.-T Dust: A diagnostic of the hydrologic cycle during the last glacial maximum. Science 271, (1996). 962 963.Google Scholar
Zhao, M, Beveridge, N.A.S, Shackleton, N.J, Sarnthein, M, and Eglinton, G Molecular stratigrphy of cores off northwest Africa: Sea surface temperature history of the last 80 ka. Paleoceanography 10, (1995). 661 675.CrossRefGoogle Scholar