Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
H2020Individual fellowship2019–2022

ANTICE · Antarctic Ice Sheet Response to Past Warmer than Present climates

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2019-05-16 → 2022-05-15
EU contribution
€259,399
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-CAR

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Antarctic Ice Sheet Response to Past Warmer than Present climates

Changes in the Earth climate system caused by natural/anthropogenic drivers (e.g. CO2) are communicated to Antarctica by oceanic and atmospheric processes, and influence the polar atmosphere, the Southern Ocean (SO), the Antarctic cryosphere (ice sheet/sea ice), and the biosphere. The Antarctic ice sheet is losing mass at an accelerating rate. Geological records of past deglaciations are key to understanding cryosphere-oceanic interactions leading to and during past ice sheet margin retreats, thus informing about mechanisms, rates and magnitudes of sea level rise in future warming scenarios. The overall objective of the ANTICE project is to understand the processes, drivers, and when possible rates of marine-based East Antarctic ice sheet loss during past glacial terminations, and to assess their impact on the phytoplankton. To fulfill this objective, we study sediment records recovered from the east Antarctic Wilkes Land margin during the Integrated Ocean Program Expedition 318. We focus on two past deglaciation periods taking place under a range of climatic and oceanic conditions within the range of current to near future conditions projected by the IPCC AR5 and AR6: (1) the Holocene deglaciation (~10.000 yr) (WP1), and (2) two Pliocene deglaciations (~ 3.6 and 4.2 My) (WP2). We expect the results from this research will have a large impact in increasing our now limited understanding of the response of the Southern Ocean and the marine-based East Antarctic Ice sheet (EAIS) to ongoing climate change. Moreover, the results can be used to validate and test current models of ocean and ice sheet behaviour used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Conclusion WP1: sedimentological patterns of the last deglaciation in East Antarctica have been defined, linking oceanic and ecosystem changes and constraining the timing of the deglaciation. Conclusion WP2: sedimentological and paleoenvironmental changes are differentiated in cold (glacial) vs warm (interglacial) Pliocene sediments in the overall warm Pliocene period (3-5 Ma) with similar CO2 concentrations than today.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), identified the future evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, particularly of its portions grounded on land that is below current sea level (marine-based), as one of the most dramatic unknowns in global climate predictions, severely hampering reliable estimations of sea-level rise for coming decades and centuries. Our objective is to study geological records of past deglaciations to understand the processes, rates and drivers of marine-based East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) loss. Because our climate is evolving to global atmospheric CO2 concentrations higher than 400 ppm (already higher than during Mid-Pliocene Warm Period in average), we propose to study two end-members: the last deglaciation (Holocene), and two Pliocene deglaciations taking place under a range of climatic and oceanic conditions. With this innovative approach, we can better understand the processes, rates and drivers of marine-based EAIS loss under warmer than present climates, their contribution to global sea level rise, and to assess their biological impacts. We will use strategically located paleoclimate records collected in a depth transect (continental shelf-to-rise sediment cores) from the East Antarctic Wilkes Land margin during the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 318. In addition to the work proposed for this project, we benefit from an exceptional pool of unpublished and published geological material from these cores, which will allow us to conduct a high-resolution multiproxy study of the proposed glacial terminations in the timeframe of this project. Boundary conditions from these records will be key to validate and test current ice sheet models, which at present are highly parametrised and critically need observations (e.g. melt rates, ocean conditions and circulation, freshwater flux and stratification).

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS · MadridCoordinatorSpain

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union