Sea-Level Fingerprinting as a Direct Test for the Source of Global Meltwater Pulse IA

The ice reservoir that served as the source for the meltwater pulse IA remains enigmatic and controversial. We show that each of the melting scenarios that have been proposed for the event produces a distinct variation, or fingerprint, in the global distribution of meltwater. We compare sea-level fi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2002-03, Vol.295 (5564), p.2438-2441
Main Authors: Clark, P. U., Mitrovica, J. X., Milne, G. A., Tamisiea, M. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Antarctic regions
Brackish
Climate change
Earth
Earth, ocean, space
Environmental aspects
Evidence
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Freshwater
Geology
Glaciers
Ice
Ice sheets
Marine
Melting
Modeling
Oceans
Physics of the oceans
Radiocarbon calibration
Sea level
Sea level rise
Snow. Ice. Glaciers
Surface waves, tides and sea level. Seiches
Topography
Water
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Summary:The ice reservoir that served as the source for the meltwater pulse IA remains enigmatic and controversial. We show that each of the melting scenarios that have been proposed for the event produces a distinct variation, or fingerprint, in the global distribution of meltwater. We compare sea-level fingerprints associated with various melting scenarios to existing sea-level records from Barbados and the Sunda Shelf and conclude that the southern Laurentide Ice Sheet could not have been the sole source of the meltwater pulse, whereas a substantial contribution from the Antarctic Ice Sheet is consistent with these records.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1069017