Sr-Nd-Pb Isotope Evidence for Ice-Sheet Presence on Southern Greenland During the Last Interglacial

To ascertain the response of the southern Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) to a boreal summer climate warmer than at present, we explored whether southern Greenland was deglaciated during the Last Interglacial (LIG), using the Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios of silt-sized sediment discharged from southern Greenlan...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2011-07, Vol.333 (6042), p.620-623
Main Authors: Colville, Elizabeth J., Carlson, Anders E., Beard, Brian L., Hatfield, Robert G., Stoner, Joseph S., Reyes, Alberto V., Ullman, David J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antarctic ice sheet
Climate science
Earth
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Geology
Glaciers
Global warming
Ice sheets
Isotope geochemistry
Isotope geochemistry. Geochronology
Isotopes
Marine and continental quaternary
Modeling
Precambrian glacial periods
Precambrian supereon
Sediments
Silt fraction
Silts
Surficial geology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:To ascertain the response of the southern Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) to a boreal summer climate warmer than at present, we explored whether southern Greenland was deglaciated during the Last Interglacial (LIG), using the Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios of silt-sized sediment discharged from southern Greenland. Our isotope data indicate that no single southern Greenland geologic terrane was completely deglaciated during the LIG, similar to the Holocene. Differences in sediment sources during the LIG relative to the early Holocene denote, however, greater southern GIS retreat during the LIG. These results allow the evaluation of a suite of GIS models and are consistent with a GIS contribution of 1.6 to 2.2 meters to the ≥4-meter LIG sea-level highstand, requiring a significant sea-level contribution from the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1204673