60 million years of glaciation in the Transantarctic Mountains

Barr, Iestyn D.; Spagnolo, Matteo; Rea, Brice R.; Bingham, Robert G.; Oien, Rachel P.; Adamson, Kathryn; Ely, Jeremy C.; Mullan, Donal J.; Pellitero, Ramón; Tomkins, Matt D.

Abstract

The Antarctic continent reached its current polar location ~83 Ma and became shrouded by ice sheets ~34 Ma, coincident with dramatic global cooling at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. However, it is not known whether the first Antarctic glaciers formed immediately prior to this or were present significantly earlier. Here we show that mountain glaciers were likely present in the Transantarctic Mountains during the Late Palaeocene (~60–56 Ma) and middle Eocene (~48–40 Ma). Temperate (warm-based) glaciers were prevalent during the Late Eocene (~40–34 Ma) and, in reduced numbers, during the Oligocene (~34–23 Ma), before larger, likely cold-based, ice masses (including ice sheets) dominated. Some temperate mountain glaciers were present during the Miocene Climatic Optimum (~15 Ma), before a widespread switch to cold-based glaciation. Our findings highlight the longevity of glaciation in Antarctica and suggest that glaciers were present even during the Early-Cenozoic greenhouse world.

Citation

Barr, I. D., Spagnolo, M., Rea, B. R., Bingham, R. G., Oien, R. P., Adamson, K., …Tomkins, M. D. (2022). 60 million years of glaciation in the Transantarctic Mountains. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 5526. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33310-z

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 12, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Sep 21, 2022
• Publication Date: Sep 21, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 25, 2024
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 5526
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33310-z
• Keywords: General Physics and Astronomy; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Chemistry; Multidisciplinary
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2346454
• Additional Information: This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Access via https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33310-z