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Melting of Totten Glacier, East Antarctica since the Last Glacial Maximum Revealed by Beryllium Isotope and Grain Size of Marine Sediment Records
  • +9
  • Zihan Huang,
  • Bethany Behrens,
  • Yosuke Miyairi,
  • Takahiro Aze,
  • Stephen P. Obrochta,
  • Takato Takemura,
  • Reisuke Kondo,
  • Alexandra L Post,
  • Leanne Armand,
  • Philip O'Brien,
  • Amy Leventer,
  • Yusuke Yokoyama
Zihan Huang
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Bethany Behrens
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo
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Yosuke Miyairi
University of Tokyo
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Takahiro Aze
University of Tokyo
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Stephen P. Obrochta
Akita University
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Takato Takemura
Nihon University
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Reisuke Kondo
Unknown
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Alexandra L Post
Geoscience Australia
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Leanne Armand
The Australian National University
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Philip O'Brien
Maquarie University
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Amy Leventer
Colgate University
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Yusuke Yokoyama
University of Tokyo
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Abstract

The rapidly melting Totten Glacier of East Antarctica drains a basin containing ~3.5 m sea-level rise equivalent of ice, but the Totten Glacier dynamics and interaction with the Southern Ocean since the Last Glacial Maximum is not well understood. To better understand the response of the glacier to present and future climate changes, an accurate reconstruction of the retreat history of the Totten Glacier is needed. Hence, this study uses a multiproxy approach in analyzing beryllium isotopes, the first such record from this location, and grain size of a sediment core collected from the continental slope adjacent to Totten Glacier. The results, when evaluated together with nearby proxy records, reveal that the initial deglaciation of the Totten Glacier sector of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet began at ~18 ka BP. The rapid deglaciation from ~9 ka BP that followed is assumed to be caused by the intrusion of modified Circumpolar Deep Water to the grounding zone of the Totten Glacier. This intrusion may also be coupled with a weaker Antarctic Slope Current and southward shift of Antarctic easterlies. This result contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the dynamical response of marine-terminating glaciers to climate variability during the last deglaciation.
14 May 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
25 May 2023Published in ESS Open Archive