Abstract
The hypothesis of a km-thick ice shelf covering the entire Arctic Ocean during peak glacial conditions was proposed nearly half a century ago. Floating ice shelves preserve few direct traces after their disappearance, making reconstructions difficult. Seafloor imprints of ice shelves should, however, exist where ice grounded along their flow paths. Here we present new evidence of ice-shelf groundings on bathymetric highs in the central Arctic Ocean, resurrecting the concept of an ice shelf extending over the entire central Arctic Ocean during at least one previous ice age. New and previously mapped glacial landforms together reveal flow of a spatially coherent, in some regions >1-km thick, central Arctic Ocean ice shelf dated to marine isotope stage 6 (∼140ka). Bathymetric highs were likely critical in the ice-shelf development by acting as pinning points where stabilizing ice rises formed, thereby providing sufficient back stress to allow ice shelf thickening.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 10365 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Volume | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Jan 2016 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Chemistry(all)
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
Cite this
Evidence for an ice shelf covering the central Arctic Ocean during the penultimate glaciation. / Jakobsson, Martin; Nilsson, Johan; Anderson, Leif; Backman, Jan; Björk, Göran; Cronin, Thomas M.; Kirchner, Nina; Koshurnikov, Andrey; Mayer, Larry; Noormets, Riko; O'Regan, Matthew; Stranne, Christian; Ananiev, Roman; Barrientos Macho, Natalia; Cherniykh, Denis; Coxall, Helen; Eriksson, Björn; Flodén, Tom; Gemery, Laura; Gustafsson, Örjan; Jerram, Kevin; Johansson, Carina; Khortov, Alexey; Mohammad, Rezwan; Semiletov, Igor.
In: Nature Communications, Vol. 7, 10365, 18.01.2016.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence for an ice shelf covering the central Arctic Ocean during the penultimate glaciation
AU - Jakobsson, Martin
AU - Nilsson, Johan
AU - Anderson, Leif
AU - Backman, Jan
AU - Björk, Göran
AU - Cronin, Thomas M.
AU - Kirchner, Nina
AU - Koshurnikov, Andrey
AU - Mayer, Larry
AU - Noormets, Riko
AU - O'Regan, Matthew
AU - Stranne, Christian
AU - Ananiev, Roman
AU - Barrientos Macho, Natalia
AU - Cherniykh, Denis
AU - Coxall, Helen
AU - Eriksson, Björn
AU - Flodén, Tom
AU - Gemery, Laura
AU - Gustafsson, Örjan
AU - Jerram, Kevin
AU - Johansson, Carina
AU - Khortov, Alexey
AU - Mohammad, Rezwan
AU - Semiletov, Igor
PY - 2016/1/18
Y1 - 2016/1/18
N2 - The hypothesis of a km-thick ice shelf covering the entire Arctic Ocean during peak glacial conditions was proposed nearly half a century ago. Floating ice shelves preserve few direct traces after their disappearance, making reconstructions difficult. Seafloor imprints of ice shelves should, however, exist where ice grounded along their flow paths. Here we present new evidence of ice-shelf groundings on bathymetric highs in the central Arctic Ocean, resurrecting the concept of an ice shelf extending over the entire central Arctic Ocean during at least one previous ice age. New and previously mapped glacial landforms together reveal flow of a spatially coherent, in some regions >1-km thick, central Arctic Ocean ice shelf dated to marine isotope stage 6 (∼140ka). Bathymetric highs were likely critical in the ice-shelf development by acting as pinning points where stabilizing ice rises formed, thereby providing sufficient back stress to allow ice shelf thickening.
AB - The hypothesis of a km-thick ice shelf covering the entire Arctic Ocean during peak glacial conditions was proposed nearly half a century ago. Floating ice shelves preserve few direct traces after their disappearance, making reconstructions difficult. Seafloor imprints of ice shelves should, however, exist where ice grounded along their flow paths. Here we present new evidence of ice-shelf groundings on bathymetric highs in the central Arctic Ocean, resurrecting the concept of an ice shelf extending over the entire central Arctic Ocean during at least one previous ice age. New and previously mapped glacial landforms together reveal flow of a spatially coherent, in some regions >1-km thick, central Arctic Ocean ice shelf dated to marine isotope stage 6 (∼140ka). Bathymetric highs were likely critical in the ice-shelf development by acting as pinning points where stabilizing ice rises formed, thereby providing sufficient back stress to allow ice shelf thickening.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84954531592&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/ncomms10365
DO - 10.1038/ncomms10365
M3 - Article
VL - 7
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
SN - 2041-1723
M1 - 10365
ER -