Project Details
Projekt
Circumpolar temperature and ice sheet history of Antarctica across the Cenozoic
Applicant
Professor Dr. Thorsten Bauersachs
Subject Area
Geology
Term
since 2025
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 566826757
The Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) is the largest continuous ice mass on our planet. If it were to melt entirely, it could raise global sea levels by up to 58 meters. Over the past three decades, the rate of ice loss in Antarctica has increased sixfold, and this trend is expected to continue accelerating in the near future. Consequently, Antarctica could contribute 1-2 meters to global sea level rise by the end of this century, with a potential contribution of up to 5 meters by 2300. Remote sensing data indicates that ice loss across Antarctica is not uniform. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), which is primarily marine terminated, is especially vulnerable to ice loss due to the upwelling of relatively warm circumpolar deep water (CDW) onto the shelf. This leads to increased basal melting and accelerated ice flow from the hinterland. In contrast, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is currently considered more stable and contributes minimally to modern ice loss, though it may play a significant role in future sea level rise upon continued warming. Understanding the past behavior of the AIS to climate change will be key to predicting its response to future climate warming. However, data on past temperature variations and paleoceanographic change is largely limited to the Ross Sea Sector and Wilkes Land, preventing comparison of the stability of Antarctica’s western and eastern ice sheets in response to past climate and environmental forcing over time. The proposed project will use sediments collected during previous Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) expeditions from the Antarctic Peninsula (ODP Leg 178), the Weddell Sea (ODP Leg 113), and Prydz Bay (ODP Leg 188) to establish the first continuous Cenozoic temperature record for Antarctica. The focus will be on time periods that are currently understudied (including the Miocene to Pleistocene) and intervals characterized by warmer-than-present conditions, such as the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO), the Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (mPWP) and super interglacials, such as Marine Isotope Stage 31. For each site, high-resolution records of past temperature variations, paleoceanographic change and ice sheet history will be established to investigate synchronicities (or the lack thereof) in the waxing and waning of the AIS and its driving factors on regional scales. These data will significantly enhance our understanding of how Antarctica's ice sheets have responded to climate and paleoceanographic changes throughout the Cenozoic, thus enabling more accurate predictions of the behavior of the AIS to future climate warming.
DFG Programme
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