A multiproxy record of IODP Site 341-U1421

DOI

The uncertain response of marine terminating outlet glaciers to climate change at time scales beyond short-term observation limits models of future sea level rise. At temperate tidewater margins, abundant subglacial meltwater forms morainal banks (marine shoals) or ice-contact deltas that reduce water depth, stabilizing grounding lines and slowing or reversing glacial retreat. Here we present a radiocarbon-dated record from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1421 that tracks the terminus of the largest Alaskan Cordilleran Ice Sheet outlet glacier during Last Glacial Maximum climate transitions. Sedimentation rates, ice-rafted debris, and microfossil and biogeochemical proxies, show repeated abrupt collapses and slow advances typical of the tidewater glacier cycle observed in modern systems. When global sea level rise exceeded the local rate of bank building, the cycle of readvances stopped leading to irreversible retreat. These results support theory that suggests sediment dynamics can control tidewater terminus position on an open shelf under temperate conditions delaying climate-driven retreat.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.919655
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15579-0
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.919655
Provenance
Creator Cowan, Ellen A ORCID logo; Zellers, Sarah D; Müller, Juliane ORCID logo; Walczak, Maureen H ORCID logo; Worthington, Lindsay L; Caissie, Beth ORCID logo; Clary, Wesley A; Jaeger, John M (ORCID: 0000-0003-0248-489X); Gulick, Sean P S ORCID logo; Pratt, Jacob W; Mix, Alan C ORCID logo; Fallon, Stewart J ORCID logo
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2020
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Bundled Publication of Datasets; Collection
Format application/zip
Size 9 datasets
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (-144.046W, 59.507S, -144.046E, 59.507N)