Extensive marine-terminating ice sheets in Europe from 2.5 million years ago

  • Brice Rea
  • , Andrew Newton
  • , Rachel Lamb
  • , Rachel Harding
  • , Grant R. Bigg
  • , Phil Rose
  • , Matteo Spagnolo
  • , Mads Huuse
  • , John M.L. Cater
  • , Stuart Archer
  • , Francis Buckley
  • , Maral Halliyeva
  • , Jane Huuse
  • , David G. Cornwell
  • , Simon Brocklehurst
  • , John A. Howell

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Abstract

    Geometries of Early Pleistocene [2.58 to 0.78 million years (Ma) ago] ice sheets in northwest Europe are poorly constrained but are required to improve our understanding of past ocean-atmosphere-cryosphere coupling. Ice sheets are believed to have changed in their response to orbital forcing, becoming, from about 1.2 Ma ago, volumetrically larger and longer-lived. We present a multiproxy data set for the North Sea, extending to over a kilometer below the present-day seafloor, which demonstrates spatially extensive glaciation of the basin from the earliest Pleistocene. Ice sheets repeatedly entered the North Sea, south of 60°N, in water depths of up to ~250 m from 2.53 Ma ago and subsequently grounded in the center of the basin, in deeper water, from 1.87 Ma ago. Despite lower global ice volumes, these ice sheets were near comparable in spatial extent to those of the Middle and Late Pleistocene but possibly thinner and moving over slippery (low basal resistance) beds.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbereaar8327
    JournalScience Advances
    Volume4
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 13 Jun 2018

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    • Geomorphology

      Mitchell, N. (PI), Jones, M. (PI), Covey-Crump, S. (PI), Jerrett, R. (PI), Huuse, M. (PI), Finch, E. (PI), Bahia, R. (PGR student), Zhao, Z. (PGR student) & Chang, Y.-C. (PGR student)

      Project: Research

    • Geophysics

      Mitchell, N. (PI), Mecklenburgh, J. (PI), Rutter, E. (PI), Huuse, M. (PI), Finch, E. (PI), Chandler, M. (PI), Chang, Y.-C. (PGR student), Zhao, Z. (PGR student), Shi, W. (PGR student), Bashir, Y. (PGR student), Ardo, B. (PGR student), Newton, A. (PGR student), Cox, D. (PGR student), Lloyd, C. (PGR student), Putuhena, H. (PGR student), Sarkar, A. (PGR student), Nnorom, S. (PGR student), Owolabi, O. (PGR student), Malah, M. (PGR student), Soutter, E. (PGR student), Dunlevy, E. (PGR student), Balila, A. (PGR student), Alhammami, S. (PGR student), Olobayo, O. (PGR student), Serié, C. (PGR student), Chenrai, P. (PGR student), Sharples, A. (PGR student), Le, A. (PGR student), Lamb, R. (PGR student), Harding, R. (PGR student), Gulmammadov, R. (PGR student), Calves, G. (CoI), Bureau, D. (CoI) & Muniz Pichel, L. (PGR student)

      Project: Research

    • Basins, stratigraphy and sedimentary processes

      Brunt, R. (PI), Redfern, J. (PI), Huuse, M. (PI), Schroeder, S. (PI), Hodgetts, D. (PI), Hollis, C. (PI), Kane, I. (PI), Jerrett, R. (PI), Taylor, K. (PI), Flint, S. (PI), Gawthorpe, R. (PI), Bowman, M. (PI) & Bulot, L. G. (PI)

      Project: Research

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