DISINTEGRATION OF ANTARCTICA'S LARSEN ICE SHELF: CLIMATE CONTEXT AND ECOSYSTEM CONSEQUENCES DURING IPY

Six years after the dramatic collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf the event stands as on of the most prominent examples of our changing climate, as cited in both scientific studies and popular press. Yet the climatic context for the ice shelf demise has been blurred by discussions of natural perturbation in regional ice shelf cover, warming ocean temperatures and rising atmospheric temperatures. Lost in this debate is an important lesson of: a complex interaction between the atmosphere and oceans and the biotic response in the polar system of the Antarctic Peninsula. We draw upon our own studies of the seafloor sediments, collected beneath the former Larsen Ice Shelf system, to relate the temporal record of ice shelf collapse to the historical record of atmospheric dynamics and oceanography, documented by others. We find that the loss of the ice shelf has had a profound impact upon the water column properties and benthic ecosystem of the region. The implications of these observations are far reaching and suggest we need to learn more about Antarctica's ice shelf systems, sooner rather than later.