ANTARCTICA'S CONTRIBUTION TO EUSTATIC SEA LEVEL DURING MELTWATER PULSE 1A

Radiocarbon dates obtained from Ross Sea sediments, combined with constraints on maximum ice extent based on sedimentological data and ice sheet modeling results, indicate that the Ross Embayment, Antarctica is unlikely to have been a substantial contributor to meltwater pulse (mwp) 1A at ~ 12.5 ¹⁴C ka. The ice sheet in the Ross Embayment during the last glacial maximum is estimated to have contained ice volume equivalent to 3-6 m eustatic sea level rise. Grounded ice advance occurred during initial Late Pleistocene eustatic rise and ice sheet retreat began coeval with or subsequent to mwp-1A. Chronological and sedimentological data from the Ross Embayment indicate that deglaciation in this region has occurred throughout the Holocene. Thus the maximum possible contribution of eustatic rise from the Ross Embayment is < 1m sea level equivalent.