Using Antarctic subglacial relic landscapes to inform past ice sheet retreat in the warm Pliocene

We use high-resolution ice sheet model simulations to better understand if the preservation of a relic landscape precludes significant glacial retreat into the Aurora Subglacial Basin sector of East Antarctica in at least the past 3 million years. Transient ice sheet model (ISM) simulations were performed through selected glacial-interglacial cycles of the mid-Piacenzian warm period (mPWP). We use the PSU-ISM, a 3-D thermomechanical ice sheet-shelf model, with climatic forcing applied using the multi-dimensional matrix method. To ensure stability of the high-resolution runs, a sequence of simulations at increasing spatial and temporal resolution was required. To explore the relationship between retreat in this sector and the preserved landscape, an ensemble of simulations was created by invoking the Marine Ice Cliff Instability (MICI) process at a range of levels. Continental scale simulations at 40 km resolution were run for 500 kyrs (3.4–2.9 Ma) to identify time periods of greatest re..., , # Data from: Using Antarctic subglacial relic landscapes to inform past ice sheet retreat in the warm Pliocene

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.4b8gthtsv](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4b8gthtsv)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains time-evolving Antarctic ice sheet model (ISM) output relating to multiple de-glaciation cycles within the Pliocene. To conduct these transient simulations, we use the PSU-ISM.

### Files and variables

#### File: ISM_Output_Timeseries_Rae.zip

**Description:**

Tabular data (can be opened with any text editor) relating to the continental-scale model simulations ('Rae' forcing), performed at 40 km grid resolution. Model history writes occur every 1000 years (from 3.4 - 2.9 Ma). Five simulation files relate to different levels of Marine Ice Cliff Instability (MICI), which is parameterised in the model. The levels are: Off, Low, MedLo, MedHi, and Max.

 Key tabular fields include:

* 'esl': ice sheet configuration converted to sea l...,